Page 69 of The Unseen Hour

“Thank you, Starlight.”

When he stood, he swayed, but with me supporting him under his arm we made it inside. I helped him onto the second cot he’d set up after my arrival but kept him sitting up, his back against a wall.

I put the back of my hand to his forehead. Not feverish, thank all the blasted gods.

He let out a sigh.

“Much better.”

“You’re not going to expire on me, then?”

“No. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

“Maybe I like being stuck with you. If that bear … if something had happened …”

Blasted ghosts!

I was starting to cry. All the adrenaline had finally leached from my system, leaving room for me to focus on how close we’d come to death. How close I’d been to losing Orion.

As tears started to roll down my cheeks, Orion reached out and tugged on my hands. I sank down next to him, kneeling at the edge of the cot. I would have loved to lean against him, or tuck myself into his arms, but I didn’t want to jostle him.

He reached up, cupping my cheek. His palm came away wet.

“I wouldn’t leave you alone down here. That’s a promise. Is that what you were worried about?” he whispered.

I was too tired to play games with my words.

“I wasn’t worried for myself. I was worried about you. I would have been devastated. You’ve been down here all this time, and you’re so close to getting home. If it had been my fault … if you’d died down here because you were trying to save me, I never could have forgiven myself. You deserve to go home too, Ry. You deserve a life.”

“Mmm-hmm,” he mused, “and what about you? You jumped onto the back of a great bear—a creature I’ve never managed to hunt here—and nearly got yourself trampled. You would have come all this way for selfless reasons, compassionate reasons, and would have died because you were more concerned for me than yourself. I did tell you to run away, you know.”

His voice was soft and soothing. I scowled at him but didn’t pull away from his touch. His thumb traced my jawline.

I shivered.

“Yes. I know. But I couldn’t leave you.”

“You, Celia Hipnosi, are remarkable. No man could tell you what to do. No man should try. If we do make it back, after we break the Unseen Hour, I’ll help you with whatever other goals you seek to achieve. I have no doubt you can shatter any barrier you set your mind to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know how you’ve said you hate ‘flouncing around,’ as you put it, in restrictive pink dresses. While I’d give quite a bit of money to see you in a pink, puffy dress, you have a right to wear what you like, and go where you like, and I’ll do all I can to see that hope achieved. A hundred years ago, I attended all the same endless social events of the season that you’ve endured. I met every eligible woman in Emrys, and I can assure you that I’ve never met someone like you.”

“Someone who caused this much trouble?”

Orion shook his head.

“No. Someone I cared for this much. Someone who woke something deep in me that I thought had been long extinguished. I will defend you from anyone who tries to cage you, just like I did with the great bears. Not because you can’t do it on your own, but because you shouldn’t have to. I won’t allow anyone to take your spark, or snuff it out. No one gets to hurt you.”

The blue flecks in his eyes were blazing.

My heart stuttered.

Could we really find a way to change things, even back in Emrys?

And do it together?

The idea was intoxicating.