Page 87 of Jeweler to the Blessed
As if seeing the set of a decision in my features, Hart held my gaze and nodded.
I closed my eyes and listened. What was it trying to tell me? Or what did I need to hear?
My thoughts spun as I stopped fighting the Oldwood’s magic. Memories of Mother’s cries as she searched for me mixed with the desperate need to sink my fingers into the soil—to unearth what was below.
Letting myself succumb to the forest’s hold, it was different than the press of the Blessed’s magic against my neck. This was a bone-deep desire to be below. Clawing, digging, searching, endlessly searching. Something was here, and it was mine.
“Emberline.”
Whatever it was, it called to me.Scenes blurred in my mind. Stories of magical beasts and magnificent terror.
The voice called again. “Only you can free me.”
It was ancient. It was magnificent. It was … trapped.
My eyes shot open. I was unsurprised to find myself off the path, hands covered in soil, as I’d reached deep into the dirt. I searched the brush and bushes. The forest growth was so dense that I couldn’t see the path.
Hart leaned against a tree. His gaze was so intense, I wondered if he’d experienced everything I just had. I knew he hadn’t. That smirk curled his lip as he pushed off the trunk, realizing I was … back from wherever I’d been.
Someone needed me to free them.
Hart stepped forward cautiously, leaning down to return my gloves. I must have torn them off in my attempt to feel theground. Wiping my hands together, I brushed what dirt I could from them.
What did this mean? I slipped the gloves on, covering the evidence of my undoing. Hart reached for me, and I stared at his open palm. There was little risk. My hand was gloved again. He knew my secret. The action seemed so small, but to me, it represented how everything between us had shifted.
This trust between us grew, and I craved more. I was sick of denying my gut reaction. It was too late anyway. There was no taking back the information I’d shared or what he’d shown me today with The Storm.
I knew I stared too long at his outstretched hand, but Hart didn’t rush me.
He had decided he could do the most for this city from his position of power, no matter how he’d come about it. Could I do the same? Could I use my position as Jeweler to the Blessed to help this … captive?
I couldn’t say why, but I knew this was important. I had a list of other things to worry about: the Blessing Ceremony, my parents, and my future.
What had Hart said? This was what I needed to hear.
My gloved hand slipped into his.
The flimsy barrier between us wasn’t enough. His touch scalded. A stark contrast to the Oldwood’s chilled depths. It burned past my hesitations as he pulled me up.
“What’s the verdict, Chaos?”
I couldn’t begin to determine the layers of his question. “Someone needs me. I just have to find out who.”
He gave me a brief once-over. “Determination suits you.”
It should worry me how right his words felt. A man I had met only days ago saw whatever spark this brief sojourn had ignited.
I had a plan before all this started—a plan to protect myfamily and to learn about myself. Only an hour ago, I thought I’d found a safe place to run. My plan continued to evolve. I’d fit everything I could into the time before the Blessing Ceremony. That was days away. I still had time to fix things—time to figure out who was trapped, who called to me.
Alysa’s offer was still a safety net.
That smirk crept into place on Hart’s stupidly handsome face, and he quickly turned us toward the Oldwood Trail, leaving me to wonder if this, too, was what he had wanted me to learn on today’s journey.
Tamara greeted us at the entrance and led us into the mines. As we descended, I let my hand drift along the tunnel wall again, curious if I could still feel the Oldwood’s magic. The way I dug into the ground when the magic overpowered me, I was beginning to believe the magic came from somewhere in the mines. Maybe whoever I searched for—dug for—was here. Maybe the adamas itself called to me.
The voice was absent as we trekked down to the locked door. No pile of gems to sort sat outside the door today. We were going in.
Tamara held a cloth long enough to wrap around my eyes. “King Rodric requires anyone but Gregory and me to wear this when they enter. Use it as a blindfold. Gregory will also be with you. He’ll report if you take it off.”
