“Nope,” I answered, panting a bit. It was more exercise than I was used to. “Maddox and Briar love each other too.”
“That doesn’t make youjealous?”
“Not at all.” And I meant that with my whole heart. “I love seeing them together. Communication is key, I think. We talk about everything.”
“Did you talk about me?”
I nodded. “Several times. Mainly about my feelings for you and how they felt about it. Their only reservation was for my safety.” That pang returned. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have them.”
Rowan’s brow scrunched as we moved farther up the never-ending hill. “The wolf didn’t seem bothered by me fucking you. I expected him to put up more of a fight. Now I see why he didn’t. He knew it’d happen.”
It was the reassurance I needed to embrace my feelings for Rowan. For only one night. For more than that.
For as long as he’d let me.
We walked for another ten minutes or so before the trees thinned and more moonlight showed through the branches. Then, we stepped from the forest and into a clearing.
“Here we are,” he said.
My jaw popped open. We stood beneath a starry sky surrounded by mountains. They rose all around us, some of them so high I couldn’t see the peaks. We’d reached the top of a gorge, somewhere in between the taller mountains.
“Is that a stream?” I asked, hearing the rush of running water. “I’m so thirsty I might even drink a vial of that nasty flower juice.”
“I’d rather die of thirst than drink another.”
I laughed.
Rowan’s eyes softened.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He looked away and guided me forward. “I just… I like your laugh.”
I couldn’t help but smile. The old Rowan wouldn’t have admitted such a thing. Little by little, he was opening up, showing me more of his hidden layers.
We rounded a corner and came upon the source of the sound. A small waterfall cascaded down one side of themountain, filling a decent-sized pond that then flowed down the hill, creating another small waterfall. Beyond the pool, I saw a cave. Trees sprouted up on each side of it, like a little oasis hidden within the mountains.
“Wow,” I said, taking it all in. “It kind of reminds me of Rivendell.”
“Where’s that?” Rowan led me closer to the water.
“A place from a book,” I told him. “Elves live there.”
“Elves? They’re such pompous bastards.”
“Wait. Elves are real?”
He gave me a look I knew well—one I received all the time from my grumpy captain. The “Evan has lost his mind” expression. “Yes, they’re real.”
“Oh,” I said with a nervous laugh. “I’ve never met one.”
“Suppose you wouldn’t have if this is your first time leaving Bremloc. They mostly keep to their kingdom in the east, though some have been known to travel this way on occasion. They live for thousands of years and venture out when they get bored.”
A kingdom of elves. How freaking cool.
He knelt by the water and scooped some up in his hands, taking a sip before motioning to me. “Drink.”
I copied him and groaned as the water hit my tongue. It was so fresh and crisp. “This is the best water I’ve ever tasted. I don’t even care that an animal probably shit in it somewhere upstream.”
