Page 32 of A Healer's Wrath
My magic could feel his sincerity, desire to help, and something else—longing?
I studied him and realized his feelings had grown larger and more quickly than the clamoring crowds, but I didn’t have a clue how I felt. There’d been no time for my own feelings, not with so many others needing my attention.
If he cares about me—I stopped myself. That was ridiculous. He’s a Mage protecting his interests, nothing more.
Besides, I didn’t have time for silly emotions, much less a relationship. Too many people needed me: my parents, Master Rist, the apprentices, our patients—even the King. Melric relied on me more with each passing day, and I looked forward to our visits.
That realization made me pause.
The maelstrom that whirled inside me was so much—too much. Maybe Danai was right. Maybe I needed to get away from everything and everyone before I drowned beneath their sea of expectations.
I shook off the internal dialogue and patted Danai’s chest with my palm.
“Thank you, Danai. I don’t think I could’ve made it this far without you.”
I turned and strode back into the infirmary.
Chapter seventeen
Danai
“There’s nowhere in the world more beautiful than the Spires when the leaves turn,” Irina said as we walked up the path that wound around the base of the mountain closest to Fontaine. Snow still capped the peaks, but life was blooming about the mountains’ feet. Recently barren trees sprouted buds of green, laying a carpet of verdant shades. Crystal brooks, overflowing thanks to the thawing of spring, raced by.
But it was the wildlife that captured Irina’s gaze.
“Shh. Stay still,” she whispered.
“Why are we standing still?” My voice brushed her mind.
She glared back with narrowed eyes, then pointed through the woods. “Because there’s a family of deer, and I’d rather not scare them away.”
I grinned. In so many ways, Irina was a woman grown, bearing the weight of duty that would crush most twice her age. And yet, in moments like those, the girl of seventeen smiled back at me. Her happiness filled me with a joy I scarcely understood. It was a drug, and I craved it more each day.
From the first moment, my heart longed to hold her, to press my palm to her cheek, to feel her lips against my own. There was a glow in her that had nothing to do with magic. To me, she was magic.
I’d yet to summon the courage to tell her how I felt, though I doubted she could miss it. She caught me staring often enough. The coquettish smile she gave was enough to spike the heat already flowing through my veins.
Perhaps today, I thought, then grinned inwardly as I stared at the deer. But a little help from a friend couldn’t hurt.
She reached out to grab my arm and pull me back into our hiding place, but I strode forward, heedless of the noise of my passing. The heads of all three deer, two adults and one fawn, snapped up. I let a trickle of magic flow toward them, and their tension eased. Only when I stood before the fawn, stroking her chin, did I glance back to find Irina’s astonished face.
“Come. The little one is curious about you.” I winked and flashed her my best smile.
“Is he talking to you?” she asked, wonder filling her voice as she stepped from behind the foliage. “How are you doing this? Why have they not run?”
That was the first time her words touched my mind.
I had to suppress a shiver.
She walked slowly, as though afraid she might frighten the deer away, until she stood by my side. The fawn looked up and met her gaze, then licked her outstretched hand.
Her laughter sang through the trees.
It filled my heart.
“What are you smiling at, Mage?” she asked, bumping her shoulder against mine.
A rush of pink flowed up my neck and into my cheeks. I looked down and focused on the fawn. “In all these months, I don’t think I’ve seen you wear anything other than your smock. Riding leathers look good on you.”