Chapter Fifty-Three Claire
No survivor of the dragon curse shall be deprived of human rights.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Claire
I may have stolen one last thing.
The moment we’re clear of the archive building, I slip the tube from beneath my coat. It’s a fresh map of Florent, free of markings. Abel takes it with a fog-laced sigh.
“Tell me you didn’t ‘borrow’ this from the archives,” he says.
“Of course not. I play for keeps.”
He makes a disgruntled face.
I laugh. “Never again. I promise.”
“You make a lot of promises.”
“I really, truly mean it this time. I just like to think the Guild owes me for this.” I wiggle the fingers of my newly bandaged hand.
He shakes his head and pops the tube open, but I catch that handsome smile before it hides behind the map. Lots of potential destinations sprawl across it.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks.
“As far as we can travel. I want to seize life by the flowering antlers and see everything I missed,” I declare, mimicking the gesture.
“So you want a horse.”
I pat his cheek. “You know me so well.”
Intermittent clouds shower us with snowflakes from a calm blue sky. I step onto the road and twirl, arms wide. Lucy yips and bounds through my tracks. Everything is snowcapped, sparkly, and so brilliantly bright.
Abel watches me with a smile.
I raise a challenging eyebrow. “What?”
“You’re beautiful.”
Cheeks aflame, I promptly pack a ball of snow between my gloves and throw it at his face. The impact sends him stumbling backward.
I cover my gasp. “Are you all right?”
He laughs that full, rich laugh, the one that makes my heart flutter. “Never better.”
Those soft blue eyes do me in. I brush the snow from his golden hair and wrap my arms around his neck.
“I really should teach you how to ride better,” I say.
He pulls me close. “Anything to keep up with you.”