Chapter Eleven
Kieran could not avoid his responsibilities.
No matter how appealing the idea had recently become.
There was no word on whether Cole had been dealt with, though Kieran was following the newssheets and had started paying runners to report back to him on anything of significance in Demon Row.
He’d sent word to Wraith that the Charm had been found.
Now he simply waited for Wraith’s next move.
It was the first day of a long weekend and Levity’s ball loomed at its end. It was hard to focus on mundane life when the threat still lingered, and Sera’s continued presence proved more distracting than ever.
Typically, on his days off, Kieran would head out into the Court to visit those that requested his presence.
The Courts had their own hierarchy, removed from the rest of the city, and he was the recognized leader of Winter.
It wasn’t an elected position, like his status as alderman, and it granted him only marginal power since Unity’s laws superseded any act he might take.
But he was responsible for the welfare of the Winter denizens, for solving disputes or problems that lay outside the jurisdiction of parliament, and that included answering their calls for service.
Kieran had hardly slept the night before. Sera’s shift in mood the previous night was obviously not the sort she wished to disclose. She’d had the opportunity last night and yet hadn’t actually told him what was wrong. He did not need to know what had caused her upset.
Did not need to dwell on her well-being and yet, dwell he did.
For hours Kieran wrestled with getting up, leaving his bedchamber, finding Sera’s hallway, opening her door…
He had stopped just outside her room. He couldn’t bring himself to knock.
Her worries were not his. Her mood was not his responsibility.
He didn’t care why she had suddenly turned cold and distracted after meeting with Varian.
Did not care why Seth had apparently needed her, or why it was more pressing than their plans to finally stop skirting around this damned attraction.
Did he question his own understanding of her relationship with Seth?
Yes. Perhaps he had read ‘familial’ wrong and it was in fact a romantic interest of some kind.
Perhaps he had witnessed her jealousy that Varian might turn Seth’s eyes from her.
His knuckles had halted on the wood, jaw tense. He was desperate for an answer. Restless with the itch to know if their situation was simply one of her many options. It was unsettling how much that fact would hurt.
In the end, he’d returned to his room and, in the fleeting moments where he slept, he had dreamed only of her.
—
The following morning, he had not intended to pass by her door and yet that is where he found himself when she opened it.
He froze. The sight of her did something in his chest, though he wasn’t sure how much lust had to do with it, not when there was still sadness in her eyes.
She hadn’t noticed him until she’d shut the door behind her and then she jumped.
“Divine above, you’re so quiet,” she breathed, hand on her chest.
“Apologies,” he offered, and awkward quiet descended. He swallowed before adding, “I was on my way out. Good day.” A quick, polite nod. Arms flexing behind his back. He hurried on his way, closing his eyes briefly as his body inevitably passed hers and every sense was briefly flooded by Sera.
Her scent, the warmth from her body, the sound of her sharp inhale—did their meager exchange of forced pleasantries threaten to crush her the way it did him?
“Where?” She asked, halting him.
He kept his back to her, not quite strong enough to turn around fully. “Some business in the Court.”
“Oh.” She sounded defeated. Had she wanted him to say something more? “Do you mind if I join you? I was going to head out myself. Seth won’t be up for hours, we were up very late, but… I found myself awake anyway.”
His muscles clenched at her admission. Turning, he saw concern in the cast of her eyes at her door, the somber angle of her lips. What had kept them up so late? A part of him feared their connection was sexual, but that did not account for her sadness.
Questions weighed in his chest, an urgent need to engage in the conversation hidden in her eyes. Instead of inquiry, however, he stretched out his arm in an ‘after you’ gesture.
“You are welcome to accompany me, but I warn you, my work can be a quite grim.”
She seemed unfocused, her gaze sweeping instead of engaging with him. “Oh. I’m sure it’s fine. Let me grab my coat. Hold on.” She disappeared into the room.
He tilted his head, trying to piece together the various clues he possessed. What could have caused such a shift in her mood that would concern her friend?
When she returned with her coat, she set off with a heavy sigh, mechanically following the path to the door. He followed a pace behind her until they reached the foyer, observing.
Sera had not seemed to notice his lagging. She ambled, her steps meandering.
She waited at the door, lost in thought, for almost five minutes.
Kieran might have urged her forward—he did have a schedule to keep—but then the sun had streamed through the window behind her, lighting her body in an angelic halo.
Sera was so much more than mere beauty, but in the serenity of the foyer, with her dark hair reflecting golden beams and the flush of cold on her cheeks, it was enough to steal his breath.
Once outside, the air was colder, a breeze adding some bite.
A stone walkway led to his home from the main footpath used to traverse the Court.
The sun caught the drifts of snow, glinting almost blindingly in their eyes.
Thankfully the path veered northwest, putting the worst of the glare behind them.
He kept pace with her as they walked, not forging ahead, but still leading their direction. The cardinals chirped in the trees, their bright red plumage stark against the muted tones of Winter. It was a morning almost picturesque, beautifully mundane.
It was impossible to keep his gaze from drifting to Sera, his head constantly turning before he had to force his eyes forward. At least she hadn’t noticed. Her eyes were firmly on the ground, fingers twirling near her chest.
“Here.” He stopped at the first house after his. It was similar to his estate in size and stature. All the homes furthest toward the outer boundary of the city were inhabited by prominent fae families. This one belonged to the Aceria family and they had a standing appointment.
Sera’s attention turned to the manor in front of them. Some light returned to her eyes. “What sort of wood is that?”
Kieran’s brow creased as he followed her gaze. “I am not sure what it’s called.”
“It’s clearly of fae origin. I wonder if it’s a type of lumber specific to this region?
Or the region that inspired this Court? Your home has that light, almost gray wood with the silvery threads and is surprisingly lightweight given the density.
A lot of homes here use this lavender type of wood and if I knew the name I could—”
She stopped, and a heavy blush colored her cheeks darker than the wind chill. “But, um, it doesn’t matter. The type of wood. That’s stu—”
“Do not finish that statement,” he ordered. Sera’s jaw snapped closed. “You know more about the construction of my home than I do. Quite the opposite of stupid.”
“Well, if I could get my hands on the blueprints.”
He smiled. Smiles, it seemed, were becoming a frequent affliction.
“Are you grinning?”
He shook his head, but he couldn’t quite shake the levity from his features, a distinctive difference from a bored scowl.
“Liar.” Sera’s grin returned and maybe that was all that mattered. “I must be rubbing off if the Lord of Ice can crack a genuine smile.”
“Or perhaps it is in spite of you,” he said, and her offended scoff almost made him chuckle. Smiles. Laughter. He’d think he were ill, if he wasn’t certain of the cause.
“And now you have jokes. What the hell happened in the last twenty-four hours to thaw your sneer?” She batted her eyes, dramatically angling her shoulders to appear the tempting maiden. “Or maybe it’s your insatiable lust for me driving you to the unfathomable brink of emotions.”
“Perhaps,” he agreed, but only to humor her. “But that would put you in constant danger of tempting my voracious desires. You should be more careful about capturing my attention.”
The mood—changed. He meant the words as jest, but Sera shivered and he sensed the race of her pulse.
It was not his intention to transform playful banter into salacious suggestion.
The teasing in her eyes darkened with lust and Kieran was vaguely aware that they were in the middle of a public path outside his neighbor’s home.
The distance between them dwindled as they had talked, now perilously meager. The unfulfilled tension vibrated in the air. He would only have to reach out to feel her cheek with his hand, to lose himself in the electric passion of her skin beneath his. But Divine above, not here.
“Do you wish to wait outside?” He asked, for lack of anything else to say. Because the words in his mind would do nothing to help the situation. The words in his mind ignited the spark they created and didn’t give a shit who watched.
“Wait outside?” she asked, voice dazed and alluring.
“Yes, I have to go in.”
She did not look away, only stepped closer. “Okay, yeah. You go in and I’ll…” Her hand settled on his chest and Kieran closed his eyes.
“Sera, I cannot do this here.”
She pulled her hand away and he was grateful for the space to breathe again. “Right. Right. You have to go inside. I… sorry.” She stepped back, tucking hair behind her ear.
Kieran focused on regulating his pulse and returning to a semblance of normal before he entered his neighbor’s house hard and aroused.