Tomas sipped from his coffee cup. “Okay, so I’ll start on the plans for the lighting. But I’ll need your visual details to start the audio.”
I nodded and wrapped both hands around my drink, letting the warmth soak in. Fall was in full swing as we sat by the wall of windows in the school canteen, and the chill almost seemed to seep through the glass. “I’ll work on that this weekend then.”
I had a massive end-of-semester project to present for one of my classes, and it just so happened that what I needed Tomas’ expertise for–lighting and audio–would count as his end-of-semester project. It couldn’t have worked out any better. Plus, I got to work closely with a friend.
I smiled as he explained his ideas and scribbled notes on the pad between us. When I reached the dregs of my coffee, I checked my phone for the time.
“I gotta get to my next class.” I scooped my stuff into a pile and began stuffing it all in my leather bag.
Tomas did the same, but he cleared his throat nervously. “So, what have you guys been up to lately?”
I stopped and looked at him, noting the slight pink that flushed in his cheeks. “What do you mean?”
“You and Julie,” he replied and met my gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve hardly seen you two around.”
I blinked, not knowing what to say. “Didn’t–I thought you and Julie were…hanging out?”
“We were,” he said as we got off our stools. “But she’s been pretty distant lately.”
I’d been so wrapped up in my own drama that I hadn’t paid much attention to Julie’s movements. Aside from the couple of shifts we shared at the café each week, and the time we both spent at Oliver’s cottage, learning magic. She was determined to master wisping. A task I ultimately failed at and abandoned immediately.
Water travel would have to be good enough. As long as there was a natural water source, I could go to Oliver’s or the Sanctuary.
“I’m sure she’s just busy with school.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “You know, those academic types. Not as carefree as us creatives.” He chuckled lightly, but I could sense hesitation all over him. I touched his arm, and we stopped in the hall. “I think she’s just prepping for some big test. We all could use a breather. Let’s hang out this weekend.”
Tomas’s dark hair fell over the crinkle at the corner of his eye. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll see you later.”
We split off, and I headed to my next class. The prof shut the door just as I took my seat, and I immediately noticed the empty one next to me. I glanced around the room, searching for her ebony hair and a permanent look of disdain. But she wasn’t here. Max was never not here. In fact, she’d never missed a class and was always the first to arrive.
As class began and everyone settled in, I couldn’t shake the tangibly bad feeling that spread through my chest. My eyes kept darting to Max’s empty seat. The hour passed slowly, and by the end, when my knee bounced in place, and the nagging feeling of dread whispered over my skin, I shoved from my seat the second we were dismissed and made a beeline for the bathroom.
I threw myself into an empty stall and locked the door behind me. My bag fell to the floor as I plopped down on the toilet seat and closed my eyes. I had to tap into my Oracle ability. I had to see why I felt weighted with this feeling. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it, so I focused on each breath. In and out.
My thoughts began to wander, but I had control. I steered myself through the maze that was my mind until I saw her or…felt her. I stood in murky blackness, just like in my nightmares, but I could feel Max’s energy. Could smell her expensive perfume.
And sense her feelings.
Something familiar coursed through me. A sense of being a fly on the wall, but I couldn’t see. I could only feel, and it was a feeling that had been haunting me for days. Evaine. Rage and fear twirled at the back of my throat as I slowly opened my eyes. The din echo of the empty bathroom rang in my ears.
Was Max in trouble?
***
I left three messages on Max’s cell before giving up.
“Do you have those receipts from the Mitchel showing?” Celadine asked over my shoulder as I sat hunched over my hovel of paperwork at the front desk.
I stopped what I was doing–budgeting for a small upcoming show–and fanned through a basket of Zip-loc bags, each marked in Sharpie with their corresponding event. I found the Mitchel bag and handed it to her.
Celadine eyed the basket with an arched brow. I sighed and smiled. “It’s the best method for keeping track of things until I get a moment to log it all.”
She crossed her slender, tattooed arms across her chest. So stark and pale against the midnight black sleeveless jumper she wore. The hint of a smile teased her mouth. “Is the workload too much for you?”
I straightened. “No, I swear. It’s not too much. In fact,” I smiled, and Celadine relaxed against the edge of the desk. “This job is the easiest part of my life. I love it. I need it.”
“And you’re staying on top of things at school? If your classes are suffering so you can manage this job–”
“They’re not,” I blurted and took a calming breath. “They’re not. School is fine, too. Easy. Not nearly distracting enough.” We shared a tired laugh. “Actually, I have a favor to ask.”
Celadine brightened. “Yes?”
“I have this end-of-semester project coming up that’s worth a huge chunk of my grade,” I said. “A vignette series.”
“Would you like to use the gallery?”
I raised my brows. I hadn’t expected her to just offer it. “If it’s alright with you?”
Celadine nodded. “Of course. It’s at your disposal. You know the gallery schedule just as well as I do. Pencil yourself in. Use whatever you need. It’s all good business for the gallery, anyway.”
I chewed at the corner of my lip. “And good…energy for you?”
She smiled coyly and adjusted her cat-eye glasses. “Yes. Does that bother you?”
I shook my head without hesitation. “Not at all. I think it’s fascinating. I mean, who am I to judge? I don’t even know what I am. Not truly.”
She leaned toward me with delight. “How lucky I am to witness you discover it.” I couldn’t help but mirror her smile, and the knots in my stomach loosened just a little. Celadine straightened and smoothed out the wrinkles on her jumper. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know I’ve hired someone part-time to take care of the menial day tasks for you.”
“What? Why?”
“This journey you’re about to embark on,” she replied. “Learning magic, discovering who you are… you’ll need time. But I’d very much like it if you’d continue our evening apprenticeship.”
I gave her a nod. “I’d like that, too.”
Celadine sucked in a deep breath. “Do you want to see it?”
“She what?”
“The gallery.” She gestured around us. “The energy. How I do it.”
My eyes bulged. “I would love to see that. But isn’t it…a private thing?”
My boss chuckled. “Maybe for some. But not the way I do it. And–” She shrugged. “I’ve got a feeling you’ll be around for a while if my brother has anything to do with it.” She motioned to the floor. “The entire building is lined with quartz, marble, and marble inlay.”
I watched as she reached out, her hand hovering over the floor beneath us. And I felt it. A deep hum that seemed to crawl over every inch of the room. From the stone, clear waves radiated toward Celadine. Like the air above the black pavement on a hot summer day.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a sharp breath, and then everything stopped. The humming, the vibrations in the air. Celadine looked at me with half a grin, and I could see it. The slight change. Her alabaster skin beneath the tattoos radiated with the pulse of energy.
Of life.
I shook my head with an impressed chuckle. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“It’s too bad you don’t have an aptitude for witch magic,” she replied. “I could show you a thing or two.”
I sighed and thought about the nightmarish visions that haunted me at night. Just one of the many things I was facing. “One overwhelming thing at a time.”
She closed her hands in front of her and tilted her head. “How are things going? With your newfound powers?”
“I’m learning to control them the best I can, but it doesn’t feel like enough, and there’s only so much Moya can teach me. Especially with this weird bind in my blood.” I rubbed my arms. “It makes my flimsy control seem chaotic. Like a wild animal at times.” I stared into her violet eyes. “And it terrifies me.”
A pause held the echoey room.
“Cillian worries for you,” Celadine admitted. He’d been gone all week on some work thing overseas. “He won’t say it, but I feel his worry for you.”
I stared at a spot on the floor. “And what else do you feel?”
She laughed. “Nothing like what you’re thinking. My feelings toward you are strictly platonic.”
“Thank God for that,” Cillian chuffed as he entered the gallery, strutting toward me like a god down a runway.
“You’re back!” I exclaimed, my heart clawing to get out and reach for him.
He stopped at the desk and curled a finger at me. “I owe you a proper date.”
My forehead pinched together. “Wait, what?”
“A date?” he said, brows raised, ready for a sarcastic reply. “One where I don’t leave before the end.”
Celadine adjusted her glasses and swung her thick beaded braid over her shoulder. “I’ll see you later,” she said, barely containing a grin as she waved the receipts. “Thanks for these.”
I turned to Cillian and gestured to my grungy t-shirt and day three jeans. “I’m a mess.”
He offered his elbow. “We’ll stop by your place first, then. We have an hour before our reservation.”
“Reservation?” I stood and grabbed my jacket. “Sounds fancy.” I stuffed my arms in the sleeves and looped one through Cillian’s waiting elbow.
He reached out and brushed his hand across my face as his lips touched mine. The taste of mint, the smell of cool leather; I let him envelop me, and I melted in his arms.
When he finally pulled away, I had to will my heart to calm. But I played it cool. “So, are we walking or flying?”
We strolled toward the front doors. “What do I look like, a taxi service?”
I shrugged. “It’s just awfully convenient.” Cillian playfully shoved me but gripped a hand over my arm that dangled off his. “I mean, I bet you’re never late for anything.”
We stepped into the crisp chill of the late fall air, and Cillian laughed as he secured an arm around my waist. I knew what was coming and held my breath in wait. But time seemed to slow as dark tendrils crawled off him and cocooned us in shadow. His eyes locked on mine in a silent warning, and I hugged him tightly as we bolted into the sky.
We were on my balcony in a single breath, and my heart struggled to catch up as Cillian set me down.
“Is that how you do it?” I asked. “Flying without being spotted? The shadows?”
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black jeans as the moon shone in the inky sky behind his head. “Yes. I’m not sure where the ability came from. I discovered it a few years after being Made. I can render myself and anything I touch practically invisible.”
And like with every scrap of him he reveals to me, Cillian stood with a sense of hesitancy. As if readying himself for my evident running and screaming. But he wasn’t the monster he thought himself to be. Not in my eyes, anyway.
I flashed a smile. “That’s handy.”
He shook his head with a laugh of relief and slipped an arm around me, pulling me close. As his lips brushed my mouth, a deep hum turned over in his chest, and he pressed his forehead against mine. “Go get ready.”
I rolled my eyes and slid open the patio door before entering the apartment. A yelp came from the kitchen, and I found Julie standing there, clutching a frying pan to her chest.
“Christ, guys!” she gasped and braced her hands on the counter. “A little warning next time?”
“Sorry,” I replied and turned toward my room. “Just popping in to get changed.”
As I closed the door, I heard Julie say something to Cillian, and he strode to the kitchen. I scrambled about my room, searching for some semblance of a clean outfit. I seriously needed to do laundry.
I settled on a pair of black leggings and an old olive-green sweater Tess handed down to me and tossed my hair into a ponytail. I threw on a pair of gold hoops, hoping it would help the outfit pass as reservation worthy, and tossed a pink lip gloss in a small brown purse before heading back out to the apartment.
Julie and Cillian stood close to each other, and he turned to face me with a pleased grin. His eyes scanned me up and down, and a heavy sigh erupted from him. “You look gorgeous.”
I rolled my eyes. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
Julie chewed on a carrot stick as she carefully studied our behavior, and I walked to Cillian’s side.
“What about honesty?” he asked cheekily. I just laughed in response, and he offered his elbow again. “We can walk the rest of the way. It’s just down the street.”
I looped my arm through his and said goodbye to Julie. When we were strolling down the street below, I looked up at him and asked, “What were you and Julie talking about?”
The corner of his mouth curved. “She said if I ever hurt you, she’d magically fry my balls off.”
***
The fancy restaurant was inside one of the most prestigious hotels in Halifax, The Prince George. Nestled in the heart of downtown, in a massive, gorgeous brick building. Cillian held the front door as I stepped inside and marveled at the breathtaking lobby. Mostly white with a space divided by two front desks where a woman waited with a smile.
“Good evening, Mr. Danes,” she said as she handed him a tiny flat envelope. “Here’s your key. Stefan is in the kitchen preparing your meal for the night, and dinner should be served around nine.”
Cillian nodded once and tucked the key card into the inside pocket of his jacket. “Thanks, Marlene. And the space?”
She folded her hands in front of her. “Ready as per your instructions.” She looked at me. “Enjoy your time here.”
I thanked her and glanced around, noticing how we were the only people to be seen. Cillian ushered me toward the elevator doors with a hand at my back. As we waited for them to open, I glanced up at him with a curious look.
“We’re staying the night?”
His perfect, pale pink lips widened, and he flashed those white teeth at me. “Have somewhere else to be?”
I rolled my eyes and gestured to my lack of an overnight bag. “You could have prepared me for it. Maybe I’d have packed some pajamas or something.”
A gentle ding chimed in the air, and the elevator door opened. “And ruin the surprise?” He took my hand and led me inside, his thumb brushing against my palm. “Plus, I have no intention of letting you wear anything tonight, let alone pajamas.”
The drop in his tone and the profound raspy promise sent a rush of heat searing through my body, and I had to cross my legs to keep my knees from buckling. Cillian lifted my hand to his mouth as those blue eyes sparkled with devious delight.
The doors opened, and he led me into the well-lit hallway with a beautiful, modern gray carpet. We passed a few rooms until we reached a door at the end of the grand hallway, and I waited at his side as he fetched the room key from his pocket.
All the while, my ears were listening for the sounds of other guests. But the hotel was eerily silent as Cillian opened the heavy door and led me inside. My breath froze in my chest at the sight before me. The room was like something fit for modern royalty. A bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. This wasn’t a hotel room; it was an apartment.
“This is insane,” I said and laid my purse on the black marble island top. “We’re staying here?”
Cillian’s long arms wrapped around me from behind, and I leaned back into him. His lips brushed my ear.
“For as long as you want.”
I twisted in his grasp and stared up at his face, those striking blue eyes never failing to take my breath away. “As much as I’d love to hide away in a hotel room with you for the rest of time, I think one night is all my busy schedule can allow.”
He made a show of rolling his eyes before planting a kiss on my mouth. His lips lingered there, seeping the warmth from my own, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him closer. The tip of Cillian’s nose brushed against my face, down the side of my nose, and trailed gently across my cheek.
“Hungry?” he whispered, his breath tickling my skin.
Goosebumps peppered over me, pooling at my core, and I couldn’t help it as my eyes went to the clean edge of his teeth. “Are you?” I lifted my hand and brushed the pad of my thumb over his lip, just grazing the gleaming white.
Just one word, so many implications.
Yes, I was hungry. I could always down a few tacos, but I also hungered for something else. Cillian. It was constant, my need for him. The fresh desire that bound me to him, I followed it like a starving dog, desperate to discover more. He invaded my every thought, even my dreams, but not…not my nightmares. So different from my visions, these dark landscapes haunted me at night–the nightmares lingered on my skin for days. All my worries bound into one.
Cillian held me tightly, but I slowly pushed away. Hiding my sudden unease with half a laugh. I tucked my hair behind both ears and smiled. “Aren’t you…”
His brows pinched in the middle. “What?”
“Do you think…” I wrung my hands together. “Are we maybe moving too fast?” When his eyes widened, I quickly added, “Not that it’s a bad thing. I just, I’ve never really done this before. And with us, things are just so–”
“Intense?”
Our eyes met; a sigh pressed from me as I nodded.
He stalked toward me, one hand in his jacket pocket. The other with a finger to his lips as he thought. “You’re some sort of semi-mortal being. We’ve got all the time in the world, Avery.” His knowing grin made my heart flutter. “Let’s take this as fast or as slow as you want. I’m not going anywhere.”
He stopped a foot away, and a lock of that silky black hair flopped across his forehead. I gravitated toward that cool, crisp allure that only a predator of the night could emit. But Cillian wasn’t a predator at all.
“But you’re right,” he almost whispered, and I leaned into him with my hand against his hard chest. “Perhaps we are moving fast. But how many truly get to feel this, the impossible burning urge in the bottom of your gut that screams for the other person?” I laid my cheek on his shoulder and stared up at his perfect face. His hum was almost a purr as he smiled down at me. “Most could only hope to taste a fraction of it. So, yes, we may get a few lifetimes on this earth, but why waste a single day of feeling like that? Why turn away happiness? It’s such a rarity in this world as it is.”
A chuckle snorted from me. “I can’t believe I was ever afraid of you.”
Cillian tensed and let his grip around me fall as that soft pink mouth formed a straight line. “You had every right mind to be afraid of me.” But I just rolled my eyes. Cillian loosed a deep breath and checked his watch before offering me his palm.
I looked at it. “What’s this? You wanna dance?”
He laughed, and it warmed my heart to see it chase away the flicker of sadness. “No, I want to go eat.”
I slipped my hand into his. “I fear this place is a bit too fancy for the likes of me.”
“See, I knew you’d say that,” he replied in a way that made me second guess all my doubts from a moment ago and hauled the door open with his free hand. “So, I arranged something different for us.” The grin that followed those words had me leaning into his arm as we exited the room.
I let him lead me to a large metal door and followed him into a stairwell. We climbed up two flights of stairs before Cillian shoved open yet another metal-clad exit, and we stepped out onto a rooftop terrace that overlooked the city.
The chill of Fall kissed my skin, and I brushed off a little shiver as I stepped toward the ornate wrought iron railing that lined the perimeter. The city stretched out before us like a million little fireflies, and I inhaled deeply as I cast my face to the ebony sky above, drinking in the moonlight that beamed down.
Cillian cleared his throat, and I looked to my right, where he stood around the corner of a partition wall, surrounded by hanging twinkle lights as he leaned against the edge of a bistro table with an array of familiar black and purple flowers in the middle. From his sister’s garden.
My eyes burned as they glossed over, and I tore my awed gaze from the quaint display and stared at him. “What’s this?”
Cillian circled the table and hauled a chair, gesturing for me to sit. “It’s dinner.”
I sat down and immediately noticed how warm it was. A quick peek under the table told me an outdoor heater was to thank, but Cillian still slunk out of his leather jacket and draped it over my shoulders before taking his seat across from me.
“Aren’t you cold?” I asked him.
“No.” He smiled, rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows, and leaned them on the table.
Those cerulean eyes stared at me, admiring…examining…I wasn’t sure, and my cheeks warmed at the look. This was a date. Like an actual date, something I’d never really had before. Tiny lights illuminated the space, and the muffled sounds of the city serenaded us. I thought he might say something as his lips parted, but he only shifted and took the domed lid off a metal platter. The smell of fresh sushi coated the air.
“Bon appetite.”
I laughed, scooped up a set of chopsticks near my plate, and plucked a few pieces onto it. I popped a dragon roll into my mouth and relished the taste. I’d been so busy these last few weeks I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a decent meal that wasn’t Julie’s leftovers or something I grabbed from the café.
“So, has Oliver found anything?”
I shoved everything to the side of my mouth. “No, not yet.” I swallowed. “But I don’t want to talk about that right now.”
Cillian poured two glasses of white wine and handed one to me before he replied, “What do you want to talk about then?”
“I’d like to learn more about you.”
He sipped from his glass as his brows rose. “Oh? I believe I told you quite a bit about what I am.”
“Yes, I mean, I know you and your sister are basically ancient–”
“Hey,” he cut in cheekily, and I chuckled.
“And I know you guys came from some Viking heritage before you were Made,” I continued. “And the whole psychic sharing thing you share is cool, but….” I swirled my glass around as I thought. “I want to hear what it’s like.”
Cillian stuffed some sashimi in his mouth. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Like, you can obviously eat. But do you need to? Do you like it?”
“I do. Like it, that is. I don’t need to eat food.” He squared his jaw nervously, cautiously. “Blood gives me everything I truly need to survive.” I made sure not to let so much as a muscle move at that, assuring him it didn’t bother me. “But it grows tiring. I enjoy eating mundane food for its variety of texture.”
I nodded, filing away the bits of info as I lobbed off the end of gyoza.
“My turn?” he asked, and I motioned for him to proceed as I chewed. “Did you truly grow up alongside someone who is Fae and not know who or what she really was?”
“I met Julie when I was ten,” I replied and washed down my food with another sip of wine. “I was a kid. Even if she’d told me, I’m not sure it would have fully registered, you know? Like, I spent my whole life immersed in imaginary things, painting them, drawing them. I lived in a thatched roof stone cottage surrounded by gardens fit for a fairy tale.” I laughed to myself. “I’m not sure I would have even noticed the signs if there were any. Julie was…good at hiding it.” I raised my brows. “My turn?”
“By all means.” He leaned back in his chair, draping one arm over the back as he watched me.
“Tell me a story,” I said.
“A story?”
“Yeah. I mean, you’ve been on this earth for thousands of years. I bet you’ve got a few crazy tales.”
He shook his head as he seemed to rummage his mind for something. “I spent some time on a pirate ship in the seventeen hundreds.”
“What?” I chortled as I dipped a dynamite roll in siracha. “Like a real pirate ship?”
Cillian laughed. “Yes, on and off the coast of Newfoundland with a ship called The Queen, captained by Charlotte Roberts, the daughter of Red Jack Roberts. We sailed up and down the coast, looking for relics and objects of power.” An endearing smile spread over his mouth as his eyes filled with the distant memory. “Lottie wasn’t your typical pirate; she never pillaged or stole. We were a crew of treasure hunters.”
“How did you deal with the whole sunlight issue?”
“Oh, I worked in the kitchen below decks during the day. She knew what I was,” he replied and took another sip of wine. “It was the main reason she recruited me. She sought this one relic, an orb that could summon the soul of anyone who’d passed. But it was apparently buried at the bottom of the ocean.”
His eyes sparkled teasingly, urging me to put the pieces together. I gnawed at the end of a tempura shrimp tail as our eyes locked, and I pondered for a moment. Then it hit me, and I let out a little chuckle.
“And you don’t need air to breathe.”
Cillian’s answering grin tickled my heart. “I’m also an exceptional swimmer.”
“So, what did you get out of it?” I asked. “Aside from the obvious epic adventure.”
Startled sadness flickered across his expression, but Cillian whisked it away with a cheeky grin. “Adventure was my only reward.”
The sarcasm made my eyes roll. Clearly, it was a subject he wasn’t ready to breech. So, I let it be. For a long moment, all I could hear was the distant croon of the city below and our chewing.
“So,” I cleared my throat, and Cillian almost looked relieved that I said something. “What do you do during the day? I mean, here, now. In the city.”
He arched a wicked brow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Isn’t that the point here?”
He gave me a look that said, touché. “I work out, read, watch TV, study various languages, and work the stock market.”
“The stock market?” I leaned back and folded my arms, giving my food time to settle. “With a few lifetimes of practice, I bet you’re pretty good at that.”
Cillian gave me a wink. “Especially when you’re friends with a psychic. A cooky old lady over on Gottingen. She’s never been wrong, though.”
“Don’t you spend time with other vampires?”
Those dark brows lowered, and a slight growl turned over in his chest. “They don’t–Cellie and I aren’t considered their kind.”
“Because of your souls?” I asked but immediately regretted it as Cillian’s eyes snapped to me. I made a point to focus on the fine gold detailing around the edge of my plate. My heart pumped nervously in my chest.
But he took a deep, calming breath. “We don’t know if that’s….” He shifted in his seat. “I don’t have a soul, Avery. Souls are for the living.” The weight of regret and sadness that dragged on every word broke my heart, and I met his gaze across the table. “We don’t want to be associated with them anyway. We’ve long accepted it.”
Yeah, but it must still hurt, I thought, but I didn’t dare say. To be rejected by your own kind, like Julie and Moya were.
Another calm silence hung between us before Cillian spoke again. “Is it my turn now?”
I smiled and nodded.
He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands as those blue eyes raked over me. “Tell me about your childhood.”
A sort of protectiveness I never knew was there sparked to life in my chest. A possessiveness over a life that now felt foreign to me. My chest expanded as I sat back and inhaled deeply with thought.
“Well, you know about my parents. Tess became my mother, my aunt, and my best friend. She was…” I shook my head. “She was my everything. And now, I think about that part of my life, and it feels like a hundred years ago, like someone else had lived it, and I’m just left with the memory of it.” My cheeks warmed, and I cleared my throat nervously. “Um, maybe let’s start with some easy questions.”
Cillian’s answering chuckle settled my nerves, and I held up my empty glass as he replenished it. “Favorite food?”
I motioned to the table. “I think that’s obvious. But I hate meatloaf. And salmon,” I added with a grimace.
“Noted,” he replied. “Dating life?”
“What is this, twenty questions?” My shoulders bunched to my ears. But his expression was staid, waiting for an answer. I tried to stifle the groan that crawled up my throat. “Well, I wasn’t exactly a virgin when we met if that’s what you’re asking.”
“It’s not.”
“Even so, my dating history is…pretty grim.”
Cillian’s forehead crinkled as his brows rose. “You’re kidding me? I find it hard to believe. I can’t imagine there was much competition in a small-town high school, but even if there were, they’d be no match for–”
“I didn’t go to high school,” I cut in before he could inflate my ego. “Tess home-schooled me.”
He nodded as if that explained so many of his questions. “Do you miss it? Your old life?”
I considered it for a moment. “No. I was a different person then. Maybe part of me changed the moment I found out magic was real. Or maybe…maybe this is what becoming an adult is all about. Everything gets hard and scary. Complicated.”
“I hope I’m none of those things. And if I am–”
“You’ll be the first to know,” I assured him. Amongst all the craziness that was my life, Cillian was the one thing I was so sure of. I wanted to be with him, regardless of the risks or dangers. But as our gazes locked from across the bistro table, and he reached for my hand–our fingers entwining–only one thought filled my mind.
The only risk or danger to us was…me.