Chapter 26 #2
“I wouldn’t do that, David. I hope you believe that, even if you’re still mad at me. That story made me want to break your father’s face.”
The near imperceptible twitch of his jaw spoke of displeasure. “I see no reason why you should ever be that close to my father.”
“I’d kill him.”
David lifted a brow, saying, “That…actually might be kind of fun to watch.”
She ventured closer. “I’m going to do something right now, and it’s probably stupid, but I feel like you might need it.”
His brows narrowed.
With a bracing breath, Anna erased the distance and threw her arms around his middle, squeezing tight. The side of her face pressed to his chest so that his heartbeat thudded against her cheek. His clothes were thin, and heat bled through, but his body froze.
“What are you doing?” A panicked sort of amusement tinged his words.
“I’m hugging you. Surely you know what a hug is?”
“I’m familiar with the concept. I’m just not sure why you’re doing it.”
“Yes, you are.” She squeezed tighter and took a lungful of air scented of mint and something totally indefinable but definitely David. “Bad things have happened to you, and I’m giving you my support.”
His voice grew strained. “Are you sure you’re not secretly trying to suffocate me?”
With a laugh, she loosened her arms but didn’t let go.
“How has it been?” he asked after a moment, voice soft. “With my mother, I mean.”
“I’ve learned a lot. Plus, she sent letters to some of her contacts. Some discreet questions that might help me find family. We’re waiting on replies.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Anna lifted her head to look him in the eye. A flash of something flittered through the green.
His hands, raised in the air to avoid touching her, finally moved. One arm settled around her shoulders. His other hand drifted to her face, soft knuckles drawing a line of tingles down her cheekbone. “So I guess you’re not mad at me anymore?”
His touch was distracting, exhilarating, drawing forth heat and confusion, but she managed to throw out a bit of sass. “That depends. Do you still think I’m useless?”
A real smile glinted on his face. “Of course I do. What good are you to me now that you know all my secrets?”
Anna suspected a lot more secrets hid in there, but she laughed nonetheless, pretending to be offended by pushing away.
In a surprising turn, his arm tightened around her shoulders.
She had half a second to register that he’d pulled her flush against his body before his hand at her cheek dipped beneath her chin, tilting her face up with clear intent.
All thought fell away.
His head dipped, stopping just before his mouth met hers, making her ache in a way she’d never known. “Not useless,” he said. “But I think I’ve revised what I want from you.”
“To what?” she asked, even though it was painfully obvious.
Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips touched hers in a single, featherlight kiss, and then he was gone, taking his solidity and heat with him.
Only that elusive fragrance remained. When her eyes reopened, he was making his way toward the exit.
She followed him a handful of steps, then slowed to a stop.
At the door, he threw a crooked smile her way. “Think about it, pixie girl.”
The next morning, Anna still hadn’t recovered. In only a few weeks she’d gone from fearing David Berkeley to begrudgingly liking him and now landed far at the opposite end of the spectrum. Somewhere in the land of You make me want things I shouldn’t.
This had never happened to her.
Never.
And with a keila!
How?
Madlyn chattered throughout their small suite same as she did every morning while they prepared for training, but Anna could hardly pay attention. She was too busy reliving that barely there kiss.
Of all the ways she thought David Berkeley might kiss, that hadn’t been one of them. Not that she’d imagined it per se, but if she had, she’d peg him as a hungry, exploratory kisser. He’d kiss the way he read—insatiably in search of the thing he wanted.
That kiss had been specifically designed to leave her wanting more.
Was this another mask he wore? Was it his way of distracting her from the things she’d learned yesterday? Was he toying with her to regain the advantage?
If so, it was working.
She considered asking Maddy for advice, but Anna didn’t want her to know about the kiss.
Maddy would tell her she was being stupid, and she’d be right.
David Berkeley was a complicated, baggage-ridden man.
Plus, he was an uncrowned Sovereign. Plus, he was the heir of Galadaine Manae.
Plus, Anna wasn’t convinced the man even knew what love was, much less how to do it, and if she was attracted, that meant she was already in far deeper than she wanted to be.
She couldn’t be the person to tackle all that. She didn’t have the headspace.
There. He’d told her to think about it, and she’d thought about it. Resolved to put an end to the flirtation, Anna dressed in her usual training clothes.
Maddy poked her head into Anna’s bedroom. “Did you hear me?”
“Oh.” She winced. “No, sorry. What did you say?”
“Hydee walked in on Caden Sidera and Isobel Faywood messing around in one of the upstairs lounges yesterday.” Her eyes were bright, her emotions ebullient from the gossip, dancing like sugar crystals on Anna’s tongue.
The mental image dragged out a grimace. Sean had become one of her favorite people. Imagining him with Isobel, who’d always given Anna weird vibes, made her nauseated. Isobel’s emotions were some of the worst to endure. Even the good ones were layered with a film of grit.
“I’d always heard that her prolonged kiss was fatal,” Maddy said. “Guess it isn’t true for him.” Her eyes widened. “Or maybe she wasn’t kissing his mouth.”
Anna threw a belt at her. “Ew. Why? Why would you even say that?”
Her friend cackled in delight. “Do you think it’s true what they say? That she’ll die to save him so he can deliver us all from destruction?”
Having not been raised in this world, with this quasi-religion, Anna wasn’t sure what she believed. “Who knows?” she said.
Maddy entered the room and flopped onto Anna’s bed. “Can you imagine being fated to love someone you knew would be the death of you?”
Anna paused. She’d never thought of it that way. No wonder Bel’s emotions were always so full of bitterness. She was born to a terrible fate. “Yeah. That kind of sucks, doesn’t it?”
Maddy laughed. “Are you ready yet? You’re taking forever.”
Probably because she was dreading seeing David this morning. She suspected he wouldn’t suffer her sidelines mockery in silence any longer. Today he would react.
But how?
With a last pin inserted into her braid, Anna nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
On the field, Sean greeted her with a pixie wrist-grasp. The spark from his fingertips, then his lips as he kissed her temple, sent sparkly vibes along her nerves, stronger than normal.
“I heard you were caught in a delicate situation yesterday,” Anna said with a teasing smile and Signed, How scandalous.
Wincing, Sean glanced at Bel at the edge of the clearing. You heard that? She’s going to kill me.
Anna tossed her bag of gear to the ground. “I don’t think you can be killed.”
He made a face like fair point and shrugged. “Well, I got a fun lecture from Bel after we got caught, so I’ve learned my lesson.”
Anna began to strap on her leather guards. “What lesson is that?”
“If you want to finish, don’t fuck behind unlocked doors.”
The bracer slipped from her grasp as her mouth fell open, and she burst into scandalized laughter. “I can’t believe you just said that. You sounded exactly like David.”
Still smiling his cheeky grin, Sean popped his neck in both directions. “Sometimes the moment gets away from you. I didn’t realize it would spawn gossip.”
“Sean,” Anna said in a pitying tone. “People have been talking about you and Isobel for centuries. Your relationship is a legend come to life. Literally everything you guys do will be gossiped about.”
The smile faded from his face. “That’s—ugh.” Won’t happen again, he Signed. Under his breath, he added, “It wouldn’t have happened at all if I wasn’t so stressed.”
Anna squeezed his shoulder. “You okay?”
He glanced at her as if assessing how much he should say.
She smiled. “You can talk to me.”
The blue of his eyes reminded her of the flowers that had grown in her neighbor’s garden as a child, so vibrant they’d seemed unnatural. If Cathaire was a still lake and Leyla the turquoise shallows at the beach, Sean was the blue of the deep ocean—fathomless.
“They won’t listen to my ideas because I don’t know anything,” Sean said, voice hushed.
“How am I supposed to help if I don’t know how they hunt?
Bowenn wants me to go out, told me this morning that I’d been cleared by the Council, but Bel doesn’t want that.
Viterra is too dangerous, she says. So what am I supposed to do?
And I’m still too much of a coward to read the Sending. ”
Incredulous, Anna’s jaw dropped. “You haven’t read it?”
He dragged both palms down his face. “I know. I know. It’s… Once I read it, it’s real.”
“Sean—”
“Don’t.” He took her hand and cupped it between both of his. Shimmers of sensation passed from his skin to hers, but she paid it no mind. He stared at their hands, deep in thought. “Just…don’t.”
Anna watched his fingers interlock around her hand, and for the first time, she truly understood the importance of the Pixie Effect.
More than just sparkles passed through the contact.
Shades of his stress flowed into her, and she could almost hear his voice as he explained every nuance of it.
At the same time, her own network responded, offering support and connection, a place to lay his burdens.
His skin was a shade darker than hers, bronzed where hers was tawny. They both had scars, but he possessed far more. He had centuries’ worth of pressure resting on his shoulders, so Anna let her network take a bit of it away.
You are not alone, she whispered through the link.