Page 20 of The Poison of the Earth
I smile at her, “I have the third as well. It’s a bit... frustrating as there are some plot lines not tied up. I wonder if she wrote more after the Veil Stones stopped working.”
Allie perks up, intrigued. “What a morose thought; that there are books out there, endings of ones we’ve read, that we’ll never get.” She lets out a little chuckle. “I guess that’s how life is, when any of us die, we will leave someone behind and we’ll never know the end of their story.”
I blink. “I suppose so, Allie. Are you planning on dying anytime soon? I don’t want to miss the end of your story.”
Why did I say that?That was... oddly romantic.
Her coral eyes blaze and she looks at me hard. “Absolutely not. I have much to do.”
I cock my head. “Interesting. I feel the same.”
Something crosses her face, something that makes her look morereal, almost.
She grabs her glass, crossing her legs slowly and leaning in. “And what doyouhave to do, Commander Lonan?”
I take her in slowly. It’s almost as if she’s a different person, her posture, her energy, the look upon her face. When her eyes meet mine, however, it disappears. It’s gone; she folds in on herself, taking up less space, eyes dropping, leaning back into the cushions.
“Where did you go?” I whisper without thinking.
“I asked what you have to do, Sire,” she says softly, ignoring me.
I sigh, frustrated that I lost that glimpse of her. Or maybe the her she was before whoever abused her got to her.
“Kill Alder, of course,” I answer flippantly.
She holds her glass with both hands, looking down at it. “And then what, Sire? Would you... take the throne?”
I snort on a sip of cider. “No, of course not. Not me. Never me. I don’t have the... constitution for that.”
She looks up at me with a tiny smile. “Is that so?” She stands, book slipping onto the couch and for one glorious moment, Ithink she’s coming to sit next to me. But she crosses to the shelves again.
I stand and go to build a fire. “Bit chilly in here, don’t you think?” I ask her. I stack wood from the basket and drop tinder into the center. “Would you like to?” I offer.
“Beg pardon?” She asks softly, not looking up from the book she has open in her hands.
“Would you like to light the fire?” I shrug, suddenly feeling silly, “You being a fire Fae and all.”
She turns and grins at me, and again I seeher. “What makes you think that?” She arches a white eyebrow.
I pause a moment, eyes raking over her.Fuck, I love this sass from her.
“Your eyes.”
“They are rather similar to yours, I noticed, my lord.” The look she tosses me is heated but she quickly turns away before continuing, “Are you a fire Fae then?”
It’s fairly well known in the keep but yet this feels... dangerous.
“You first, little one.”
She blinks. I wait a moment but when she’s silent, I grab the matches and strike one, eyes upon her as I drop it onto the tinder. I stand slowly, as she stares, frozen. I approach her cautiously, studying her for fear or anxiety as I close in, but I see none. My heart lightens at that.
I gently take the book from her hands and close it, placing it back upon the shelf. I stand in her space, but neither of us close it.
Her gaze is upon my hands. I am a head taller than her; she is indeed little. Her hair appears indescribably soft this close and I notice that she is using two pens to hold it up on top of her head.
“Allie...” I start, but I see her tense again.Fuck.
She looks up, then down and whispers, “Earth,” before she turns and flees, dress flying behind her as she takes the stairs out of my rooms without a look backward.
