Page 89 of Jeweler to the Blessed
Wind blew hot against my neck. It made me wonder at how close Hart was. I swatted behind me, halting when I felt the seams of his uniform.
His laugh was low. “Not that I’m upset, but this hardly seems the time or place, Chaos.”
When he finished the sentence, his breath was hot against my ear. The movement told me he hadn’t been close enough to breathe on my neck before. There must be an air current unique to this room.
I swatted him again. “I was just checking something.”
“Check away,” he replied.
I was sure that smirk was firmly in place on the uncovered part of his face. As I pulled my hand back to return it to the wall, it bumped into something.
Gregory whimpered loudly.
Whatever I hit was toward the middle of the room. Were there stalagmites in here? It was jagged like the slowly piling rock formations. But something about it was … slippery. It reminded me of the snakes I used to chase on the edge of the Oldwood before we started waiting at the gate. And it was hot … like the adamas—but different.
The heat flooded me, and something deepwithin flared to life. Whatever it was, this heat fanned that single ember buried deep in my chest.
I wanted more.
Even as wonder overcame me, an equal part of anger bubbled alongside it. Something—someone—was trapped in here, making the adamas. I needed to find them.
“Hart,” I said. “Feel this.”
I reached for him again, grabbing his hand. Heat bloomed, reminding me I didn’t have my glove on—I’d touched his bare skin. He knew he couldn’t take from me, but his hand … spasmed when we made contact. I loosened my grip, wondering if I made him uncomfortable. He intertwined our fingers with a sigh, letting me do what I originally wanted. I brought his hand to where mine had been.
Whatever moment our touch drew from him was forgotten.
“Fucking Chaos,” he hissed.
That one was definitely a curse.
He pushed me behind him. “Get back against the wall.”
Gregory whined again. It sounded even more like a cry than the previous sounds.
My hand hit the wall. Hart knocked me into a new section in his attempt to shield me. A familiar warmth flooded me.
This was the newest adamas deposit. I was sure of it. “I found it.”
“You found me, too, Emberline.”
The voice was in my head. The same voice from the Oldwood. The one who needed me.
“Hart,” I hissed.
He still pressed me against the wall. His body shielded me from whatever threat he deemed to be in the center of the room. I didn’t know what to say or how to communicate thevoice I heard. Gregory was still somewhere, so I couldn’t speak plainly.
“I’m busy right now, Chaos.”
What did that mean?
“Diiidd yyou ffffind it?” Gregory stammered.
I pointed. “Yes. It’s here.”
“Could you move aside?” He’d done something to calm himself. Or maybe Hart had taken care of whatever threat they both seemed to believe existed.
Hart allowed us a shuffle to the right. His body was still firmly between me and whatever lurked within the cavern.
