Page 108 of The Unseen Hour

The thought that we might fail welled up in me. I bit down on my lip, determined to force down the urge to cry.

“What are you thinking?”

Ry was curled against my back, one hand combing through my hair. The light touch sent a pleasant sensation tingling down my spine, and it almost made me forget what I’d been so focused on moments before.

I’d promised him honesty. No layers between us.

“I was thinking that I could lose you.”

He laughed.

I rolled to face him, my nose scrunching as I scowled.

“Do you mind explaining how that’s humorous?”

He just grinned.

“I was thinking I might need to improve my technique, if you’re envisioning ways to get rid of me afterward.”

I placed one hand against his bare chest.

“You know that’s not it. I was thinking that I couldn’t stand to lose you. That everything we’re doing, even if it saved Emrys, wouldn’t be worth it if it costs you.”

His smile grew softer, the teasing tone in his voice taking on a soft edge.

“That will not happen. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure of it. And I couldn’t stand to lose you, either.”

One hand was still wrapped in my hair, and his eyes darkened, his gaze hardening.

“No one will take you from me, Celia. As long as you want me here, I’ll be by your side. Nothing will prevent that, not even a god.”

He leaned in, kissing me, and I responded hungrily.

It was only later, as I was drifting off to sleep, that the doubt crept back in.

CHAPTER 44

We’d headed west before the lights had even changed fully to purple and orange. We hadn’t even made it halfway to the Meadow when fog swirled. It circled Orion like a tornado.

“Celia, I’m sorry, but⁠—”

The cold of the Ether was nothing to the chill that struck deep in my bones.

“Does he know?”

What were the odds that the god of the Ether would summon Orion just after we’d returned from stealing a prized magical object from him?

Low, I was willing to bet.

“Can you refuse? Could we run?”

Even if we made it north of the Meadow and to the Ether’s entrance, it wouldn’t open until the hour. Maybe we could call Death? I had no idea how, but my mind raced trying to come up with a solution.

“I can’t refuse him. I haven’t shown you this, but I suppose you’re about to see. I get the fog as a warning; then he pulls me to him.”

I was trying to wave the fog away.

“What do you mean, he pulls you?”