AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But I thought only Arazian and his mutants lived in the First City. Do you think one of them will really work with an Undesirable orphan from Avren to destroy its creator?” None of this makes sense to me.
He scratches his head, his warm smile shining down on me. “There are parts of the prophecy which remain mysteries waiting to be deciphered.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
With the others out of the house, we spend the rest of the afternoon in the common room. Levi stacks wood in the fireplace and soon has a crackling fire roaring in the hearth. I carry several books from the shelf in our room, dropping them with a thud on the table.
I inspect the title of a blue book with silver letters embossed on the cover. “Do you think Bastian has read these books?” I flip the title in Levi’s direction. “Even Sowing Seeds?”
He covers his mouth with his fist to hide a smirk. “Bastian has sown a few seeds both in and out of the garden.”
That’s what I thought.
Tossing the blue book onto the couch, I settle on a fictional story about fairies to pass the time. The coziness of the red velvet cushion on the armchair and the warmth of the fire and the blanket over my legs have me dozing off.
The front door slams, startling me awake. Bastian removes his jacket. He hangs it beside the door and turns to me, an unfamiliar look on his face—one I’ve seen on Flynn’s face before.
Desire.
What the hell is he doing here?
I look around the room for Levi, but he’s gone. Did he go to the bedroom to lie down? Spread on my lap, the book is open to a chapter where the fairy’s glamour tricks the main character. But Levi is part fae, not Bastian.
“Where are the others?” I ask, keeping the blanket over my legs, protected from his heated gaze. “I thought it was a two-day journey to the Ringlet Forest.”
He crosses the floor in long strides before he kneels beside the armchair. Shadows dance over his chiseled face in the flickers of the firelight, and it takes everything within me to keep from reaching out and touching his skin. “Maribel. One day without you had me going insane. You are the reason I wake every morning—the siren of my dreams.” He pitches forward, over the arm of the chair, and closer to me.
I squirm, edging away from him like I did with Grayson on the bench in the Council room.
What’s wrong with me? Don’t I want this?
It doesn’t make sense. This man, only this morning, said he didn’t want me around. And it’s obvious we can’t be alone together. So what’s he doing here?
His mouth is dangerously close, and I want to close my eyes to block out the fullness of his lips and that damn sexy scar—but if I close my eyes, he might try to kiss me. “You haunt me, Maribel Windsong.” Soft lips brush against mine.
I stiffen. This is not what I want. Not when he treated me so badly.
Bastian cradles my face in his palm, his long fingers caressing my skin. “What’s wrong?” he whispers. “You want this too. You know it.” His lips trail along my jawline, sending a delicious shiver down my spine. “From the second you stepped through the front door of the cabin, I knew I’d never see you as my sister.”
I gaze into his eyes. Fire blazes within his crystal-blue irises.
“But can you ever see me as a Redeemed? As one of the Kindred Few?”
His fingers pause. “Mari… darling.” The corner of his lip lifts in a smirk. “Know you’ll never be one of us.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. When I open my eyes, he’s gone. It was all a dream, but it revealed my true feelings about him. Commander Bastian Hale will never see me as a member of the Kindred Few. I am an outsider living in his home, taking up space and eating his food.
Placing the book on an end table, I fold the blanket and lay it over the top of the armchair. My stomach growls, so I head into the kitchen to find something to cook for dinner for the two of us. If Levi really plans to take me to Mafekadi tomorrow, I want to make sure I get to bed early.
Not really knowing how to cook, I slice some fruit and arrange it on a plate. I wish I had paid more attention to Caron working in the kitchen of our apartment. She was an excellent cook.
The back door opens, and Levi enters carrying an armload of some yellow flowers that grow in the garden. “You’re awake.”
“I hope you’re not decorating with flowers for me.” I hate to discourage romantic gestures, but unlike Bastian, Levi really feels like a brother. “We’re leaving in the morning.”
He removes a pocketknife from his coat and promptly cuts the head from a flower. It drops onto a plate. Beneath the counter, he removes gloves from the cabinet and puts them on. Taking a stone from his pocket, he grinds the petals into a pulp. Not exactly the romantic gesture I first envisioned when he carried in the bouquet.
“Yarrow.” He pinches a small amount of the flower pulp between his fingers and sprinkles it into the open locket around his neck. “It will ward off evil spirits on our journey to the land of the fae.” He holds up a second chain with a round locket, filling it with more ground yarrow.
