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“As wretched as the circumstances are, I’m secretly a little glad,” he said. His blue eyes seemed to penetrate Elyse as he continued. “I’m glad you felt like you could come to me, and I’m glad to be able to spend this time with you.”
She wasn’t sure what to say. Some part of her, buried deep beneath her melancholy, was perhaps glad for their reuniting as well. But it was nearly out of reach, shrouded by self-loathing and guilt.
Jaime cleared his throat and continued, somewhat sheepishly. “I felt horrid that I went so long without reaching out to you when I got back.”
Elyse recalled the night she’d run into him at Taverne De Lac. She’d thought he was away traveling the continent, and when she found out he’d been back for six months, she’d felt slighted. She wasn’t used to being carelessly tossed aside, certainly not by men who seemed entranced by her, and she had resented him for it.
Jaime rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. “I meant to reach out right away, but I got busy with a trade as soon as I came back. And then weeks passed and I felt ashamed that I hadn’t gotten in touch with you, though I still wanted to. I was scared you’d be upset, or maybe you wouldn’t even want to see me. And so I kept putting it off, which only made me feel more ashamed, and…”
He was rambling. He was always so collected, always swaggering, and now he was stringing his sentences along like he couldn’t help the way they poured out. The tiniest hint of a smile tugged at Elyse’s lips.
“I can say wholeheartedly that all is forgiven,” she said, and she meant it. It seemed such a silly thing to hold over him in light of how much he’d done for her these past months.
His face split into a grin, and his gaze traveled away, toward the lake.
“I’m glad you got to spend some time out here,” he mused. “I’m sorry that you’ll be cooped up for so long.”
Elyse followed his gaze out to the lake. It was so much more breathtaking up close. Feeling the breeze and seeing the tranquil movement of the water was incomparable to merely watching it from a faraway window. She sighed and sat up straight, pulling her hand away from Jaime’s.
“Perhaps I could just—” she began, but he cut her off abruptly.
“No. The safest place for you is inside the house. That’s where the wards are.” She didn’t look at him, but she could feel the heat of his stare. “The Guard is using all sorts of tactics to track you down. It’s too risky.”
Elyse nodded. As much as it pained her, she knew he was right. She glanced up at the house and steeled herself to be locked up once again. At least in a few weeks there would be another full moon, and she could get out then.
Chapter 5
- Killian -
Sweat trickled from Killian’s dark curls, down his temple and his hard jawline. It dripped from his chin to his mangled pectoral, where the flesh was pocked and discolored, and down his chiseled abdomen that heaved with every ragged breath. He stood with his hands resting on top of his head, gulping down the humid air.
He’d pushed himself hard today—had needed to. The meeting with Siamus had left him with a lingering exhilaration that he needed to expend. He’d gone to the place he always went when he felt overstimulated—Elyse’s obstacle course.
The Guard stayed posted outside her shoppe, keeping an eye out for Elyse, but they had paid little mind to the training course in the woods behind the cottage. Killian could come and go as he pleased, free to use the course without anyone even noticing.
What seemed like a lifetime ago, Elyse had shown him how to, for lack of a better word, communicate with the course, tailoring it to different skill levels and emphases. It had been designed to mimic actual, multi-person combat. The burlap-sack dummies could be activated to shoot stones or stunning spells at a moving target, and they could shield themselves as well. It was truly a brilliant combination of both traditional and magical engineering, reminding Killian every day just what level of cunning he was up against.
He’d come a long way since his initial days of training, when he’d had to put all his focus into creating a tiny shield. Now he could duck and dive through obstacles, shield himself, and shoot hexes at the dummies. Sometimes his spells even hit them.
He was especially proud of his performance today. He had moved with intention and lethal elegance fueled by adrenaline, and he’d hit one of the dummies square in its chest three times in a row.
While the course was essentially perfect, there was one way in which it lacked. Training alone meant no one to celebrate with. He missed the brotherhood of the Guard and sharing an ale with his fellow soldiers after a hard day’s training. He missed it like he missed his siblings and his father.
He heard a faint rustling—barely audible over his own panting—and turned toward the sound. Manny, his best friend and former second-in-command, strolled through the trees toward him. He wore his black military jerkin, the sight of which sent a pang through Killian.
He looked flustered. His sandy-blond hair was pulled back into a bun, but the edges along his hairline curled into wisps from the humidity. Sweat gathered on his brow, and his cheeks were reddened from the sun. He smiled at Killian, offering him a wave, but the smile was forced, not the genuine one he almost always donned.
“I figured I’d find you here,” Manny called as he stepped through the obstacle course and into the center of the fighting pit. “I stopped by your mother’s place, but she said you weren’t home. Mentioned something about a job?”
Killian sensed a full conversation coming, so he dropped to the sandy floor and perched his elbows on his knees. He toyed with the strip of leather on his wrist—the one threaded with a crystal. The crystal given to him by Elyse that allowed him to channel his magic.
“There is no job,” he said finally.
Manny sighed. “I was afraid of that.” He sat down beside Killian without any of his usual grace. His broad shoulders wilted as he dropped his forehead to his palm.
“You’re going to give that woman a heart condition,” he groaned.
Now it was Killian’s turn to sigh. “I know.” He leaned back, digging the heels of his hand into the sand and glimpsing up at the brilliant blue sky. The sky always seemed richer after training. “It’ll be the last lie I tell her. I promise.”
