Page 115 of Jeweler to the Blessed
The heat in his gaze set my skin aflame again. I wanted to let it consume me. There was so much to do on my last night of freedom, but the look in his eyes had me wondering if we should add another item to the list.
“A wise man, you say? You should probably listen to him more often.”
I sighed. “Ready?”
He’d insisted on this part. Last time, I’d fallen clumsily into the bushes below. This time, he would catch me. He knew my secret, knew of my immunity. He’d proved time and time again that I was safe with him. This trust between us, it was like a barrier removed—a layer of clothing peeled away by a new lover.
That thought was too on the nose.
Free the captive. That was my focus. I had planned to do it before everything began to unravel around me. The same part of me that knew which gems were adamas and which were quartz had known the captive was the true source of the adamas. If I removed them from the equation, I’d accomplish what the Feared desired—I’d remove their adamas source. It was convenient that my approach didn’t come at the cost of my life.
It reassured me as much as it worried me that Alaric had the same plan. He’d been caught trying to free the captive. I had to believe Hart and I could be successful where Uncle failed.
With a final glance at Hart, I jumped from myperch on the windowsill.
His touch was another problem altogether. I may no longer fear it, but I could feelsomethingbetween us every time, even through a layer of clothing.
Goddess, save me. His touch would be my undoing.
I shook away the scalding images of his hands freely roaming my skin. We didn’t have time for whatever obscene fantasies my mind conjured. Searching the path, there was no sign of guards in either direction. We made our escape toward the mines.
Hart tugged me close behind him, our hands linked, as we hiked through the Oldwood. He was unwilling to risk that I slip under its spell in the darkness. I found comfort in the solidity of his grasp, a comfort that had been sorely lacking this evening. So I didn’t tell him the magic of the forest wasn’t pressing against me.
I had a feeling its message had already been delivered.
I contemplated how to get the words out that I needed to as we hiked by what little light spilled from our stolen torch. The darkness beneath the canopy of the Oldwood dimmed any help from the moon.
“What did the prince want?” Hart asked as we left the city.
The command of his voice soothed as much as the question granted me a way to broach the topic I’d been struggling with. Words I’d been searching for slipped from my lips with little further encouragement.
“The Glanmores have Alaric.”
Hart stopped walking and turned slowly to face me. Something in the stern set of his features urged me to continue.
“They’ve had him the whole time. They caught him trying to free the captive.”
Hart’s fingers massaged his temples. “You didn’t think that was relevant to tell me beforewewent to free the captive ourselves?”
My hands were on my hips. “I’m telling you now.”
Somehow Hart was smirking. He knew I’d been wrestling with something since returning with the prince. The shape of the problem may not have been known, but he’d known there was a problem nonetheless.
He’d followed me anyway. That fact was more reassuring than it should be.
“Is he alright?”
I shook my head, remembering the state of him, the tattered garment, the blood, the way Vaddon kicked him as I left.
A muscle in his jaw twitched with his next question. “What do they want from you?”
I tore the bandage from the open wound. “I’m to be the fifth Blessed tomorrow.”
His arresting green eyes held mine. Even in the dark, I could feel the fire burning behind them.
“We can get you and your family out. Tonight. Alysa will take you all. Alaric wouldn’t want this.”
My intensity matched his. “It’s not his choice. I won’t leave him to die.”
