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And like that, he was gone again. Soaring away from her.
“You play better than your brother, that’s for sure,” she said when he finished, remembering Gideon plunking piano keys in her library.
“Oh? Has he been serenading you?” The playfulness of the question couldn’t hide the edge in his voice. Before she could answer, he closed the fallboard, and the keys disappeared. “I have something to show you.”
He rose from the bench and walked to the far wall, where his writing desk stood between two windows. He picked up a large sheet of paper, then brought it back and handed it to her.
“It’s the deed to the house in Caelis.”
Rune stared at the deed. A strange numbness flooded her. “You bought it?” The realization gave her a stomachache. “So soon?”
“I’m putting Thornwood Hall up for sale tomorrow. Please don’t look so unhappy.”
“Of course I’m happy for you.” Rune handed it back to him. “This is what you want.”
It just wasn’t whatshewanted.
Alex was her safe place. She could be herself with him. Alex, along with Verity, had filled the gaping hole in her life after Nan died. He and Verity were always there—after every dangerous night of saving witches, after every ridiculous after-party where Rune’s head ached from gossiping and flirting and pretending to be someone she wasn’t, in the quiet moments and the loud ones.
And unlike Verity, who was a fire constantly spurring her on, Alex was a cool spring, giving her a place to rest and recover, reminding her that she was a girl with needs and weaknesses, not some invincible savior.
What will I do without you?
Maybe that was the problem. Rune needed Alex more than he needed her. He’d given her so much, and she’d given so little in return.
She was doing it now. Being selfish. The selfless thing to do was let him go.
Rune swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth and tried to be a better friend.
“Iwantyou to finish your studies.” She smiled, hoping it didn’t look forced. “And then I want you to become a world-famous composer whose name I can flaunt at parties, telling everyone I knew you when you didn’t know the difference between adagio and allegro.”
He studied her for a long time, deliberating something.
“Will you come back to visit me?” she asked.
“If …you want me to.”
It wasn’t the answer Rune needed. She wanted him towantto come back. To need her the way she needed him.
Sinking back down to the piano bench, his eyes locked with hers. Alex had the most beautiful eyes. Bright gold with flecks of brown.
“But it’s easier for you to make a clean break,” she said, putting voice to the thing he wouldn’t. “To put this island behind you.” More quietly, she said, “To put me behind you.”
“No.” His voice was soft but firm. His hands lifted to gently cup her face. “Rune, never. I want …”
Before he could finish, Verity flew into the room with a tray of tea and cookies. “Is anyone elsestarving?”
Alex’s hands dropped and he turned sharply away from Rune. As she watched him slide off the bench and stand before the fireplace, quietly stoking the flames, she remembered Gideon’s words from the garden.
When I saw Alex at your side, I knew exactly who you were …a girl who was entirely off-limits, because my little brother found her first.
Rune had thought he was talking about ruining her and Alex’s friendship. Now she wondered if he’d meant something else.
“So? How did the dinner go?” Alex asked as Verity set down the tray and poured out three cups of tea.
Verity relayed everything she’d told to Rune already—about witches being kept beyond the seventh gate, and the access coin they needed to move through the prison—before telling him about the spellfire Seraphine used to nearly kill Rune.
Alex spat his tea back into his cup. “Seraphine didwhat?”
