Page 141 of Jeweler to the Blessed
Shock must have shown in my wide eyes as I looked at Hart and then back at the entrance.
“He will fit. But he’ll need you to heal him afterward.”
I shook my head again, trying to clear my thoughts. Icouldn’t focus on multiple conversations. “Where will we take him? He’s not exactly inconspicuous.”
“He won’t be so out of place in Linia.”
I turned to stare at Hart. “What?”
“There are other dragons in Linia. We just have to get him away from Kavios. You’ll need to use me to heal him as he comes through,” Hart said.
My heart constricted in my chest for Charon. He’d been trapped here for, what? Hundreds of years? And the first thing I did would cause him pain.
A completely different kind of panic set in as I realized the emotion I’d need from Hart to heal him: lust.
Hart’s usually taunting green eyes were dull as he watched the realization dawn on me. “He needs this.”
I shivered inadvertently, thinking about our night together—about the inconceivable pleasure of his touch. I hated myself as lust pooled low in my stomach. I wasn’t sure if it was worse to take lust from Hart or use my own.
“Why don’t you do it? Use what you already have from me.”
He shook his head. “He needs the magic to come from you.”
It was all so stupid. The magic might flow from my hand, but due to Themis’s curse, it would be Hart’s emotions that fueled it.
“You will need to explain your relationship with the Cursed at some point. I don’t know if you want to fuck him or kill him.”
“I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” I thought back.
Charon snorted.
Hart still moved carefully around Charon but after his declaration seemed relatively confident he wouldn’t be attacked. He followed me into position on the other side of the door.
“We will be talking about this later.”
I had known him for mere minutes, and already, I rolled my eyes at him.
Charon huffed and then started moving.
I could hear his scales scraping against the tunnel edges. My shoulders tightened like I shared his pain. He didn’t cry out, though his large teeth clenched, a muscle ticking in what had to be his jaw. I tried not to look at Hart as I took his hand. With my other, I reached for Charon as he stepped into the too-small opening.
Hart’s gaze said too much I refused to think about. The flare of our touch was incandescent. Charon’s wings pressed against the tunnel walls, and rocks fell around him as he worked to widen the parts he wouldn’t fit through.
“Almost there,” Hart said.
Something rumbled in the cave, and I realized it was Charon. He must be fitting through the tightest spot. I pushed more of the healing magic into him, hoping that every scrape and tear of his wings as they clenched to his sides would be immediately healed.
“Thank you, Champion.”
Finally, he pushed through. His wings spread as we made it through the tunnel and into the open path, although even the path we’d descended would be difficult for him to scale. It was not wide enough to fit the breadth of his legs.
“I’ll manage.”
His magic shook the earth, leaving no question where the earthshakes had originated. It shook until the fork that took us to the hidden passage collapsed. I dropped Hart’s hand but let mine rest on Charon’s scales as we climbed. The warmth I’d come to associate with the adamas was a comfort as it flowed between us until I’d emptied everything Hart had given.
I hadn’t even had a chance to get used to how I accessed my magic before it changed. Only yesterday I could have usedmy own emotions to heal Charon as we walked. Now, thanks to the goddess’s game and Themis’s idea of balance, I was wholly dependent on Hart’s emotions for magic. I could only take from him.
I didn’t want to think of it, but I couldn’t help comparing the connection with Charon to the one that flared when Hart and I touched.
