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“You’ve met her before?” I couldn’t help feeling intense interest in his past. What had led him to reject his life of privilege in favor of becoming an outcast?
He shrugged. “Briefly.”
I fell silent when my mental calculations told me Luna’s apprenticeship must have started at a similar time to Nik’s disappearance. After our confrontation with Grey and Nik’s departure, Amara had told me what little she knew about Nik’s situation, but it hadn’t been much. Because Amara was the most senior traveling mage in the kingdom, the king and queen had taken her into their confidence, hoping she might encounter their son. But even so, they had been short on detail, which was hardly a surprise. The last thing they must have wanted was for the kingdom at large to discover their son had chosen to exile himself from both them and society.
I examined his face, and Nik met my eyes steadily. Ever since he’d pulled me aside, he’d been behaving more gently and considerately than in any of our previous interactions. But I could still see traces of defiance behind his expression, and it made me uneasy.
Whatever had caused the changes in Nik, plenty of his old attitude still remained.
As if reading the mistrust in my eyes, Nik stepped closer again, capturing one of my hands in his.
“I’m sorry about last time,” he said in a low, husky voice that was nearly my undoing. “I never should have asked you to become a reneger. I wouldn’t choose that life for anyone, let alone you.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Careful, Nik,” I said playfully. “It almost sounds like you care about me.”
He flushed and looked away, making the joking smile fall from my face. I had been half teasing, half probing, hoping to expose the simmering emotions I could see beneath his surface. I hadn’t expected him to take my words so seriously.
Awkwardly I cleared my throat. A heedless part of me wanted to believe that Nik had thought as often of me in the weeks of our separation as I had thought of him. I wanted to believe he had truly softened when faced with my absence.
But the more realistic part of me fixated on the reasons for his return. Nik had been unable to convince us to join him and had been forced to follow Grey alone—just as he had always done. His brief experience of allies had ended in a betrayal of sorts—at least from his perspective—and now he was back for reasons I still didn’t know. My instincts told me he needed something from me, and I would be wise not to read anything more into this interaction than that.
“Why are you here?” I repeated the question in a firm voice, trying to let him know that I wanted the truth this time instead of distracting comments that made it sound like he’d come back for me.
Nik leaned forward, putting one hand on the wall beside my head, his eyes trained on mine.
“I need you.” His low voice sent a thrill through me, sending my thoughts into free fall.
What had he just said? And what could he possibly mean by it? My mind struggled to form coherent thoughts as my pulse spiked dangerously high and my eyes once again dropped to his lips.
But his face remained maddeningly still, just too far away for me to be sure of his intentions, although he was close enough for me to feel his breath against my skin. Whatever Nik had meant, it wasn’t what the treacherous part of me wanted it to be.
“What…” My dry mouth failed me, and I licked my lips and tried again. “What do you mean?”
“I think I know a way to rescue Miranda and to take Grey down for good. But my plan requires you.” He swayed closer, speaking against the curls beside my ear, his breath making them move and sending goosebumps down my arms. “It involves danger.”
His words reached the faltering parts of my brain like a jolt of lightning. I reared back and hit my head against the wall behind me.
Wincing, I reached up to rub the sore spot, but his hand was faster, cupping the back of my head and massaging it gently while his eyes sent me an apology. I gulped and tried to pull back, but his free arm had somehow found its way to my waist, holding me firmly in place.
I tried to ignore the searing effect of his touch and forced my tongue to resume function.
“Why would you need me? There are plenty of healers as powerful as me, and most of them must be better trained.”
“I need you precisely because you’re young and new to training,” he said. “You fit the profile of Grey’s targets. He wants people young and malleable—ones who can be bent to his will. And, in particular, he’s already intrigued by you. He’s tested your strength, and he’s curious about your ability. Not many people would be capable of fending him off like you did. He wants you, Delphine, and that’s why it has to be you.”
For a long moment I stared at him, my eyes trapped by his, something unspoken and charged hanging between us.
But the longer Nik looked into my eyes, the darker his became. “I’ve spent weeks trying to think of a different plan. I would never suggest this if I could think of any other way. But I believe in you, Delphine. You’re strong enough for this.”
“You’ve changed your tune,” I said weakly, remembering how often he had rejected me as useless after we first met.
He released me so suddenly, I almost staggered. As he stepped back to put space between us, his eyes dropped away from mine.
“I’ve already acknowledged your usefulness—I was the one who suggested we work together to capture Grey, remember? And I’m the one who asked you to chase after him with me.”
I slowly nodded, confused by his seesawing manner.
