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“Lorik,” I called out.
He didn’t reply. A gust of wind picked up, rustling the branches.
“Come out.”
I didn’t have to wait for long. I steeled myself for the sight of him, but it still felt like a punch in the gut.
He wasn’t wearing his glamour anymore. There was no need between us, I supposed. And he was even more handsome than I’d remembered. Or perhaps the time apart had just made me forget.
At his temples, the sides of his long, black hair were pulled away from his face in an intricate braid and pinned at the back of his head. It only put his sharp, wide features on further display. His high cheekbones, his pouting lips, and his cutting jawline. His brows were twin slashes across his face, his eyes tilted at the outer corners like a feline’s.
He was wearing a deep maroon vest, the color of human blood, a loose white shirt beneath it. His tight trews looked like suede, but they were supple and molded to his thighs perfectly. I spied the hilt of a silver dagger in his waistband. And as I studied him across the clearing, I watched his wings twitch, flaring once, twice, before he settled them against his back.
Nervous?I wondered.
“What is this?” I asked, though I thought I knew. Lorik’s gaze went down to the stone in my hand before it met mine again.
“A magicked stone,” he told me. “I’ve been working on it since… I’m sorry it’s taken so long. The runes were tricky to get right.”
“It’s warm,” I commented, my heart beating in my chest.
“I knew you were trying to keep them alive,” Lorik murmured, his glowing, beautiful eyes spearing into mine. I was under the impression that he wasdrinkingme in, like he feared this might be the last time we would speak. “I thought this would help you.”
“A replacement heart for the shadevine hive,” I murmured, unsure how I felt about that. “It won’t bring the queen back.”
“I know,” he rasped. “But I thought…I thought this would help. It will stay warm forever. It will never lose its heat. You could keep the hive alive without the queen until the rest…”
“Until they all die out,” I finished for him softly. My gaze strayed back to my palm.
He’d done this for me?
I hadn’t known he knew runes. A tricky magic, like he’d said, and very few ever mastered it. But they were infinitely more powerful than spells, which could dissipate like a breeze. Runes were permanent. Forever.
The bitter part of me thought it was the least he could do…then I felt ashamed for it.
The other part of me was touched. Another little piece of my icy heart seemed to flaw with the gift. This would keep the hive alive, and I wouldn’t have to change out the stone I warmed in the fire multiple times a day. One less thing I’d have to worry about.
Thank you,I thought, but I couldn’t say the words. He was the reason why the hive was without a heart, right?
Not him specifically,I reminded myself. Shame reared its head again, and I felt tears prick the backs of my eyes. I was so confused. Everything was muddled and messy, including my ever-changing emotions.
“Don’t, Marion,” Lorik said, his voice firm and gruff.
Gods, I’d missed his voice. A stab of longing went through me when I remembered hearing it first thing in the mornings, waking up with that voice.
Let’s stay in bed all day,he’d tease me, husky and warm. And I remembered how wide my smile had been as I’d pressed my face into his neck, inhaling the comforting scent of his skin.
“Don’t what?” I asked.
“Don’t thank me,” he said, his voice verging on angry. “I can see it. I can hear it. This is the very least I could have done. And still…it will never be enough. Ever. I’m embarrassed that this is the most I can give you.”
Silence lapsed between us. Lorik stood as close to Peek’s barrier as he could, and yet it felt like the distance was too great.
“I won’t thank you,” I finally said, looking down at my feet, my gaze flickering between my boots as I deliberated my next words. “But this will be a great help.”
Lorik said nothing.
There was a question hanging in the air, one I had thought a dozen times a day.
