Page 95 of A Fractured Song

It was different from the kiss they’d shared after Gorgon’s attack—there were no secrets in the way now, and whatever was between them had never felt more natural, more right.

She let her fingers stray up into his hair again, lost in the sensation of his lips moving on hers and the warmth of his closeness. The magic below their feet roared to life, more forceful than the timeless power of Zev’s orchard. It wrapped around their legs, flowing into Marieke and out again without her guiding it at all. She wasn’t even singing, and yet she felt the magic turning itself into light—tiny flecks that danced around them as they kissed with all the pent-up passion that came from holding each other at arm’s length for so long, and from the near miss they’d just experienced.

Zev especially. It was like she could feel him pouring into the embrace every tortured look, every missed opportunity to touch her. And she wasn’t about to push him away. Using her grip on his neck to pull herself up, she matched his intensity, wishing the kiss never had to end.

But it did, of course. Zev was the one to pull back, his breath coming in pants as he let out a low groan.

“Are you all right?” she asked breathlessly.

He shook his head. “No. I’m terrified.” He pulled her even closer, burying his face in her hair. “A crazed singer is determined to kill you, and we don’t even know where she is right now.” His grip tightened around her waist. “I don’t think I can survive losing you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Marieke told him, closing her eyes and leaning into him. “I know she seems impossibly strong, but we have something, Zev. Something no one else has. Maybe something no one else has ever had. You said it yourself—we’re stronger together.”

Zev nodded, his face still pressed against her hair. For a moment they were silent.

“Your lineage is why your family are so set against me,” Marieke murmured. “I represent the liars who murdered their ancestors.”

“Yes,” Zev acknowledged, pulling his head back just enough to rest his forehead against hers. She appreciated that he didn’t try to deny or soften it to make her feel better. His honesty was the best confirmation of his promise to hold nothing back from now on. “You also represent the biggest threat of exposure we’ve faced in generations.”

“I’m sorry for that,” she said, pained.

Zev shook his head, his forehead moving against hers. “Don’t be. Don’t be sorry for anything, Marieke. I wouldn’t change a moment of the time we’ve spent together.”

“Not even the one where you had to strip off your shirt to rescue me?” Marieke asked wickedly, tapping his chest. “Because if I’m honest, it made you seem like you were trying much too hard to be a dashing knight to the rescue.”

Zev laughed, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. “Especially not that one,” he said solemnly. He trapped her hand over his chest. “As I recall, you were breathless at the sight.”

“I’d just climbed up a cliff face,” Marieke said, outraged.

“I don’t think that was it.” Zev shook his head. “You were overawed by my physique.”

She pulled her hand free, swatting him away with a laugh that she hoped would hide the color surging into her cheeks. He might have promised to hold nothing back, but she didn’t feel the need to confess that even then, before she knew him, shehadbeen a little overawed by his physique.

The door to their sanctuary opened, and they turned to see Kiarana framed in the entrance.

“You’re more relaxed than I expected,” she commented.

Marieke stepped back, trying not to look guilty as she put a bit more distance between herself and Zev. The elf had a point. In the euphoria of Zev’s kiss, she’d almost forgotten that Jade was not only alive, but had tried to kill her mere minutes before.

She threw Zev a wry look that made him raise a brow questioningly. It was a little inconvenient, this habit he’d developed of only kissing her after a barely foiled attempt on her life.

“I’m afraid there’s no sign of Jade,” the elf told them. “She won’t be back here anytime soon, though.”

“But she might be waiting for us when we emerge from the jungle,” Zev said heavily. Judging by the tension that had returned to his posture, he’d also come out of his blissful oblivion.

“You could stay here,” Kiarana said with a smile. “Rissin is itching to conduct some experiments, and he won’t be the only one. He will be the most vindictive one, though,” she added. “He’s very sore about you escaping him in the canyon, even though the method of escape has fueled his curiosity even more.”

“We’re not going to willingly subject ourselves toexperimentation,” Zev said. “Does the offer to provide us safe escort back to the human road still stand?”

“I haven’t heard my grandmother rescind it,” Kiarana said. She spoke absently, her eyes narrowed on Zev. “What’s different about you?”

“Nothing,” he said, sounding defensive.

The elf shook her head. “There’s an extra weight on you. You don’t feel it?”

“I do,” Marieke said quickly. “Jade put some kind of enchantment on him, and I can’t figure out what it was.”

“That doesn’t seem good,” Kiarana commented, although she didn’t seem especially perturbed.

---