Page 28 of Taloned Heart

Pressing a hand to her forehead, she weaved forward. Flirting with the danger of plummeting four stories toward the hard ground. She wouldn’t. Her magic would stop her long before she struck the ground, but she was so tired.

Lore wasn’t smart enough to fix all this on her own. But she also had no idea who to ask for help.

Now was not the time to spiral. She had so much work to do, and just because a few old memories were gone, didn’t mean she could break. Lore needed time, yes, she had to figure out all the nuances of this new kingdom that she’d left behind. But she would do a disservice to those who had come before if she let those thoughts overwhelm her.

The street below her cleared of people, and she let her intrusive thoughts win.

Lore took a step off the roof and fell. The wind whistled in her hair for too short of a time, nothing like riding on the back of her favorite dragon. And when she landed in a crouch on the hard stone, she barely felt the ache in her knees that creaked as she stood back up.

She wasn’t the woman she had been before, either. She just had to remind herself of that.

Walking the streets at near dawn was a strange experience. She kept her hood up, fully expecting vendors to be setting out their wares and getting ready for the day. But there were few vendors left.

The only stragglers this early that she saw wore hardened expressions of weariness. They pulled whatever they could out of their homes and set it on the street for people to buy straight out of the pot. As though there wasn’t even enough food to sell these days unless it was cooked into a suspicious-looking mush.

A few of them tried to get her to buy something, but she didn’t want to risk the food.

Lore met Abraxas at the front of Borovoi’s house. He leaned against the worn building, ankles crossed and arms looped around himself. He had his head down, almost as though he were starting to fall asleep. But he heard her quickly enough. His head jolted up, and he frowned at her.

“You’re late.”

“We didn’t set a time to meet,” she said wearily. “I had a few things to check over, you know that.”

“And I didn’t know where you had gone or what you were doing. You can’t run off like that, Lore. Not until everyone knows you’re back.”

“I was careful.” She cupped his cheek in her palm, drawing him close so she could smell the brimstone and fire scent that always eased her mind. “I went back to the attic. Someone lives there now. They turned it into a beautiful little playroom for their children.”

As always, he heard the tension in her voice. Abraxas scooped the back of her neck and drew her tighter against him. “You should have had that as well. I’m sorry you didn’t.”

“I’m not. Those children deserve a life regardless of how I led mine. I’m glad they’re happy.” Her voice thickened. “Goliath’s house is gone.”

“Ah, Lore.” He drew her fully into his arms then, tucking her face against his neck so she didn’t have to see the world around them. “I’m sorry for that, too.”

“You didn’t burn it.”

“No, but I set the standard for burning things to the ground, now didn’t I?”

She supposed in a way he had, but not like he was thinking. Zander had burned entire cities and the people in them, not just the houses that had once held people.

“It’s all right,” she whispered against his neck. “I’m all right.”

“Are you really?”

She shook her head once. “No. But I will be.”

Abraxas drew back and cast a critical glance up and down her body. He squeezed her shoulders, as if that might help ground her. And surprisingly, it did.

He always understood when she wanted to talk, and when she wanted to leave it alone. Abraxas took her hand and led her into the house, then into the depths of the root cellar where Beauty and her father were waiting.

The old man sat at the table, his steepled fingers pressed against his mouth as he stared at them. Finally, when she sat in front of him, he set his hands down on the wood.

“So you’re her then?” he asked, his voice a low grumble.

“I’m her.”

He paled at her words and seemed to shake a little when she sat down in front of him. “And you’re here to help us? Truly? You realize that’s going against your kind and everything they stand for.”

“I do.” She gave him a sad little smile. “Just because they are elves does not mean that they are right. And you forgot, I’m half elf myself. Denying the humans means denying half of who I am.”

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