Page 95 of Jeweler to the Blessed
As much as I wanted to ask why, it also wasn’t the important part. “Will you help me free the captive?”
“There’s nowhere you can go that I won’t follow, Chaos.”
The comment was too raw. And echoed too strongly of what I’d told him of my parents’ relationship. I shook my head, loosing another question I’d turned over last night. “Would you do this if you were me? Or would you run?”
He tilted his head. “That’s not something I can answer for you. It’s for you to choose.”
I sighed, somehow knowing that would be his answer.
“Did something else happen?” he continued. “Did Alysa pressure you yesterday?”
Admittedly, our conversation about the settlement had been overshadowed by the Oldwood’s magic and my relinquishing control to it.
I shook my head. “She just gave me a lot to consider.”
He arched a brow. “Such as?”
I laughed as I recalled Alysa’s warning. While I couldn’t put my finger on what Hart wanted, it no longer worried me as much as it probably should. He’d proved he was on my side, even when it was clear he wasn’t sharing everything he knew about the captive. I trusted there was a reason.
Still, I shared Alysa’s question. “Inquiring minds want to know what drives you, Hart? What are you after?”
His chuckle was low and rumbling. He waved his handdismissively. “She knows how to hold a grudge. Alysa and I have disagreed on priorities in the past.”
That was the crux of things, wasn’t it?
I gestured between us. “What happens when our priorities are no longer aligned?”
His brow furrowed as he searched my face. There was more consideration for the question than I expected.
“I’ll support whatever path you choose.” He swallowed like the statement held more meaning than I realized. “I’d hoped that was clear.”
The only thing that was clear was that my choices were growing by the minute, and Hart stood beside me at the crossroads. This was what I’d wanted, the reason I’d shared my secrets with him. Now that we were here, though, I couldn’t help but want more. Maybe I didn’t just want information—I wanted his opinion too. Opinions he seemed reluctant to share. I needed to know his reluctance didn’t have to do with our conversation about his magic.
“I don’t know why you hesitated yesterday when we talked about taking, but I see the man you strive to be.”
I wasn’t sure he was breathing. I’d started this, so I guessed I had to continue.
“I didn’t say anything yesterday, and it bothered me all night. It wasn’t the fact that you are Blessed that concerned me; It was that I was so ready to use your power. Seeing what you do in the city, I acknowledge the value you provide by leveraging your position. I don’t know what made you choose the blessing, I don’t know when you decided to start choosing differently, but I see that you’re making choices every day that stand against what Rodric is doing. And that means something … to me.”
He held my gaze, and I felt a thousandthings flash between us.
“You heard me yesterday? You’re not hiding from it?” He leaned into my space, his arms caging me against the workbench.
“I heard you. You take.”
He shook his head, stepping back. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I’m saying that I need your help and your perspectives. I might want to leave now that I know there’s somewhere safe for my parents, but Ineedto free the captive. Both require your assistance.”
He held my gaze as if weighing the sincerity of my words.
“I have a plan to free the captive—the night of the Masquerade,” I said. “We’ll need your magic to get in. But, if it doesn’t work, or I can’t have both, I want your opinions. I’ll want the information I know you’re not sharing.”
He dipped his chin and pulled out the stool, readying to work the foot pedal that powered the shaping blade.
“I also reserve the right to change my mind,” I added.
He smiled a real grin instead of his usual smirk. “As is your wont.”
