Chapter 39
Thane’s sleeveless black tunic shows off his muscled arms and a glimpse of the Divine tattoo on his forearm. In his left hand is the handle of one of his swords. The sharp silver blade gleams in the moonlight.
“Thane?” I look around, confused as to where the shadows he came from. “What are you doing out here?”
“About to train.”
“On the porch?”
“Behind the inn.”
“Oh.”
He steps closer, his boots thumping on the wooden floorboards.
“Were you eavesdropping?”
“Wasn’t intentional. I stepped around the corner, and there you two were.”
“You saw him kiss me?” I ask, avoiding a wince.
“Saw that. Heard everything. No wonder he’s been eyeing you like a desperate stray.
He’s always loved you.” Thane is only a step away now, peering down at me with tense features.
His hair looks curlier, moisturized, like he’s made use of the bath or has at least given himself a quick wash.
“Even more reason for me not to like him.”
I fold my arms. “It isn’t like that with him.”
“He doesn’t seem to think so.”
“I don’t feel like talking about this.” I drop my arms and reach for the door handle again, but before I can open it, Thane’s hand wraps around mine, and he pulls it closed.
“Why didn’t you run off to his hut after that kiss?”
“Oh my Orvena.” I whirl around. “Stop it, Thane. I don’t care for him in that way.”
His eyes narrow. We stare at each other for several seconds, and when he realizes I’m not going to back down, he drags in a breath through his nose and exhales. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“I’m ready to lie down,” I protest.
“I have a feeling you’ll like it.”
He steps off the porch, giving his sword a swing over his head to sheathe it in the holster on his back. He stands sideways and looks at me, cocking his head. “Stand there any longer and I’ll force you to come.”
“I’d like that again, actually,” I tell him, biting my bottom lip to suppress a smile. “I bet that would help me sleep like a baby.”
When he smirks, his eyes flash gold, and I yelp as my body elevates.
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” he says. “But we can make that happen, too.”
I hover in the air as he guides me toward him. Once I’m at his side, he places my feet on the ground, and I stumble a bit before gaining my footing.
“Tag along,” he calls over his shoulder.
I scoff, watching him drift farther away.
I could ignore him, waltz right into the inn, wash, and go to sleep…
but of course my foolish heart won’t allow that.
Not only am I intrigued by whatever he has to show me, but I also want to be near him.
Why that is, I have no clue. I choose not to question it and jog after him to catch up.
“You know it’s wrong to use magic just to get people to do whatever you want, right?” I ask.
“What’s the point of having magic if not to control others?” he responds with a corner of his lips quirked up.
I try not to react to that darkly alluring smirk by putting my focus ahead instead. We walk for a handful of minutes until we reach a footpath lined with cream stones. That’s when I notice a building in the distance.
Separated from the rest of the village, the roof is domed while the body beneath is covered in the same stone that lines the path. The portico is made of glazed wood, and oddly, there are no windows.
“What is this place?” I ask as we approach the arched double doors.
Instead of answering, Thane raises a hand above one of the handles, and a flash of gold leaves his fingertips. The light melts into the handle, then he grips it, pulling the door open with ease.
“Was that door locked?” I whisper-hiss.
“Yep.”
“So we’re breaking into places now? I’m sure it’s locked up for a reason.”
Thane slips right in, blending into the darkness. With a reluctant groan, I take one last look behind me before following him inside.
The door booms as it shuts, creating a hollow echo around us. The only form of light spills from a dim spotlight in the center of the room that highlights the glistening marble floor.
With a snap of his fingers, Thane sends up several gold orbs of light. They hover above our heads, emitting enough luminosity for me to see exactly what surrounds us.
“Oh wow.”
This isn’t just an ordinary building.
Paintings of all sorts hang on spackled walls while marble sculptures of Orvena tower on either side of the room. One of her hands reaches to the rotunda above as she stares up at the sky, her hair falling in waves long enough to cover her breasts.
Crystals of all colors are embedded into the edges of the rotunda, and Thane’s orbs allow them to create a gentle kaleidoscope on the walls and glass ceiling.
“I visited this gallery years ago, back when I was with The Divine,” Thane says. “We had to escort the queen and several other elites. A group of us stayed in Gadonia for a few nights.” He looks all around him, seeming content. “The best art travels here.”
“This is…” Words fail me. All I can do is drink it all in. My breath catches as I lock eyes on one of the art pieces. “That’s a Bruvo Devell piece,” I say, rushing toward it.
Thane stands next to me, studying the details of the painting: deep-brown branches swathed in gold-and-white flowers with a frothy teal ocean in the background.
The ocean feels more like a distant view, as if the person studying the art is standing behind branches and flowers with the ocean slightly blurred in the distance.
“I love his work. His art is never straightforward.” I smile. “Did you know he was from Ember Coast?”
“Was he?” Thane asks with genuine curiosity.
“Yeah.” I peer up at him. He’s still examining the portrait. He seems so bare without his mask and buffers, like a part of him is missing. But he’s so very handsome. I wonder if he realizes just how beautiful he is.
I turn away before he can catch me ogling.
“My favorite is over here.” Thane turns on his heels and strides across the room, stopping in front of an oil painting: a boy dressed in all white with floppy brown hair. Gold rings of light surround him, and though he’s smiling, tears are in his eyes.
I lean in for a closer look. “This one kind of hurts my heart.”
“What do you see when you look at it?” he asks.
I pause, giving it a harder look before answering. “A sad boy who needs a hug.”
He tilts his head, analyzing it.
“What do you see?” I ask.
He’s quiet for a moment, eyes roaming the art. “I saw the same thing at first.” He takes another pause. “But now I see a boy clinging desperately to hope.”
“Hmm.”
“Perhaps he does need a hug,” Thane says absently, still staring at the boy. “But it’s clear he has resilience. The world is bright and beautiful around him, he’s upset and hurting, yet he smiles through it. He perseveres because he knows there is better for him out there. He just has to find it.”
A calming silence wraps around us like a cocoon. Who knew he had such poetic thoughts in that dark mind of his?
One of Thane’s orbs hovers above my head before bouncing toward a sculpture of Orvena.
She’s a beautiful goddess. All the stories and art depict her as a woman with umber skin and wavy, ebony hair.
The stories say she radiated like a crystal in sunlight.
That’s sort of how the sculpture looks now with the orb floating around it.
Radiant.
Hopeful.
When I stop in front of Orvena’s sculpture, I can feel Thane’s eyes on me from across the room.
“Is there something you want to ask?” I ask over my shoulder.
“No.”
“Has to be something. You’re staring.”
He strides up behind me, the heat of his body now on my back and his powerful aura wrapping around me.
“Why did you turn Enver’s kiss down?” His voice is low and deep while his lips are close to my ear.
Goose bumps crawl up my arms. “You were watching way too closely.” I try keeping my voice steady.
“Was it because it held no comparison to ours?” Something wraps around my middle and tugs me backward.
Hello, invisible hand.
My back presses to his chest, and I sigh, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Did you turn him down because I was on your mind, Zaira?”
“You’re overconfident.”
“You’re not denying it.”
The invisible hand slides up my belly and palms one of my breasts. I suppress a moan and instead open my eyes. When I twist around to face him, he’s already looking down at me, watching me with heated eyes, as if I’m something to behold.
“We’re not supposed to be doing this,” I remind him.
“Doing what?” The invisible hand cups my ass.
Thane lowers his head, and I angle my chin upward. For a moment, we stand like this. Staring at each other, trying to fight the pull. Lips only a hair’s breadth away.
Then he cradles the back of my head with his real hand, and his mouth claims mine.