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His mind—and heart—had no answer.
“Sil?” She gazed at him with her doe eyes, wounded.
“Not like this,” he said, voice choked. “You’ve had a big night. You need your rest.”
Her glazed eyes suddenly narrowed. “What are you, my father now?”
“No, Romy, it’s just—”
“Don’t bother.”
She crossed her arms and spun away, moving toward the bag of roses the goddamn vampire had brought, swooping in like a John Hughes hero with his fucking boombox.
When she turned back, she was different. Serious. Like the past few minutes hadn’t happened at all. “Will these even help? I need magic to apply them, don’t I? Obviously, it only happened because we were running for our lives.”
Silvan grimaced and took a step toward her. “Romy, no. You manifested tonight.You. Manifested. Tonight.If you hadn’t gone to the island, it wouldn’t have happened, not tonight. But because it did, you’re going to take those roses, andyou’regoing to save your sister, Thora.You.There’s no reason to ever doubt yourself again, and if you do, it’s only the fear talking.”
Romy considered this as she eyed the bag. He couldn’t read her. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. “I don’t understand howyouknew about these and my family didn’t. This is right up our alley as witches. Shouldn’t we have known?”
Silvan shrugged and contorted his mouth to match. “Witches tend to keep to themselves and their coven buddies. Don’t want to taint your sacred bloodlines or whatever.”
“But Dane knew.”
“Your fuckin’ nerd boyfriend?”
“He’s not myboyfriend.”
He buried a smile at the sight of some of her fire returning. “Of course he’s not. Probably read it in a book, like nerds do. It’s not that Fenrir’s Rose is some mythical plant that only exists in fairy tales. It’s that no one knows how to find it. You know, except us.”
“How has no one else stumbled upon that island? It’s not exactly hidden.”
“They have,” he said. “But when enough of them don’t come home, others start to realize it’s probably not the best idea to go on merry jaunts to the land of death.” He scratched his head. “And who knows how long those zombie fucks have been there, but they make the branka seem like caterpillars.”
Romy nodded to herself, still staring into the bag.
“Look, princess, Thora will be different. I don’t know exactly how because it’s different for everyone, but you gotta make peace with that. You gotta remember, she’lllivebecause of you, and whatever the cost, it’s worth paying. Because death is final.”Unless you’re a fucking unnatural vamp.
“I don’t care if she turns into a cursed wolf like you, as long as she lives.”
Silvan snorted. “Gee. Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean…”
“Sure you didn’t.”
Romy closed the bag and returned to him. She gazed up, craned up onto her toes, and kissed him. “I won’t forget what you did for me, Sil. You could have died, too.”
“Eh.” He shrugged through the fierce pounding of his heart, hoping she heard his words, not his truth. “I’m built for danger, princess.”
Romy burst out laughing between kisses. “You sound like Chuck Norris or something.”
“Chuck Norris jokes were so early aughts, girl.”
“Tell yourself that the next time you look in the mirror, wolfie.”
“Wolfie.” Silvan rolled his eyes, but he was smiling on the inside. “How original.”
“Like you’re the first man to call a rich girl a princess? Please.”
