Page 68 of Wicked Thieves
They settled into the bed, facing each other. Aeric’s arm tucked beneath her head and their legs tangling together to ward off the cold. It was almost too natural the way she settled into his arms and how he kept her close to his chest, where she could hear his heart beating. The sound soothing her into sleep that had come entirely too quickly.
“Tomorrow, things will be different. Won’t they?” she murmured.
His hold tightening around her was answer enough, but then he said, “Sleep for now.”
As she started to drift off, listening to his heart and losing herself to the sweet comfort of his embrace, she could have sworn she heard him say, “Do not venture where I cannot reach you.”
23
The distant sound of rain falling outside stirred Anelize awake. A glimmering light pouring in between the curtains of the window announcing that dawn had come, and the sun was finally coming to welcome them all to a new day. No matter how bleak that day may be.
Fiery golden light streaked across the room and over the rumpled covers and sheets of the bed. The bed where she was currently laying, encased in warmth where an arm was firmly wrapped around her. As it had been all night.
Turning her attention away from the sheets tangled between their legs, she found Aeric was already awake. His attention solely on her. Neither of them spoke as she slowly reached over and ran the tip of her finger over the lines of his face. Over the faint line along his forehead, the shape of his brows, then the slight bump along his nose that served as a reminder of their first meeting. Down to the soft bow of his lips then further, where she traced the bottom. His lips parted at her touch before she teasingly ran her finger down to his chin and neck.
Aeric’s chest rose and fell faster with every fleeting caress, and she smiled at the effect she had on him. Then the shadows began to close in around her vision and she tensed. Moving to sit up, she turned to stare at the ray of light on the bed. Watching the fiery glow slowly fade away into a dull hue.
No. No, not now.
“Anya.” She flinched when Aeric placed a hand on her shoulder, coming to sit beside her. “What is it?”
“I…” She found it difficult to breathe as she watched the shadows continue to consume everything around her. Slowly closing in with every breath she took. “I think it’s happening. The curse.”
Aeric tensed, then he was kneeling before her on the bed.
“How? What is it you feel? Pain?”
Anelize shook her head, still staring at that ray of light like she could will it to stay.
“Look at me.” He curled his fingers under her chin, bringing her attention back to him. It was only when she saw the shadows closing around his face that her eyes stung with the ghost of tears. Aeric’s request sounded pained now when he saw the torment on her face. “Tell me what it is, please.”
“My eyes—I think I’m losing my sight. It’s been happening more and more every time I conjure. If this continues, I doubt I’ll be able to see much of anything else. It will all fade away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner that this was your curse?” he pressed.
Anelize licked her lips nervously. “I’m sorry. I was afraid, and there was too much at risk. I didn’t want you to change your mind about letting me do this. I need to do this, now more than ever. Not just for Enid, but for all of us.”
Aeric was silent for a long moment before he made to get off the bed, his movements rushed as he hurried to the settee to grab a black tunic and the leathers draped over the side.
“What are you doing?”
“The Senin is in a week. We need to get you into the castle as soon as possible to have you establish the familiarity you’llneed to be able to navigate through the halls without one of us nearby. Once you’re there, we’ll be able to show you where to go during the ceremony so that you can reach the tunnels. We can break the curse and destroy the Loom before it goes any further.”
His words were clipped, rushed. His movements not that far off, and she realized that she’d scared him. Before last night, she would have assumed it was because he feared losing his chances of getting the book, risking everything because of her curse. Only that was not the case, she knew that now.
“Aeric.” He didn’t seem to hear her as he pulled the tunic over his head with one quick movement, almost done so in anger. Then he moved on to his pants. It was only when he was dressed that she said again, “Aeric, look at me.”
His eyes snapped back to her where she still had yet to move from the middle of the bed surrounded by the scent of him and the fading warmth where he’d laid that she wished would return.
The shadows hadn’t ceased as they had before, and her hand trembled even as she raised it toward him. “Come back to me.”
It was almost laughable how easily he obeyed her request. He stood at the foot of the bed, watching her like an unmovable statue.
“Let’s just stay here for a moment longer. I do not wish to be alone right now.” Her voice was thick with the uncertainty of her fate and the fear of losing yet one more thing that could cost her everything. She motioned for him to get back on the bed, silently begging him with her eyes that took in the sight of him for as long as she could.
He did so, albeit reluctantly, as he crawled onto the bed back to her.
“Anya, I?—”
