AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t feel safe. Not without Rafael here.
“Sinsorias said he would tell me the truth before we depart, if Rafael does not.”
The hand on my shoulder twitched slightly before falling away. Instead of skirting the topic, she pressed the book to her chest and said, “Then let me tell you where to find him at sundown.”
* * *
Everence had led me to a stairway that descended to the level of the kitchens, then, just as she’d said, I found a small wooden door that looked like nothing more than a broom closet. I tried the knob and discovered, as she’d described, narrow stairs made of stone twisting steeply out of sight.
With a slow breath, I tried to calm my racing heartbeat as I stepped onto the hidden stairway and shut the door behind me. I’d waited until the sun had disappeared below the horizon, as Everence had instructed. A light set into the stone wall flickered to life, casting dancing shadows on the walls. This was my husband I was sneaking up on, not a total stranger, though I knew as much about him as I did the sellers hawking their wares in Puerta.
The stairs curled around, then emptied into a wider cavern, not huge but not cramped either. The ceiling and walls had been hewn from black rock that sparkled in the light from several lanterns fixed to the walls. This was the cave Sinsorias had predicted.
My heart rate soared as I crossed the cold space. Moisture hung in the air, but I couldn’t find a source anywhere. Then, as the tunnel curved, I heard the distinct sound of water slapping against stone. An underground waterfall lay somewhere up ahead.
The water hit the stones in irregular bursts. The tunnel was longer than I’d expected, and the sounds of the water were amplified in the enclosed space. Then, the noise of the water evened out, as if something had been blocking its fall and was now out of the way.
I rounded a corner and yelped in surprise.
Rafael, clad only in loose-fitting trousers, stood with arms upraised, shirt poised over his head. He stiffened so violently at my arrival that every visible muscle in his torso hardened. The shirt fell quickly down, covering what my eyes couldn’t forget.
His hair was slick and dripping, and he slung his head back and forth in a very animal-like way to shake out the excess water.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was soft and curious.
I tried to swallow but couldn’t. “Everence…told me…”
He huffed. “Of course, she did. And I suppose she failed to mention that I bathe every night after sunset, did she?”
My cheeks burned so hot I thought they might melt off my face. Yes, she’d pointedly omitted this part. I would think twice about her innocent, sweet smile next time. Rafael’s half-dressed state had so entirely caught me off guard that I nearly forgot why I’d wandered down here in the first place. As he bent to collect a pair of shoes from the cave floor, I blinked hard and gathered my senses, but every single thing I’d planned to say had evaporated from my mind. I was a bumbling idiot, void of all rational thought.
“The shift,” I began, utterly at a loss for what words to say. “Can you explain it to me?”
He arched his brows. “Do you not find it abhorrent?”
The way he stood there, barefoot, holding a pair of shining shoes fit for a dance floor made words impossible to conjure up. “You were a bear a moment ago. Now you’re…this. I’m curious how it all works.”
He grunted. “You find my curse amusing, do you?” With that, he brushed past me and lifted a hand toward the stairs.
I snapped my jaw shut and whirled around.
Curse?
With that single word, my entire understanding of the man before me shifted. I’d assumed his fae powers were what turned him to a bear in the day, though I had no idea why a man would do such a thing. But if his transformation wasn’t a choice, that changed everything.
For a long moment, I stared at him. His arm fell slowly to his waist, but he didn’t break my stare. In his eyes was a raging tempest, a storm so muddled I could no more comprehend what he was thinking than I could call magical sparks down from the sky.
Finally, I blinked and hurried past him toward the stairs.
As I ascended, I couldn’t stop myself from turning to glance back over my shoulder every few steps. His deep brown eyes met mine, and at first, they were shuttered, closed off, impenetrable. Then, by the third time I looked back, his expression had changed. In his eyes, I saw a spark of curiosity, then desire. Questions spun in my mind, and I was more determined than ever to uncover his secrets.
29
Rafael
As we reached the small door at top of the stairs, Talia paused, one hand on the knob. Then she spun, once more, and fixed her large brown eyes on me, almost level with my own since she stood one step higher. In those eyes was the same blazing determination I’d seen in Puerta when she’d been hunting down the thief.
Her hand reached down and touched mine.
