Page 254 of The Nightmare Bride
I shook my head, my nerve endings buzzing. It would probably be too murdery to pray that Vick never wake again, but I went ahead and did it anyway.
“No.” I tried to sound casual. “Just wondering.”
Lunk made to move off, but I caught at his wrist. His arm was too substantial for me to circle entirely, but he got the idea and stopped. “Is there something else, keymistress?”
“Yes.” I chewed at my lip. “It’s just...seems like you and Miss Quist have gotten close, and I want you to know how happy that makes me. She deserves a man like you. Someone good.”
Crimson flared in his cheeks. “Well, she’s amazing,” he said. “Not just beautiful, but industrious. And kind. So incredibly kind.”
I risked a smile. “Then I hope you’ll stay with us. With her.”
He ducked his head. “I’d like that. It’s just...” His gaze slid away.
When I he didn’t continue, I frowned. “What?”
He rummaged in his pocket and produced a compact book. It was Miss Quist’s favorite—I recognized the sapphire cover, the scuffed and twice-cracked spine.
“I don’t know that I’m what she wants.” Lunk smiled bleakly, then opened the book and handed it over. I inspected the page, which showed a curvy woman embracing her fierce-eyed pirate lover. The hero had flowing black hair, brown skin, and glistening muscles.
“She lent this to me, but...” Lunk gestured at the drawing. “See? It’s her.”
I blinked. Huh. The heroine did indeed resemble Miss Quist, complete with blonde corkscrew curls and rosy cheeks. I couldn’t believe I’d never noticed before. “Wow. It is.”
He pointed at the pirate. “But Captain Dash...” He trailed off, and I could practically hear him proclaiming he could never compete with the pirate lord.
“I think this might be her way of letting me down easy,” he said.
I snapped the thing shut and handed it back. “No. She’s not like that, and besides. It’s just a book.”
“It’s notjusta book. Believe me, when you look like this”—he waved to indicate his face—“you grow up believing in thefictional world more than the one around you. In some ways, it’s more real. More just.”
I fell silent, not knowing what to do with that. I hadn’t grown up around books. I’d cut my teeth on pure survival, on endless worries about which berry bush would ripen first and how many mussels I could dig up to trade for candles. I hadn’t encountered the luxury of literature until I’d joined Olivian’s household and Eliana had taught me to read.
And while I thoroughly enjoyed books, I’d never considered them a haven, the way Lunk apparently did.
“But they’re just stories,” I said slowly. “Idealized versions of life, not the real thing. Because in the real world, good men wear all kinds of faces. Miss Quist knows that as well as I do.”
A sad smile stole over his features. “That’s easy for you to say when...well, when you look like that.” He made a vague, complimentary gesture in my direction.
I trailed my fingertips across the features I’d chosen. “Well. To be honest, I didn’t always look like this. I was born plain. Less than plain, actually.”
His brow furrowed. “You...what?”
“I know. It sounds strange, but Zephyrine gave me a...gift. One that lets me remake myself however I like. I might look like this now, but I didn’t used to. I spent years being invisible.”
He blinked at me.
I stepped closer, an idea sparking. I’d never reshaped anyone else’s face, only my own, but why wouldn’t it work the same way? “Actually, I could do the same for you, if you want. If you’d rather look like”—I gestured at the book—“someone else. Or some slightly different version of yourself.”
He stared, nonplussed. Clearly, that was a lot to take in.
“I’m not trying to talk you into anything. Just making an offer. Here, watch.”
I palmed the hilt of my dagger. Zephyrine awoke, her warmth bristling against my skin. Guilt needled at me, some rational part of me cringing at using the goddess’s power while also plotting to keep her daughter from her, but I pushed the feeling aside. This was for Lunk, not me.
I passed a hand over my eye, letting the magic seep in, changing one dark iris to shimmering green.
At least, I hoped I had. I’d never done this without a mirror before. But apparently it worked, because the giant’s bronze cheeks went stark white.
