Page 21 of Taloned Heart

But then again, this could be the best place for him to hide. No one would walk into Borovoi’s house, assuming they would find mortals here. This might be the best place in the entire kingdom to hide while Margaret’s folks meandered around trying to hunt them down.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” she said, now wishing she had left her hood up. “We just want to talk.”

“I’m not talking to an elf.”

“I’m not with Margaret and her people, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She inched closer to Abraxas. “Neither of us are. We’ve been gone for a long time, and we’re just now getting home.”

“You expect me to believe that? I see those sharp ears and I know exactly what they mean. You can’t be here. Because if you are, that means you’re here to kill us.”

“We’re not killing anyone.”

He thrust the crossbow at her as though the movement was a threat. But his finger never moved on the trigger. “You think I want to do this? You think I want to hurt anyone?”

“Maybe.” Lore lowered her hands, so she looked more like a person to him. Abraxas had never even lifted his, and she placed her hand on his shoulder that was still vibrating with his need to attack. “I wouldn’t blame you if it made you feel better. From what I’ve seen, the elves have done a lot to this kingdom already. And for that, I am sorry.”

“Trickery.”

“Truth,” she corrected. “I do not speak for the rest of them, but I do speak for a small few. I’m certain of that.”

She hoped, at least.

Right now, though, he had to put that crossbow down before her dragon lost patience. How could she get him to do that? Lore supposed she could start glowing, but she was the elves’ goddess, not those of the mortals. That might startle him even more.

She thought she might survive a crossbow bolt to the chest. Maybe even one to the eye. It felt like her body wouldn’t let her die when there was so much left to do, but she didn’t want Abraxas to live through yet another attempt on her life.

“Da?” A voice filtered through the door as it opened yet again. “What’s taking you so long? You were supposed to help bring everything in.”

She knew that voice.

Lore knew that voice as though it were her own.

All worries about that crossbow fled as she staggered to the side to look around the man and fill her gaze with the woman standing in the doorway with her arms wrapped around a large sack.

“Beauty?” she croaked, the word sticking in her throat. “Is that you?”

The sack hit the ground hard. The contents scattered. Maybe a whole bundle of potatoes, she didn’t know. Lore’s eyes were locked on the young woman, who had lost far too much weight. There were deep hollows in her cheeks and harsh shadows underneath her eyes. Beauty’s lovely gold hair was lank around her features, unwashed and clearly not taken care of. But she was alive. She was standing right there when Lore had been so afraid that... that...

“Lore?” Beauty asked, her own voice wavering with immediate tears.

Lore couldn’t speak. All she could do was nod as her jaw quivered. She clenched her teeth so hard it hurt, but she refused to start sobbing.

Beauty took a step toward her. Then another. Completely ignoring her father’s barked orders to stay where she was. “Damn it, girl, why aren’t you listening to me?”

Without a second thought about the dangers of the man with the crossbow, Lore lurched forward and pulled the other woman into her arms. They sank into each other, crying happy tears that they were both alive and finally, finally together after such a long time.

“I was so afraid you were dead,” she whispered into Beauty’s hair.

“I thought you were never coming back.” Beauty tucked her head into Lore’s shoulder, tears soaking through the cloak and sticking to her skin.

Lore had forgotten how short Beauty was. Or maybe she had forgotten how fragile the little mortal felt in her arms. So much had changed since they had seen each other, and yet it felt as though she had stepped out of time. Nothing had changed between them, no matter how many years passed. Lore and Beauty were still the best of friends, and nothing would ever change that. Ever.

Leaning back, she ghosted her fingers over Beauty’s sunken cheeks and shook her head. “You look awful.”

“I feel awful,” Beauty replied with a laugh, tears still running down her cheeks. “You look like... like...”

A goddess. The word was there, even though she knew that Beauty wouldn’t say it. She knew what she looked like and how incredibly fortunate she was to look like this when all the other people she cared about had suffered so much.

A single instance of death wasn’t enough suffering for her to have earned this. Not when so many others had lived and continued onward.

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