Page 44 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

I thank the Gods for him every day. The world is harsh and cold, but it would be so much worse if I didn’t have him in my life.

The soft emotions settle, warming me, chasing away the negative ones that have plagued me all day.

But the reprieve is swept away the moment a foreboding sensation settles on my shoulders.

My gaze darts to the forest. The feeling of being watched is undeniable, burning almost as hot as the Fae magic coiled around my throat.

“What is it?” He follows my stare.

We’re still in a populated part of town, far enough from the forest that I usually don’t feel these eerie sensations like I do when visiting the forge. There are no glowing eyes in the dark foliage, but I know something watches me.

“N-nothing.” I swallow the lump in my throat and pick up my pace. Lev’s arm falls away. “But let’s hurry. I don’t know when the Fae will come for me again.”

He obliges without complaint, but I sense his questioning eyes boring into the back of my head the entire way to Juniper’s cottage.

The road under my feet gives way to a dirt path with stepping stones curving to the left, leading toward my childhood home. The herbal garden under the front window is in full bloom—in need of harvesting before the leaves shrivel up with the cooler weather coming in.

“This is where I leave you.” Lev takes my hand and draws me into his chest.

This time, his kiss is light and sweet, but the slight pressure at the end tells me he’d let it become more if that’s what I want.

I draw back, fighting off a shudder as the heavy stare from the trees intensifies. “What will you do tonight?”

Starting this evening, Lev is off duty for the next two days. We planned to spend it together, enjoying the start of the festival…before the Fae arrived and ruined everything.

“Oh, you know, I’ll probably just hang out with the guys.” He shrugs, but there’s a tightness around his eyes that I don’t understand.

“Who will you⁠—”

“Elara Stonebloom,” a stern, aged voice calls. “It’s about time you came to see me.”

I step away from Lev and turn to the cottage.

Juniper stands on the threshold, leaning heavily on the cane in her hands. Her long silver braid hangs over one shoulder. Her wrinkled eyelids lower as she looks me over, hardening slightly when they shift to the man at my side.

“Ironheart.”

Lev swallows thickly. “Mistress Fernweaver. I hope you are well.”

“As well as an old crone like me can be,” she clips back with a frown before looking back at me. “Well? Are you coming in, child?”

I slide my gaze to Lev and murmur, “I’ll see you later.”

He presses his lips together and nods. “Be safe, Lara.”

He retreats the way we came. The sun brings out the lighter strands of his thick brown hair. The breadth of his shoulders stretches his shirt. I can get him a larger one for his birthday later this month.

If you don’t fail and condemn Verdanthia to ruin, you mean.

Juniper clears her throat. I turn and smile at the woman who gave me and Ferria a life most orphans would kill for.

“Why you still bother with that boy is beyond me.”

My smile falls, and I sigh. “Don’t start, Juniper.”

“The Ironhearts are brutes.”

“Lev isn’t like that.”