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She nodded.
“That is unfortunate,” he whispered, holding her evergreen stare. “I have so many questions.”
“You talk too much,” she snapped back, stiffening ever so slightly as though she didn’t mean to say that, but she didn’t apologize, only held his gaze with her chin held high.
“And what else do you think about me, Meira?”
A crease formed between her brows. “Quit saying my name like that.”
“Like what?” He was edging toward her, wanting to be near enough to feel her breath on his skin. Their knees brushed under the table.
“Like it’s a delicacy.” Her voice was soft and low.
“You enjoy it though. Don’t you?”
She nodded. Frowned. Still, she leaned toward him.
“What else do you think about me, Meira?” he asked again and her cheeks flamed red.
“You’re not as charming as you think you are. You’re arrogant. Sometimes incredibly annoying. And—” Her mouth formed a straight line.
“And…” He curled a finger under her jaw and tipped her face up to him. He wanted to drown in the emerald color of her eyes.
“And you’re a second away from losing your fingers if you don’t get your hand off me.”
He laughed under his breath and dropped his hand, but didn’t put any more room between them. If he gave in to the want inside of him all he’d have to do is close the inch of space that separated their lips.
Whatever she wanted to say, there were other truths that she could use to get around saying it. He’d wonder what it was she refused to tell him for the rest of his life.
“Why did you put this curse on me?” Remis asked softly.
There it was. The big terrible question.
She shook her head gently, her nose scrunching ever so slightly. “I don’t know.”
His chair swayed, the legs wobbly, as he dared put his body close enough that their legs were practically intertwined now. “You don’t know? Why?”
Long lashes brushed her cheeks as she closed her eyes. “I woke up without…without my memories, and with this damn thing on my hand.” Her eyes snapped open and she pulled her glove free to reveal the scar-like mark upon her palm. “And the need to get to you. But no. I do not know why. Time is a great and terrible resource to play with and my memories haven’t caught back up with me yet.”
Remis stared down at that mark, the one that tied them together. On her delicate hand, it didn’t look quite as threatening or daunting. Then again, she was the huntress and not the one being hunted. Her skin was calloused and riddled with scars, the eye was just another to match the rest. He reached out and brushed a finger along the design. One brief touch of her skin was enough to make his pants feel suddenly tight. With the tip of his finger, he drew a line up to her slender wrist and teased underneath the hem of her sleeve. He swore he saw her lashes flutter.
“You remember nothing?” he asked.
Admittedly, his knowledge of witches was small and stained by the stories Emperor Grandith had spread or fogged in long-ago memories. Did what she had said mean that she’d somehow moved through time itself? This only led to more questions.
“I remember some things.”
“Like what?”
Meira flexed her hands against the table before pulling them into her lap and slipping her glove back into place. She refused eye contact as she spoke. “I've seen you. First when I woke, the moment you looked down at the mark for the first time. Then in another memory, we were in the woods talking.” She straightened. Scowled. “Then I saw us at a celebration, near the woods.” Her entire face scrunched and she tilted her head side to side. “Dragons, this serum. We were kissing. Touching.”
Now this was a particularly new and exciting development.
“Kissing?” Remis smiled. Meira made a noise somewhere between a breath and a laugh. “None of those memories sound much like any reason to want to kill me.”
“I’m inclined to agree. However, I wouldn’t have let myself get marked and ruin my entire life unless there was a reason worth risking it all for.”
In some other time, some other life, he supposed, they’d been together; it made sense now the attraction he felt despite the circumstance.
