Page 122 of Scourged

Not pushinghimaway.

He watched her for a moment longer, scouring her face for something, anything. When she gave him nothing, he answered, “There was an altar. Back at the apartment. With an obelisk atop it. You touched it and collapsed.”

Her brow furrowed. “That’s it?”

He reeled back, just slightly. “That’s … it? Mariah, do you have any idea what that was? Why did you feel the need to touch thatthing?” He tried not to think about the way her name tasted on his lips.

He was trying very hard not to think about a lot of things. Every single one of them were inappropriate at that moment.

That fucking bond in his chest, leaping beneath his ribs as his adrenaline faded, wasn’t helping.

She watched him, then shrugged. “No, I didn’t know what it was. But I wanted to know. That’s why I touched it.”

“Gods,” Andrian breathed out. “That wasaberrant, Mariah.” Her name again.

She blinked. “What isaberrant?”

“Something that shouldn’t fucking exist. Especially not in the middle of Verith. They say it’s a conduit, between … Between our realm and Enfara.”

Silence. He looked at her again, and that same quizzical expression twisted her face.

“So why is it here?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, it shouldn’t be. I had only ever read about it; I didn’t think it was real.”

There was another brief pause. He could nearly see her mind working behind her eyes.

“Hm,” was all she said, turning away from him.

“‘Hm?’ That’s all you have to say? Mariah, it could havekilledyou—leeched you of all your magic and life until you were nothing but an empty shell?—”

“Yes, well.” She lifted a hand. Light danced and twined between her fingers, her usual trick. “Seems like there was nothing to worry about. I’m fine.”

Andrian stared at her, exasperated. And she stared back, unperturbed.

She shifted again in the saddle. Leaning forward, she ran a hand down Kodie’s black mane.

Pressing her hips further into his own.

He swallowed, holding back his groan.

Fucking gods. He regretted not taking his own horse.

“How are we on Kodie? How areyouon Kodie?” She settled back against him, relaxed and pliant.

Andrian clenched his jaw.

“When you collapsed, and I realized it wasaberrant, I knew we had to get you back to the palace. And I knew you would likely kill me if we left Kodie behind.”

She hummed, and the sound traveled through his chest. Where they touched. “Finally, you do something smart.”

“Excuse me? I’m not the one who touched the dangerous, forbidden, cursed rock on top of an altar covered in blood.”

She waved a hand in front of her face again, clicking her tongue to Kodie. He started forward, settling into a relaxed walk. She shifted against Andrian with each step, her body moving with the sway of the horse.

Gods, save him.

“I mean, how did he letyouon him?” She twisted in the saddle, her face again dangerously close to his. Her eyes sparkled still, but this time, he could read what was in them.