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"Good, because we're probably going to have to," Cain said.
ChapterNineteen
DAHLIA
Dahlia slept hard. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt safe enough to let herself relax that deeply into sleep. Oh, she knew it had happened before, but had it been a month? A year? Yawning, she managed to crack open her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of her lashes. Beside her, Thane didn't even stir.
Carefully, she slipped out of the bed and headed across the room dimmed by cheap black-out curtains and into the bathroom. A hot shower was another one of those luxuries that she rarely got to have on demand - or at least hadn't before moving here. No, she didn't have any pictures on the walls, and her towels definitely didn't match, but the fact that she had towels and walls that she claimed as her own was pretty amazing. Sometimes, it really was the little things that mattered.
And while she washed and conditioned her hair, she thought about the fridge filled with food. It was the morning after her wedding. If she made him breakfast and brought it to him in bed, would that be something he'd like? Then again, she didn't really know how to cook. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing she'd needed. Back when she'd been alive, stoves had been quite a bit different.
So, maybe breakfast in bed was a horrible idea. Burning down the apartment complex would not go over well with anyone. She was still thinking about that when she left the bathroom drying her hair with her towel. At some point while she'd been gone, Thane had rolled towards her side of the bed and was now hugging her pillow. It was cute.
Never mind that a hunter shouldn't be cute. This man was definitely not "cute." The view of his muscular arms and broad shoulders made it clear that so many other words would fit him better. Things like sexy, beautiful, or even terrifying. Because the truth was that this thing they were doing? It was definitely terrifying, yet it felt kinda good. It felt like Mei would approve.
For a little too long, Dahlia stood there watching her new husband sleep. She didn't know his favorite color. However, she did know his favorite type of music - but only because the radio settings in his truck told on him. She knew the taste of his blood, but not what size shoe he wore. Everything about their relationship was wrong, backwards even, yet why did it feel like this was the right decision?
Because for all the things that they didn't know about each other, the one thing she did know was all that mattered. Thane was willing to fight with her. He was a warrior, unafraid of charging in and dying. That didn't mean he was dumb enough to make stupid decisions, but this man would stand for what mattered - the same way she wanted to. That one thing was enough to bind them together, but would it be enough?
Mulling over all of her insecurities and inner conflicts, she let herself enjoy the view of him. Sleeping, he looked like a softer version of himself. The creases on his brow were gone and the tension in his lips had vanished. It was the same transformation she'd seen last night when he'd been a little too drunk, which made her bite back a laugh. It also shifted her eyes over to the nightstand, to a small book with gilded edges lying there.
Well, since she couldn't make him breakfast and she didn't want to wake him up, there was no better time to look through the book of Words, right? Walking lightly, she made her way around the bed to pick it up, and headed back to sit at the foot of the bed where she could casually appreciate the view of her naked husband. After all, a girl deserved some benefits for a hurried wedding, didn't she?
Flipping through the book, Dahlia was surprised to see how many things these magical Words covered. There were ones for healing and others for pushing things away. Heavy things, from what the note said. There was also an entire chapter just on the various types of bubbles they could make. If this was the list of simple and easy Words, then how much more could they do with the encyclopedias stored in the bishop's office?
And the even bigger question: could the eidolon use them?
Deciding it was worth the risk, Dahlia flipped through until she found something that couldn't go too wrong if she tried to use it. She stopped on one that was supposed to make light. Glancing over at her window, she could see that it was clearly daylight outside. The light leaked around the edges of her cheap curtains, just enough to make the room dim instead of dark. That meant no one would notice if she made it bright in here, so she decided to try.
Flipping back to the front of the little book, she found the pronunciation guide for all of the letters. No, the sounds were not like English. They were strange, bent, and clipped, like so many Indigenous languages. Wanting to make sure she didn't screw anything up, Dahlia slowly pieced together the way the Word should sound in her head, then braced for the worst.
She whispered it.
Immediately, everything in the room turned white. The glare was blinding! Her eyes squinted against it, and she raised a hand to shield herself from it, but there was no source to block. The light came from everywhere and seemed to emit from everything. Thankfully, it wasn't hot, but it was startling enough that she heard Thane grunt and sit up.
"What the fuck?" he snapped.
Dahlia just laughed. "So I thought I'd see if a Word would work. Evidently I can use them. I also think I may have picked the wrong one."
After a pause that lasted just a little too long, he started laughing. It wasn't a little laugh either. From a chuckle to a bellow, his amusement came out like it was out of control. Even worse, she couldn't see him to figure out what the hell he was doing. Was he fixing this? Was she supposed to?
Then she felt Thane's hand on her arm. "I think we need to be in the other room to find whatever Word will turn that off," he said around his mirth, tugging her towards the doorway.
Dahlia followed, holding one hand out to make sure she didn't bump into anything. In her other hand, she kept her place marked in the book so that he could easily find the Word she'd used. It was like some sort of bad parlor game as the pair of them headed to the wall first, then followed it along until they found the opening to let them out. Then, Thane reached back and closed the door, blocking off the insanity of that much light.
"Okay, now all I can see are spots," he laughed. "Dying to know why you thought turning the room into the heart of the sun was a good idea while I was sleeping?"
"It didn't say it would be that bright!"
That only made him laugh harder. "Were you trying to tell me to get my ass out of bed?"
She shook her head. "I actually didn't even want to wake you. I was just gonna see if it would work and thought I was being careful. I mean, I thought about making you breakfast, and then I realized that I would probably destroy that, and maybe even burn down the apartment, and you were still asleep, but I don't have a TV, haven't bought any books…"
His hand cupped her face and his mouth pressed against hers, cutting off her explanation. The kiss was soft and gentle, but he refused to stop pressing until she finally relaxed against him. Only then did he lean back, and when she opened her eyes, she was no longer seeing the bright spots that had filled her vision before. She just saw Thane smiling at her like she was adorable.
"Books, huh?" he asked. "Are we talking romance or self-help?"
She bit her lower lip and wrinkled her nose. "Is there a reason I have to choose? Remember, television is still a new invention to me. I remember a time before we knew how to write."
