Chapter 44 #2
I’d been trained to stay calm, to mask any reaction, but this woman was a rebellion all on her own. She was a bolt of lightning wrapped in silk, and I wanted to let it sink through me.
“You seem tense,” she said. “Or is that just for show? Trying to impress your lords and ladies?”
“What if I said I wanted to impress only you?”
“You weren’t friendly to me at first.”
“You stabbed me.”
She flicked her hand my way. “It was an accident. I tripped on my too-large clothing.”
“That you stole from someone.”
Her laugh burst out, making heads turn her way. “How did you guess?”
“I know you.” Even better than she believed. “From the moment I met you, you’ve been a problem. A delicious, infuriating problem.”
“There you go again, comparing me to food.”
“Do you enjoy being nibbled on?”
“It depends on who’s doing the nibbling.”
“Oh, it would be me. Only me.”
“Perhaps.” Her gorgeous blue eyes gleamed. “I will confess. Sometimes I do enjoy nibbling.”
Pherin cheeped, and Isi tilted her head in that direction.
I loved how quickly their bond was deepening.
She leaned close to whisper. “I think she might have a touch of hero-worship for him.”
I’d swear Pherin scowled, and I didn’t blame her.
“Maybe it’s Gavelle who’s worshipping Pherin,” I said.
Isi tilted her head, looking back and forth between the two birds. “She’s much too small for him, so tell him to cast his gaze in another direction. We can look for a lady cinderhawk to introduce him to.”
“I think that’s for them to decide, don’t you?”
“Perhaps.”
“She’s clever for a little bird. You two will learn a lot from each other.”
“I agree.”
Pherin hopped around on her shoulder, and Gavelle fluffed his wings. My eyes flicked between them, and I let a tiny smile creep onto my face.
She fingered the pendant hanging around her neck. “Thank you for repairing the chain. And for the leathers.” A frown filled her face. “They kept me alive, and being able to wear Addie’s pendant again kept my heart from breaking.”
“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Minx.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You’re full of pretty words tonight, aren’t you?”
“Do you want me to stop?”
She nibbled her lower lip and thought about it for longer than I liked. “No. I…like it.”
A start, then.
Her gaze flicked toward the dance floor briefly, then back to me. “I should dance with others. Derren. Bryson. Not Maddox.”
“If he comes near you, I’ll kill him,” I said quite pleasantly.
“Unless I get to him before you do.”
We both laughed. My little Isi could be quite feral, and I loved it.
But the fates, I adored everything about her, from the way her gaze dared me, the way her laugh was a threat and a lure, to the subtle power in her every movement. And the very worst was that she didn’t even need to try to undo me.
“Anyone who touches you with anything but kindness tonight will feel my wrath,” I said.
“Then it sounds like I’m the most dangerous one here tonight.”
To me and my heart, yes.
Grayson caught my eye and started toward me. Please. No business tonight. I wanted to give all my attention to Isi.
“Would you like to walk outside?” I asked quickly, holding out my arm.
With a nod, she placed her hand over it, the warmth of her fingers sending a bolt straight through my chest.
We left the bustling ballroom, stepping out onto the balcony and taking the stairs to the bottom, leaving Grayson behind.
I guided Isi into the courtyard. The cool air carried the perfume of night-blooming flowers.
As we took a path weaving through raised flower beds and bushes shaped to look like creatures, the light from the torches on the outer castle walls faded, and the music from the ballroom turned into a soft hum.
Above us, the stars shone bright and sharp, and a silver moon hung low, spilling a river of light across the stone path. It was just the two of us, and nothing else mattered.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Somewhere quieter.” I guided her along a narrow path where no one else wandered. The clatter of heels and gossiping voices fell away to nothing.
Her gaze remained on me, and my chest tightened.
The path opened into my personal garden, the wards I’d crafted myself closing the moment we passed through the arch, locking everyone else out.
The camellias I’d tended glowed pale in the moonlight, their blossoms heavy and fragrant. I led her to a cushioned bench, and she sank into it with a delicate sigh.
She held up the flower I’d given her. “You picked this here.”
I swept my hand out. “I tend to them myself. I wanted you to have something personal from me.”
“It’s lovely.” She pressed the blossom against her lips and drew in the flower’s light perfume.
I joined her on the bench. “Give the word, and I’ll pluck them all for you.”
“Then they’d die.”
“Not right away, and in between, they’d fill your room with the sweetest perfume.”
“I’d rather enjoy them here and think about you digging in the soil, carefully nurturing each one.”
“You can come here whenever you please, then.”
“I felt the wards when we entered.” She looked up at me. “Maybe they’ll attack if I come here without you.”
“Never,” I vowed. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She looked around for a long moment. “It would be nice to come here sometimes, to get away from everything else.”
“Including me?’
Her lips curved up sweetly. “Sometimes.”
My laugh rang out. “Then if I find you in my garden, I’ll ask if I can stay.”
“It’s your garden first.”
“Unless I give it to you.”
Her low laugh trilled out. “I don’t enjoy weeding, so I think you’d better keep it.”
The sound of her laughter faded, leaving only the whisper of night wind through the camellia stems and the echo of music from the ball. She looked up at me with those pale blue eyes that had haunted my thoughts forever, and the space between us felt charged with everything we’d been dancing around.
“Isi,” I said, her name barely a breath.
Her gaze dropped to my mouth, then flicked back up to meet mine.
The invitation there made something in my chest snap free.