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“Don’t that the wrong way. You did alright tonight, but you didn’t fight for long. You were quite slow, and I saw the mercy you gave that Shadowfader when you disarmed him.”
Shadowfader.Another chill ran up my spine, perking up the hairs on my neck. It was an effort to push the all-too-fresh image of the demon to the back of my mind so that I might find any sort of reply. Kalen noticed me hesitate but pretended he didn’t, walking around the back of the chaise he’d just been sitting on.
I was thankful to have dropped the subject and took the next few silent moments to look around the room we were in once more. The entire thing was a large, open rectilinear space with grey-brown floors and moldings that stood out sharply against the bright cream, woven rugs and white linen fabric divans. Exotic pots and busts of half-naked women lined the tables and shelves randomly, wherever space needed filling, I supposed. To my right, a full kitchen opened up revealing sleek novelties and ware. I amended my thoughts from earlier; whoever owned this place wouldn’t care about that rug.
They’d just get a new one.
I looked up into the space above that was carved out by high angular ceilings. They stopped just short of the cloud line, which I could see clearly through a wall of crystalline glass. My mouth fell open at the sight of a mountain filling almost the entire window, covered in wide drifts of glittering snow. The ridge was far more eclipsing than that of my Mountain in the Binding or even that of the canyons of Leoth. I’d never seen the snow—or I couldn’t remember having seen it. The Mountain was all highgrasses that filtered the warm breeze before it caressed my skin. But this mountain, with its snow that looked like the world’s largest, softest blanket, suddenly made me want to roll myself up into it. Sleep my new life away.
“Welcome to Cypra, the Time faction,” Kalen said, resting his chin atop my shoulder. I jumped, unaware that he’d come so close again. I ignored the heat budding in my temples and on my lips as he let out an amused snort.
“What is this place?”
“A safe house. The Light Sage kept one in nearly every faction, except for Sythe, of course.” He wet his lips slowly.
“Of course,” I said and angled my face to look up at him. Abruptly, Kalen turned towards the hearth on the far side of the divan and began to start a fire. Embarrassed, I glanced elsewhere, finding safety in focusing on the furniture once more, noticing it looked fairly new, especially considering the Light Sage hadn’t been here in so long.
“It looks well kept...” I observed, trying to keep my tone neutral. I didn’t want to give away exactly how anxious I was about being in a new place. Nearly a century of sleeping in the same grove, counting the same stars and within two months I’d had two new beds.
“I come here from time to time—to get some peace and quiet when being the Preserver becomes a bit too taxing.” Kalen shifted his weight to his good side, wincing slightly at his newly healed scar.
“Is this where you were those weeks after our fight?” I said in between thethunkof logs hitting metal racks, turning over my shoulder to look at him. The profile of Kalen’s sheepish grin glinted in the faint glow of firelight he’d kindled. His focus was still on the hearth when I rolled my eyes, but his grin grew wider like he could see me just the same.
“Won’t Gabriel sense that we are here?” I asked, nerves risingagain.
“The whole house is hidden,” he turned to me, shrugging his shoulders. “On the inside—it’s a palace,” he gestured to the expensive looking chandeliers and boxed archways. “But on the outside, the glamour coating us gives off the impression of a very dangerous and impossible-to-climb cleft of the mountain.”
I moved closer to the window, my breath coming out hot against the freezing panes, leaving puffs in its wake. They grew in size as I sighed, “The perfect hideaway”.
“Not quite.” When I turned back to Kalen, his eyes gleamed with mischief. “Any immortal could always just project.” It seemed he enjoyed planting small doubts in my already nerve-racked mind.
“Great,” I said, letting my forehead rest against the glass.
Kalen strode lazily to me. “Gwyn,” he said, taking my face in his hands. “We are safe, I promise. Nothing will happen to you. It is my duty to protect you.” His thumb brushed against the bow of my lip and slid to the corner of my frown.It is my duty to protect you. His obligation. Was that all this was to him? Possibly. But when we held each other’s gaze, I felt it. The shift. Something had changed tonight. I didn’t know what exactly, but I craved the feeling drifting between us. I’d want for it every waking second now that I’d found it. Of that, I was sure.
Kalen’s eyes darted across my face, and I wondered if he craved it, too. A torch of light flamed in his golden irises, and I knew he could hear my question. Just like he’d heard every other thought I’d had without me having to say it. But he just stifled a breath and said, “Let’s go clean up and get some sleep.”
I followed him down the dimly lit halls towards the washroom, my hand still in his. My limbs felt light and dizzy as I made my way over to the large porcelain tub, though I wasn’t sure if it was the byproduct of exhaustion or from the warmth of Kalen’s fingers laced through mine. A twinge of sadness ran through mewhen he finally dropped my hand.
Kalen walked confidently toward one of the twenty white cabinets, opened it, and plucked out a pair of the softest looking towels I’d ever seen. He handed one to me and I did my best to avoid dirtying it with all of the filth that clung to me from the siege. Kalen glanced half-heartedly at the tub to my right and it began to fill with hot water. His eyes landed back on me, and I swayed, unsure if he was waiting for dismissal or planning to join me. The memory of Kalen’s hard-lined torso tied in loose blankets flashed through my mind and my mouth dried.
Finally, he snickered, “I’ll be in the sitting room,” and turned on his heel.
As soon as the door closed, I peeled off my clothes and stepped into the scalding water with a euphoric sigh. Inching myself lower and lower, each set of muscles relaxing as heat seeped into them, only stopping at my chin. But after everything today, even that felt like it wasn’t enough.
Behind closed eyes, I could see the Guardian to the Light. My throat closed in on itself and I felt her hands push under my jaw.Not until she gives. Her vile growl was mine too. I strained for one last breath, and plunged into the water, letting it take us both out to the Sea.
I NEVER KNEW HOWmuch I liked being trapped inside Leoth’s dark caverns until I woke up in a bed that faced the single largest, most blinding, mountain. It was a common saying in Cypra, Kalen said in a voice gravelly with sleep, that the Erudian Mount was so bright, even the Time Sage couldn’t skirt the morning. I begged him to pull the curtain of my room closed for five more minutes, but he just gave me a fleeting slight of his eyes and called me lazy.
“I’d say after the night we had, we deserve to be a bit lazy,” I protested, pulling myself up from the pile of quilts Kalen had stacked on top of me last night.
When I finally came sulking out of my bath, it was only because the water had chilled to a point even my numbed brain couldn’t handle. Beneath the crushing weight of water and inner turmoil, I had completely forgotten that Kalen was waiting on me. The hallway from the washroom to the lounge was just long enough for me to mull over the tongue-lashing I was sure to get.
I imagined his glare and pinched mouth as he remarked, “Quite high maintenance for someone who spent the last seventy years cozied up in clovers and dirt.” Directly followed by other mumblings about how ungrateful and selfish I was.
I’d felt horrible when I wandered around the corner to find him slumped miserably against the curved arm of the divan. The muscles of his thighs twitched even as he slept. I gently nudged him awake, as one might poke at a dozing snake with a stick. He was startled but gave a sleepy smile when he realized it was just me. It was all right, he’d said, through all my apologies.
Kalen moved slowly, the pains of battle still wracking his body,and made for the hall. I stared after him, wondering how I’d been so self-absorbed not to notice it: the way the things we had been through together were changing him, too. He took one last look toward me and slipped into the bathroom. Selfish. It was just a word and one that couldn’t begin to encompass the way I had been acting all these weeks.
