Page 91 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

Lessia stayed beneath the surface until her lungs screamed, and even then, she waited a few additional moments, unwilling to leave behind the sense of purpose and clarity swirling within her.

When she finally broke the surface, a tired voice drifted over the ripples she’d caused.

“Thank the gods. I thought I would have to get in.” Raine waved his bottle toward her. “If it’s humiliation that made you nearly drown yourself, it’s better not to stop drinking.”

Heat stained her cheeks despite the cool water surrounding her, and she dipped down again, wishing for the peaceful rushing of water to instill the same stillness in her as she popped up again.

“No, thanks,” she mumbled when Raine raised his brows, the bottle still extended.

“Suit yourself.” Raine shrugged before he slumped down with his back against one of the birch trees lining the creek.

She eyed him as he lifted the bottle to his lips. “Is it better to live in an illusion of happiness with artificial emotions keeping you going?”

“Happiness,” Raine scoffed. “I don’t live in happiness. The liquor doesn’t create emotions that don’t already reside within us. It can dim the negative ones but can’t create happy ones. And I don’t keep any.”

Lessia frowned. “But… but that would mean—”

“You danced because music makes you happy? Yes.”

Her brows pulled in further.

Music always made her happy—that wasn’t a surprise.

It was the gravitating to Merrick—kissing Merrick!—that was confusing.

He makes you happy.

The low voice in her mind made her jerk upright.

Did he?

They were friends.

You wanted to kiss him…

She had wanted it. But only to distract herself.

Right?

“You should probably grab your towel.” Raine covered his eyes with the arm holding his bottle. “I do not want to get killed if Merrick finds us here.”

“Why would he…” Lessia’s words trailed off when her eyes snagged on golden-brown hair sticking out from behind another tree, a bit further back from the one Raine leaned against.

After moving so fast through the water that it splashed around her, Lessia grabbed the towel, wrapped it around herself, and started toward the tree she’d seen her sister hide behind.

As she walked past Raine, the Fae grabbed her hand. “Be careful with him, Lessia.” His gaze flicked toward the cabin for a second before returning to hers. “He does not need more pain in his life.”

She was about to pretend she didn’t understand what he meant when concern, genuine concern, etched itself across Raine’s features.

Merrick had spoken about love and pain last night.

She’d heard the agony in his tone as clearly as she’d felt the urge to kiss him.

So, instead of denying that she understood what Raine meant, Lessia nodded. “I will.”

Raine’s hazel eyes softened. “Good. Now, I think your sister is making a run for it.”

Lessia whipped her head up just in time to see her sister weaving her way through the tall grass leading inland.

---