Chapter 56 #2
Yvette’s troubled eyes flicked to him in confusion.
“I’ve heard from others that the guards have trained the fish in the bay to eat prisoners if they try to swim away,” he added conversationally.
“Is this supposed to be making me feel better?” Yvette turned to him fully.
Florian shrugged, arranging himself casually. “I’ve also heard that the warden has a spiked tail and enjoys gnawing on the bones of inmates.”
Yvette rolled her eyes at his antics, but Florian’s efforts were rewarded with a genuine smile. He hadn’t paid enough attention to her mouth, her full, pursed lips. They were the lightest shade of pink. He’d bet anything they would be soft as flower petals.
“It’s the sea cells you’ve got to fear in Deepgate.” Lilith’s voice fell over them like a sheet of icy rain. Florian hadn’t even noticed her approach. He lowered his eyes, taking in a sobering breath. He should have known better than to joke.
“The caverns at the bottom of the tower flood almost to the top every day at high tide,” Lilith said.
Her eyes were harsh with an old pain that had been sharpened into something new.
“Prisoners are sent there for punishment when the water is low. You think that the jagged, damp floor is the torture. But then the tide starts to rise until there’s no choice but to tread for hours, if you’ve got the strength.
If not… Many don’t last, especially not for days on end. ”
“I’m sorry Lil’. I didn’t mean to…” Florian sighed apologetically.
“No soul deserves that fate, especially not Keira,” Lilith said, her eyes now locked on Yvette.
“That’s why we’re going to make it right,” Florian said, catching Lilith’s stare.
Her blue eyes burned into his, but he held her gaze.
It was Rhea who broke their connection, placing a hand on her wife’s shoulder.
“It’s late, come to bed.”
Lilith turned away, leading the way back to their tent. Rhea gave them one more parting glance before following after her.
“She’s right to hate me,” Yvette said quietly.
“She doesn’t,” Florian sighed. “She’s just afraid, like the rest of us.”
Yvette looked at him with wide, brown eyes, the firelight flickering in her gaze. Florian studied the pattern of freckles scattered over her cheeks.
“Florian,” Knox called his name, standing at the opening of their tent.
“I’ll turn in soon,” Florian answered.
The displeasure was clear on Knox’s face, but he left them anyhow. Gareth seemed to be retiring as well.
“We should practice, before tomorrow,” Yvette said when it was just the two of them before the fire.
Florian raised a brow.
“I need to practice using my magic on another person,” Yvette explained, “and you need to adjust to not being able to see yourself, or me. It’s harder than it looks.”
He rubbed a hand back through his hair. She was right, of course.
They found an open clearing away from the fire, though still in sight of the camp. Her back was to the lake as she came to face him. The sparkling waters framed her fiery hair. Her pale skin practically glowing in the growing darkness. She was beautiful, entrancing, captivating-
She was gone.
Confusion stole his breath away before his senses caught up with him.
“Even though you can’t see me.” Her voice drifted to him. “I can still be heard.” Around him, the grass bent and swayed. “You can still see the effects I have on my surroundings.”
Florian’s heart skipped as he felt the warmth of her hand spread across his chest. Fate have mercy, did she have any idea what she was doing to him?
“You can still feel my touch.” Her whisper was only inches away.
He’d never be able to explain the logic of what he did next, or how he had known exactly where she was even though he couldn’t see a thing, but Florian reached out and brushed his thumb against her cheek.
Touching her, feeling her hands on him and not being able to see her… it was thrilling to say the least.
She reappeared suddenly, lips parted in surprise.
“Dance with me,” Florian whispered, fingers trailing down her long neck.
“Florian-”
“We need to be able to move together, anticipate each other, even when we cannot see. Is there a better way to learn each other’s movements?” Even as he asked, he could think of several better ways, but pushed those thoughts aside.
“Florian…” her voice trailed off.
He waited for her to protest, to back away, but she remained still against him, unknowable thoughts working behind those clever eyes. Florian brushed his fingers down her back. He took gentle hold of the hand against his chest until they were in proper form.
“Dance with me.” His voice was low, intimate.
He could barely breathe as he waited. Of course, he knew they should be focusing on the perils awaiting them tomorrow.
But all he could think about now was the smoothness of her skin and the shallow motions of her chest. He supposed this was as close as he could come to serving both practicality and his insatiable desire just to be close to her.
The moment of decision was unmistakable in her features as she settled into his hold.
He was better prepared this time as she worked the magic over them both.
The lightness coated his skin as they both vanished into the night air.
Florian was the first to step, summoning the reflex planted in him by his dancing instructors all those years ago.
It had been some time since he had danced so formally, but the movements came back to him like second nature.
Yvette was light on her feet and followed him with ease.
For the first turns, a large portion of his focus was set on moving, despite being unable to see where exactly his steps would land.
He was partially thankful that she couldn’t see him as he stared at the ground, marveling as the grass parted beneath his footfalls.
But soon enough he acclimated, trusting his instincts.
Florian allowed his mind to drift back to her in his arms, marvelling at the sense that he was dancing with a ghost.
It happened so suddenly it was hard to say who began to fall first. Florian only knew that he tucked her against his chest and turned purposefully to land onto his back.
His motivation had of course been to break her fall, but as she appeared atop him, breathless and flushed, locks of her red hair falling loose in her face, Florian couldn’t tear his eyes away.
As restless as his wandering spirit could be, it was a sight he knew at once he would never grow tired of.
They remained this way, frozen, one heartbeat and then another. It took every ounce of self control he possessed not to pull her in closer. Not to use every trick and tool at his disposal until that pale skin was flushed with ecstasy, that mouth crying his name.
It was nearly painful to let her go as Yvette overcame the shock and scurried off him to sit in the grass. Her hands began to work busily, fixing loose strands of hair.
“I think we did well, roots withstanding,” she said finally, still breathless and clearly embarrassed.
“I think we make a good pair, roots withstanding,” Florian joked as he sat beside her.
She pressed her lips together, blushing in an obvious attempt not to smile.
“I saw you at the Holly Festival,” he said, unsure why the memory was surfacing so suddenly. The second thought followed almost against his wishes. “You were with someone.”
Any levity about her dissipated at once, eyes widening and then falling. Her body went rigid as she closed her arms around herself.
Clarity was a cruel mistress. “He’s the one you’ve been protecting all this time,” Florian murmured.
She was silent for so long he feared she might never speak to him again for pushing her this way. Her gaze remained distant, cast out over the pond. But then she spoke, her voice a hollow sound. “Victor, yes.”
“Why did you do it?” He was angry with himself for ruining a perfectly good night, for stealing the warmth from her cheeks. But he was so close to understanding her… to seeing what lay hidden behind her silent, somber moments when she thought no one was watching.
“Because he asked me to, and I loved him.” Yvette refused to meet his eye, staring out at the water as if she could see into its very depths.
Florian watched her, allowing a single thought to echo through his mind until he could hold it in no longer. “And now?”
She looked at him as if he’d plunged a dagger into her side. Pain and outrage warred on her face. Regret flooded him at once. It was a selfish question. Worse, he knew the answer to it, even though he’d wanted to hear her say something entirely else.
Yvette recovered, shaking her head as she tried to hide the fact that she was wiping away tears.
She stood, refusing to face him again. He watched her go, without goodbye, without looking back.
The impulse to run after her came over him, to scream apologies into the night as if he could erase what he’d done.
But that would only be to serve himself, to assuage his own guilt.
Florian hung his head. She wanted to be away from him, and he could respect at least one boundary tonight.