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“Absolutely,” he said. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, little witch.”
Chapter
Sixteen
The following night, we were in the garden.
Lorik’s hand strayed below my waist, and I shot him a stern look, which had his lips twitching. The glowflies illuminated his face in varying shades of color as they bobbed and weaved and worked around us. The glowflies liked Lorik—or at least the brightbells and the death needle varieties did. The fire cups? Not so much. The shadevines…he’d nearly been stung.
One death needle glowfly landed on the tip of his horn, illuminating the striations of the black bone in silver light. I chuckled and said, “You look cute with your little friend.”
The look in Lorik’s eyes as he watched me nearly had me melting in place. Warm and gentle, it made my heart thud rapidly in my chest.
He likes me,I thought, the knowledge filling me with dizzy hope and excitement.He likes me a lot.
Lorik reached up, and the glowfly crawled onto the outstretched tip of his claw. He brought it down with care, observing the small insect, taking in its transparent, large wings and the way its body shimmered like a jewel.
“Most people are afraid of death needles because of their name,” I commented softly, observing them both. Behind him,I saw Peek in the hollow of the tree, spying in the garden, one of his favorite nooks outside. I smiled. “But they are actually the gentlest and most harmless of all the glowflies. Wrathweeds…those are the ones you need to watch out for.”
“I’ll stay all the way over here with you, then,” Lorik rumbled. “Marvelous little things, aren’t they? With more magic in their bodies than most Allavari possess in their lifetime.”
“Do you think it’s true?” I wondered. “What the villages are saying? That the Below is somehow leeching magic from this land? That Allavari are losing their power because of it?”
Lorik’s gaze met mine. The death needle glowfly flitted from his claw, landing on the nearby plant I was tending to, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the tiny insect burrow its way into the blackness of the flower.
“No, I don’t think that’s true,” he replied.
“Do you think the Allavari are losing their magic?”
“I think that the Allavari like to blame others for their problems and lack of dedication and study to their craft,” Lorik said. “Magic is an element. It’s like the air we breathe, the soil in the earth. Nothing more. To strengthen and hone it, it takes practice and care. Focus and study. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s not supposed to come easily. The Allavari have simply forgotten that.”
“Do they have a ‘Study of Magic’ Guild in Olimara?” I teased, clearing out a stray weed from the death needle bed, tossing it to the ground.
“Olimara?” he questioned. “Why Olimara?”
“Because I figured you’re the head of that guild, if there was such one. And since you don’t live in Rolara, I thought maybe you lived in Olimara since you mentioned it before.”
“I don’t have only one home,” he replied, picking up the weed I’d plucked, twirling it around in his fingers. “I have many. I like it that way.”
“So you’re like a nomad, flitting from village to village?” I asked.
His lips curled, and he shot me a sharp look. “Something like that.”
Did he know I was trying to pry? But he was so private and closed off about anything personal that I was beginning to feel strangely about it.
“I don’t know much about you, Lorik,” I said softly. “For all I know, you could have a mate tucked away somewhere with five or six children running around and I would be none the wiser.”
Lorik narrowed his eyes. “Do you believe I’m that type of male?”
“No,” I said. “But you never truly know someone, isn’t that right? I, um, was involved with a male from the village…oh, six years ago, maybe? He told me all sorts of things, promised all sorts of things. Turns out he was a liar and he stole all my potions on his way out. So…my instincts about someone have been wrong before.”
A strained silence followed. Truthfully, I was a little embarrassed to have admitted that I’d been taken advantage of by a man I’d trusted. Umerie had been his name. He’d had beautiful silver eyes and a charming smile. And I might’ve been too lonely and desperate to feelanythingthat I’d been blinded by him. I didn’t want that to happen again.
“Marion,” Lorik said. Hesitantly, I looked up to meet his eyes. “I can promise you with every part of me that I don’t have a mate or children hidden somewhere. You’re the only woman I want, the only one I’ve even allowed myself to get close to in a long time. That’s something you never have to worry about with me.”
I nodded, turning back to the garden bed. His words burned in my belly and brought heat to my cheeks. I was glad it was achilly night to help hide it, but I had a feeling that Lorik knew the effect of his words anyway.
“You’re…you’re the only male I’ve allowed myself to get close to in a long time too,” I confessed.
