Page 69 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“Hakon told me about what you found out this morning. I didn’t know about it either,” she said before he could make it any further down the hall. “Maybe this is for the best.”

Herrick turned and made his way to Maude so quickly she could barely brace herself.

“For the best?” He asked, his voice low.

Herrick backed Maude up against the wall and placed his arms on either side of her face.

“You can pretend that you don’t care, that this doesn’t affect you,” he whispered as he ran his knuckles down the side of her face, over her scar, and down her neck.

She shivered in response to his touch, eyes closing and back arching. Her body reacted to him before she could control it, the sensation overwhelming her at howrightit felt.

“I am incapable of giving up on you,minn eldr,” Herrick continued. “I left the palace today because I couldn’t be near you, and then you showed up anyway.”

“You act like I chose where Liv brought us,” Maude growled as she shoved Herrick away from her. “I wasn’t too keen on seeing you today either after you couldn’t seem to keep your nose out of my business.”

Yes, anger was what she needed, what she would fall back on.

This anger inside of her was her constant companion in life; it was so easy to slip back into his familiar grasp. She was getting too close to him, feeling too many things around him.

“All I did was ask you how you were coping. It’s not a crime to lean on your friends when you need them,” Herrick shouted, pushing his hair away from his face and running his hands through the almost-black chestnut strands.

“Don’task me, Herrick. I don’t have friends. I just got roped into coming here with you, and now I can’t even get away from you on my own,” she seethed.

“You want to leave? Then go. No one will stop you.”

A challenge.

“As if you wouldn’t follow me to the Knotted Caverns to get your hands on thedalkr Helabefore me,” Maude scoffed.

“We planned to leavetogether, Maude. We are still planning that, but I have responsibilities here that I can’t ignore,” Herrick bit out.

Maude turned her back to Herrick and paced as she recalled Hakon’s words about responsibility, and about how Herrick was struggling with his.

He had been morose all night. The easy conversation and jokes that floated from him were noticeably absent tonight. With all this in mind, she was finding it more challenging to rile him up than usual. She didn’twantto push him away. Which was why she needed to.

“I don’t need you, Herrick. I don’t need anyone. As soon as you get that into your head, you’ll be better off. You’re all better off—” she cut herself off before she could say more.

You’re all better off without me, she had almost said.

The words were true enough, but she had not meant to voice them. Herrick had caught on to what she almost let slip, and as he went to stand in front of her, Maude knew that if she looked up at him, her restraint would crumble.

She started to walk away, but Herrick put his hands on her shoulders to stop her.

“I would not be better off without you,minn eldr,” Herrick said softly, his voice slightly cracking. “I stay away because I know if I am near you, my resolve will crumble and slip between my fingers. I will drown the world before I allow anyone to take you from me.”

Maude shook him off and walked past him.

“Don’t say such things, Herrick. We do not have the luxury of choice in our world,” she said quietly.

She kept walking until Herrick grabbed her hand. She stopped but did not face him. She could not look at him now.

“I know you don’t need me, but I… I think I may need you,” he said, moving closer up against her back. “I stayed away from you today because I don’t trust myself around you. To be near you and not be able to touch you, to make you laugh, would be to rip my heart from my chest and let me bleed.”

Herrick leaned down into her space, running his nose around the shell of her ear and into her hair. His hands made their way around her waist, his touch feather-light.

Instinctively, Maude tentatively placed her heated hands atop his cool skin, their touch creating steam that billowed around them. Herrick pulled her back to the hard, muscled wall of his warrior’s body, his fresh rain scent enveloping her entirely.

“Even fighting with you is something I look forward to. You drive me to the brink of insanity when you argue with me because I enjoy it so much, even when you’re wrong,” Herrick said, a smile in his voice.

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