AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We made our way into the cottage, but it was empty. Moss grew on the walls, and I stepped over the crack on the floor without having to think about it twice. The tea kettle sat on the table, a cup by the sink as if Arren had gotten pulled away. It took a second for my eyes to adapt to the gloom inside, and then I saw the paper tucked underneath the edge of the kettle, to keep it from blowing away in the breeze from the cracks in the cottage walls.
I seized it with worry spiking in my chest, and it was hard for a second to read Arren’s scratchy handwriting.
Honor, I need time to be sure I’m no longer the monster. I don’t want to put anyone at risk. Especially you.
But if you need me, I’ll be there to fight.
Arren
I stared at the words. Two sentences. NodearHonor. NoloveArren.
Typical Arren.
“What is it?” Damyn moved close behind me, so close the spicy scent of his aftershave teased against my nose. The warmth of his body made me realize, for the first time, how cold I was in this drafty little cottage. It had felt warmer with a fire in the fireplace and Arren by my side.
“He’s gone,” I said, then cleared my throat. “He hasn’t been… dealing well… with what happened in the bone kingdom.”
“He’ll be all right,” Damyn assured me, with confidence I didn’t feel.
I turned to face him. “How do you know?”
“I know Arren.” Damyn looked down at me, and I felt as if we were too close now that I’d turned to face him, but neither of us stepped back. His warmth seemed to crackle around him like fire, igniting my cheeks. His expression was kind. “And I know you. Arren will do anything for you.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of his words.
Talisyn cleared his throat, leaning in the doorway.
Damyn stepped back, and I felt like I could breathe again.
“You two should talk,” Damyn said, although it sounded more like an order—everything sounded like an order coming from Damyn—and then he headed for the door. Talisyn moved aside for him, and Damyn clapped his shoulder as if to give him strength.
Then the cottage door creaked close, shutting Talisyn and me in the gloom.
CHAPTER16
Honor
Talisyn’s gaze met mine,bright in the dim light. His cheekbones were sharp, his forehead high beneath an arch of tousled hair. And his expression was unreadable.
My heart stuttered in my chest. Hope mixed with fear of another disappointment made it hard for me to speak.
“I’m glad we finally caught up to you.” He moved around the small main room of the cottage, looking at the tattered cupboard, the unlit sconces on the wall. Anywhere but at me. “Damyn was worried.”
Something inside me lifted at those words, before I reminded myself Damyn worried about me because he saw me as a responsibility, a student in desperate need of help.
He looked over his shoulder at me, just for a second, and added,“Iwas worried.”
“You were?” Because he knew what it would do to the others if I had my throat ripped out by the Scourge, or… “Are your memories coming back? Is that why you came for me?”
“No,” he said and my heart sank.
He saw my face, and his lips parted as if he had something to say before he swiped his hand through his hair.
“I need to go back to the academy,” I said quickly. “Now that Kallus gave me back Lysander’s Scourge stone.”
He smiled, and his cheekbones swelled. “Gave is a… word choice.”
His familiar smile made my heart flip-flop, but I forged on. “Come with me? We’ll talk on the way.”
