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“Right well,” Eliya continues, sitting up in her chair and taking a long sip of wine, “since you’ve ruined tonight’s plans, we have no choice but to come back here tomorrow.”
“Can’t we just brush this off as incompatibility?”
Her temple twitches. “No,” she growls into her wine. “I know you like him. Or else you wouldn’t have stood there, blushing and gawking at him like a fool.”
“Was I really?” I ask with a groan.
“Don’t worry,” she replies. “He was especially smiley while talking to you, so I can tell he also likes you.”
“That wasn’t what I was worrying about,” I mutter. Still, her words send my stomach somersaulting. And a part of me hopes her assessment is accurate.
“Anyway,” I say a moment later, “does this mean we can go now?”
“Fine. But we’re coming back here tomorrow night.” She gives me a pointed look.
We drink the rest of our wine. Eliya finishes hers in mere minutes. She drinks it as though it’s water.
“You’re so slow,” she complains, gesturing to my goblet. In my defense, only a small amount remains.
I push the goblet over to her. “You drink it then.”
She does and finishes it in a single gulp. Then she gets to her feet. “Right then. Let’s go.”
I stand from my chair and follow her through the tavern. We weave past the surrounding tables as we head to the door. But I only make it halfway across the room before a hand snags my wrist.
I turn to face Nolan.
Now that there isn’t a counter between us and his fingers are wrapped around my wrist, the rush of energy is as overwhelming as I remember last night.
“Reyna,” he murmurs, “can I borrow you for a moment?”
Enthralled by his emerald eyes, I find myself nodding.
Nolan leads me farther back into the tavern, just behind the stairs. Here, we are out of everyone else’s earshot.
I stare at him, losing myself in his mesmerizing gaze. I barely notice as he begins to speak.
“I know you said you needed to leave early because of the Trial of Mind in the morning, but I was hoping you would stay a little longer. We didn’t get much of a chance to speak tonight.”
I swallow, glancing down at his leather boots.
“If I offended you before, then I do apologize.”
“Why would you have offended me?” I ask.
He opens his mouth but then closes it, seeming to have nothing to say. I feel terrible. He’s probably worrying about how I abruptly left after he said that he could think of worse reasons to crash a wine cart.
“I wasn’t offended,” I say quietly. “I just didn’t know how to respond.”
I suppose when in doubt, honesty is always the best policy.
A light smile twitches on his lips. He takes a step closer. “You weren’t sure what to say?”
I try to step back, but the wall behind me prevents me from moving any farther away. Any thoughts of escape die when he closes the distance between us so much that I can feel his warm breath against my cheeks. The air pulses with vigorous energy. With anticipation.
My hands are clammy, and my heart thumps wildly in my chest. I hope it isn’t loud enough for him to hear.
“You ran away so quickly,” he continues, his eyes tracing over my face, “that I didn’t have the chance to ask you something.”
