CHAPTER SEVEN #4
I turned away, getting another faceful of the smell that still clung to the room.
I winced and decided Laurie had the right idea with fresh air.
I went over to the door, jammed my feet into my sneakers, and made my way down and through the barn.
I strode across the driveway to join Laurie in the yard.
I waited for him to make some kind of joke or suggestive remark, but he stood there and gazed up at the barn.
There was a set to his mouth that told me he wasn’t really looking at it, though.
“You never said why you were here,” I ventured.
Laurie gave me a sidelong glance. “Do I need a reason?”
I cupped my elbows and held my arms against me. “Typical faerie. Answering a question with a question. Too bad I’m wise to your tricks now.”
The Seelie King didn’t smile as I’d expected him to. We stood there together, and the silence around us was similar to the one I’d just shared with Collith—safe. Easy. A bird sent its voice into the night as if it was calling out, not in search of another, but simply because it could.
Then Laurie said, “You’re going to meet with the Dark Prince no matter what we say, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I replied, matching his bluntness.
I knew it would’ve been easier to lie … I just didn’t want to.
I met Laurie’s gaze and waited for the argument to begin.
He just looked back at me calmly, his silver eyes bright in the dimming world around us.
I raised my brows. “You’re not going to rant at me or try to talk me out of it? ”
“I prefer to use my mouth for productive reasons,” Laurie answered. I watched those beautiful eyes fall to my lips and linger there.
Of its own volition, my mind went back to the nights I’d experienced just how productive that mouth could be.
Knowing Laurie would detect any change in my scent, I averted my gaze.
But looking at the barn made me think of Collith, and the frustration I’d felt in the bedroom doorway came rushing back.
I shifted so the loft was out of sight and leaned against the tree, pressing my palms into the bark.
My gaze returned to Laurie. The storm inside me caused a streak of recklessness, like a flash of lightning.
“If I asked you to kiss me, what would you say?” I asked abruptly.
Laurie’s expression didn’t change. He searched my face as if it were a map and he knew exactly how to read every line and landmark. “Did Collith reject you, darling?” he said.
He was too perceptive for his own good. Embarrassment flooded me, and I quickly turned away. “Never mind. Forget I asked.”
Laurie’s hand slid around my waist and tugged me back.
Softly startled, I put my hands over his and tipped my head to meet his gaze.
The corners of Laurie’s mouth tilted up in a faint smirk.
“He’s never been the brightest bulb, that one.
If you asked me to kiss you, Firecracker, I wouldn’t say anything. Because I’d just do this.”
He bent and claimed my mouth, which had parted open in surprise.
In an instant, I was lost in the taste of him, in the way his tongue moved so perfectly against mine.
I’d forgotten how good it felt with Laurie, and how good he was at waking this part of me.
He pulled me into him, his springtime scent teasing my senses as I pressed closer, harder, burying my fingers in his hair.
Then I remembered where we were. I turned my head away, breaking the kiss, and willed myself to step back. But I lingered in the circle of Laurie’s arms, reluctant to leave his warmth. I looked at him again, trying to commit this moment to memory.
There must’ve still been some surprise in my eyes, because Laurie flashed a dark, crooked smile and said, “Did you expect me to be noble? I’ve told you before, I have no interest in nobility.”
“What are you interested in, then?” I asked quietly, aware that Collith could come out any second.
I wasn’t worried about how he’d react … I was afraid of what else might happen.
I’d slept with them both when I’d thought I might be going to Hell forever.
I wasn’t ready for whatever it might mean if we did it again.
Laurie’s mouth softened. He ran the ball of his thumb down the edge of my jaw. “I could show you.”
There was a promise in his voice, but it wasn’t entirely seduction.
There was the faintest note of sincerity, too.
I studied the Seelie King’s features for the thousandth time, thinking how I always seemed to notice something new whenever I looked at him.
Like the arch to his eyebrows, or the straight slope of his nose, or the shape of his lips’ Cupid’s bow.
He was like a creature from a fairy tale, and part of me longed to run off with him into the woods, never to be heard from again.
“Good night, Laurie,” I said.
Once again, his expression revealed nothing. The barn door opened just as Laurie replied, “Good night, Lady Sworn.”
“He fell asleep again. I’ll be back soon.” Collith came over to us and kissed my forehead, pressing the baby monitor into my hand. Then, with Laurie at his side, he turned away.
“Wait, you’re leaving, too?” I asked his retreating back.
Collith paused at the tree line and winked. A moment later, he sifted. Laurie lingered a bit longer, his face the picture of innocence. “It’s only an appointment at the barbershop, dear,” he told me.
“At eight o’clock at night?” I countered.
Laurie vanished without answering.
I went back upstairs. Once I’d reached the loft, I closed the door and rested my forehead against it, heaving a sigh that moved through my entire body. “What the hell am I doing?” I muttered.
A slight sound made me turn. Nym had emerged from his room, and I watched him drift over to a bowl of fruit on the counter.
Although he wore my brother’s clothes now, and Emma had managed to give Nym a haircut, it was still obvious there was something …
not-human about him. It was how he moved, and the way his fingers danced over the orange he’d chosen.
Even now, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“When the bird of the heart begins to sing, too often will reason stop up her ears,” Nym told me sagely.
My hands fell from the door, and I joined Nym at the kitchen island.
For a few seconds, I just observed as he peeled the orange.
I knew I would find most of it somewhere in Nym’s room tomorrow during my daily check, which had become necessary after the food he’d taken in there began to stink up the entire loft.
“What is that from? A poem?” I asked finally.
I didn’t expect him to answer, but then Nym said, “Hans Christian Andersen.”
“How refreshing. Collith and Laurie are always quoting obscure old shit at me. Have you been here all night, Nym?”
The faerie’s brow crinkled, and it was a look I recognized—he was trying to remember where he was.
When he was. Traveling through time so much had jumbled Nym’s mind, and the damage seemed to be permanent.
I thought he’d been doing better since he had moved in with us, but there were still days and moments we lost him.
Like now, I thought with a stab of sorrow, watching the struggle in his expression.
“Tick tock,” Nym said, frowning deeply. Hoping to ground him, I reached across the counter to put my hand on his sleeve, but Nym didn’t even notice. He was staring at something else now, his gaze directed downward. “There’s something in your pocket. Tick tock.”
“Oh, okay. Let me check.” I hadn’t put anything in my pockets, but I humored Nym anyway and reached into the center of my hoodie.
To my surprise, my fingers collided with a long, thin object.
I pulled it out and looked down at the soft thing in my hand.
The thing Laurie must’ve slipped in while we’d been standing next to that tree.
His voice echoed from the past like a caress.
Its darkness only makes the rose more beautiful, wouldn’t you agree?
The flower’s subtle fragrance permeated the air as I reached for Nym’s hand again. I tucked the stem in his palm and curled his long fingers around it, giving my friend an encouraging smile. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I said.
Nym stared at me for a moment, and little by little, I watched as his young and ancient face smoothed into a calm expression. The Time Walker nodded at me, not in gratitude, but resolve. As if we’d decided something together.
In the next breath, he was gone.
I blinked at the place Nym had been standing.
He’d taken the rose, and there was nothing else left of him but the orange on the counter, peeled and torn apart.
After a moment, I went to the cupboard and got a bowl, placing the pieces inside.
Then I picked it up and crept into Damon and Matthew’s room, easing into the chair by the window.
As I ate the fruit, its sweetness clinging to my tongue and making my fingers sticky, I listened to my nephew’s soft breathing and the cries of young elephants.