“Where are we going?”
“Away!”
Rory’s eyes were wide as she ran alongside him, giggling as they skipped over roots and darted around trees, still attached at the hand and unwilling to let go of each other. Rory thrilled at holding the hand of a man. For something so simple, it was an intimate act for a woman whose life was usually so very guarded.
For Cordray, touch in general was a thing to celebrate. The moment his admission of having a Lethal Pulse came out in conversation, people visibly backed away from him. Though they could have dropped their grip on each other minutes ago, both of them clung tighter, savoring the scandal that was precious to them both.
They ran through the woods, brushing off their burdens in the branches. So much of Rory’s life had been spent serving the people and helping the throne. The greens and the browns were lush with the freedom of nature permitting them to run wild, even if mankind never would allow such scandals.
As they moved deeper into the woods, Rory was amazed at how lavishly the forest liked to show off. The trees grew ever taller the further in they went. Summer was just beginning, introducing flowers to the world that not many would have the good fortune to see, but there they bloomed in beautiful bursts of fragrant blues and pinks. The scent of lilacs permeated her nose with a perfume that felt almost spiritual as it filled her lungs to nearly bursting.
It wasn’t until they approached a stream that their sprint slowed into a breathy stroll. “I haven’t run that long in ages!” She rested her free hand to her chest to quell the rapid jumps. She expected him to release her hand; she knew she was clinging perhaps a little too much. But Cordray never dropped her grip, instead using the tether to draw her closer, so their hips occasionally bumped as they hiked along the trickling brook.
“I love this stretch of the woods. The stream goes all the way down there, and the view is amazing. I think your vacation should start off with a nature hike, not loads of paperwork.”
“You’re the boss.”
“Actually, you’re the boss. I know I was probably being a little too flippant back there. I know you’ve got an important job, and you do a lot of amazing things with the work your Foundation does.” He shrugged, letting their hands swing between them as they walked along the brook. “There was just something about seeing the hope in your eyes yesterday when you were talking about your big moment of freedom, and then seeing you today chaining yourself when there was finally no one to tether you to a desk. It made me sad.” He motioned around the woods. “This is what it looks like when I snap.”
Rory’s smile felt so permanent at this point; she wondered when the last time was that she’d been so enthralled. “When I snap, it involves working until the candle goes out, and falling asleep at my desk.”
“You work by candlelight?”
“After nine, yes. Benjamin, my guard, lights a candle that burns for about three hours. The rule is that I can work until the candle goes out, and then I have to turn in.”
“That’s oddly sweet.”
“Well, that’s Benjamin for you. It was Remus’ idea, actually. He got tired of me drinking espresso all day at the office. Apparently I can be something of a dictator when most of my diet consists of caffeine.”
When they came to a particularly muddy patch, Cordray steered them around it and pointed to the animal tracks. “See that? It’s a deer heading south. We’ll probably start to see a lot more tracks like that the further in we get.”
“Are you a hunter?”
Cordray chuckled. “I’m a vegetarian. Growing up as a Lethal gave me a bent for not killing things.”
Rory mulled over his response as they walked through the dewy grass.
“Was that too much melodrama?” he asked, casting her a sidelong glance.
Rory squeezed his fingers twice. “Just the right amount. It’s not a chore to learn about you, Cord.”
His feet slowed until finally they stopped in front of a felled tree. Instead of hefting one of his legs over the thick trunk, he stared at it, as if perplexed. “No one’s ever said that to me. They find out I’m Lethal, and that’s all they need to know.”
Rory didn’t mean to brush the outside of her arm against his, but her body did what it craved without needing to be commanded to move nearer to the man who made her wonder. Instead of speaking, she reached across her body and ran her fingers slowly up and down his forearm, giving them both a steady dose of the shivers.
The mild pop and swish of the water hitting the felled tree drew her eyes, and something about the sight gave her a deep-rooted peace she hadn’t been able to access in her office. The air was cleaner out here, the atmosphere still, yet cracking with life. She could feel the chaos that usually banged around inside of her die down under the gentle command of the brook.
Then suddenly, Cordray was several feet away from her, backing up in alarm as if she was the danger, and he, the hunted. “I don’t know what this is. I’m not… Why would someone like you be touching me like that? Is this some ‘stick it to the parents’ thing? Because I’ve got news for you; I’ve been that guy before, and I’m not up for it again. Especially not on your family’s level. I’ve got a feeling the Chancellor of Avondale has plenty of obscure places he could use to make me disappear.”
Rory took in his worry, and then looked down at her hands, turning them over to examine what made them think they could go off perusing the body of a man she barely knew. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so clingy. It’s got nothing to do with ‘sticking it to my parents’. I forgot myself for a moment. It won’t happen again.”
Her words sunk deep in her stomach. For the span of half an hour, she’d completely forgotten about all of her hang-ups. She’d forgotten about work. She’d even forgotten about her curse. So much of her life had been molded around the worst day of her existence. To live without that weight, even for less than an hour, made her giddy with bravery that went beyond reason. She was finally breaking out of her shell and routine enough to realize her life wasn’t over yet. She had choices, and she’d never used that liberty to its full capacity.
Her shoulders weighted with a flood of shame, her hands clasping in front as they often did when she was under public scrutiny. She wanted to fidget, but knew that would be eaten up by the press as a weakness. She glanced around the forest that had felt so incredibly alive with freedom mere seconds ago. She scolded herself for believing she belonged there, instead of at her desk, doing what she could to save Avondale, while knowing that it couldn’t save her.
Cordray’s mistrust was evident in his shifting gaze, but upon taking in her obvious embarrassment, he quickly diverted to compassion. “Hey, I was wrong. I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m not used to nice moments like this that don’t have layers and layers of manipulation behind them. This is all me, not you.”
Rory lowered her chin and plastered a bland, pleasant expression on her face. She’d worn it on several occasions, and kept it tucked in her back pocket to cover her true face whenever it threatened to come out and expose her pangs of vulnerability. “I should get back. I’ve ignored my work for far too long. Thank you for the tour.”
He recoiled, causing her to stop her exit short. “What is that face?”
Rory flinched. “What?”
“I mean, I’ve seen you in the papers, and I guess that’s how you look, but to see it up close? You were just laughing and smiling, and now you’re… I don’t know what that is, but it’s not you.”
“Am I being rude?”
“No.”
“I had a lovely walk through the woods, but I let my imagination run away with me. I’m sure my investors wouldn’t approve of the childish fantasies I wasted time on when I could have been doing something meaningful.”
“What do you know about wasting time? It seems like you’ve got every second planned out.”
A fire flared up in Rory, and for once, she didn’t stamp it out with a controlled downward tilt of her head. “Every second that I waste is one I’ll never get back. You’ve got an entire lifetime of seconds – whole minutes and hours and days where you can hide in the woods and trust that the world will find a way to fix itself. I’ve never had that luxury. I have four months left to solve an entire country’s worth of problems. I don’t know why I thought it would be a good idea to traipse around the woods like… like…”
“Like what?” Cordray challenged, fanning the flames in her words to keep her true self at the surface as long as possible.
“Like I have a choice in my life!”
“What you have isn’t a life!” he countered, his volume climbing. “What you have is a pit that will never fill up, no matter how much dirt you shovel in. You have four months left? Then maybe it’s time you started living!”
“You don’t know the first thing about me!”
Cordray’s voice lowered to almost a whisper. “I know that I felt something, and that doesn’t happen for people like me.”
Rory threw her arms out, exasperated. “Then why push me away and make me question what was just as special a moment for me?”
Cordray ran his hand from his forehead down his face, his eyes stormy for too many reasons. “Because neither of us has any business pretending that you belong on the arm of a hermit who lives alone in the woods. I could kill you with a single touch.”
“You want to talk about me finally living, and then tell me you’re too afraid to do the same?”
The two stared at each other for several weighted seconds, soaking in the frustration, vulnerability, and finally, the attraction they couldn’t deny any longer.
Rory knew she could run back to the cabin and return to the work she’d set out to tackle on her break from the world. She knew she could cut the whole vacation short and drive home that very afternoon, heading back to what was predictable.
She didn’t know what it would be like to kiss Cordray, or what his bottom lip would taste like when she sucked on it.
It took three of her strides to clear the gap between them, her arms coiling around his shoulders as she found herself swept up in his embrace. She scarcely understood her actions, but the tethered girl inside of her slowly became unraveled as her lips captured his. For once, she didn’t hold herself back, but took his bleats of attraction mingled with distress, and held them captive in her heart.