Page 62 of In Darkness Forged

The thought roused Aislin’s fury on his behalf. “They reject you because of your grandmother?”

“Because my magic is not only strong, it isother,” he amended. “They do not understand it. And I cannot shift, so there are many traditions I will never partake in or understand.”

Then he was truly alone. Caught between two worlds, neither of which fully accepted him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, with a sudden, fierce surge of anger on his behalf. They were all fools, these night elves, if they could not see how incredible he was.

“I am not.” Talyn indicated his indifference with a slight shrug. “Not really. Not anymore. My grandmother taught me to never be ashamed that my gifts are different. And if I were not partially of the day, I would never have met Cuan.”

Cuan… “Will he be all right, out there on his own?” Aislin asked anxiously.

Talyn actually chuckled. “He’s safer on his own than with me. Very little can catch him, and those creatures who can know better than to try.”

Aislin stood up, brushed off her hands, and choked down the last bite of her breakfast. “We should go,” she said firmly. “The faster we do this, the faster we can get out of this cave for good.”

“You will have to rely on my eyes for now,” Talyn warned her. “I will attempt to guide you well, but it will not be easy.”

She met his eyes with renewed resolve. “Nothing worth doing is easy,” she said firmly. “And like I said, I trust you, Talyn.”

He seemed to be acting entirely on impulse when he blurted out, “I wish you would call me Tal.”

CHAPTER17

She was going to be the death of him, Tal decided, looking down into her fierce blue eyes.

But that didn’t seem to bother him nearly as much as it should have.

She kept asking questions, and like a fool, he answered them. Exposed pieces of his past he’d been determined to hide. None of them made her flinch or shy away from him. She simply shrugged and came back with more questions.

Now, she was trusting him to lead her out of this cavern into the darkness beyond.

And in response? He’d offered her his most personal name—the one only Lani had used. The one he’d heard on no one’s lips since she died. How would it feel to hear it on Aislin’s?

“Tal,” she said, in a soft tone that almost sounded shy. As if she knew instinctively what that offer signified. “May I borrow your dagger?” He was distracted enough by the sound of his name that he simply handed it to her without asking what it was for.

Something was very wrong with him. He did not typically hand over his weapons to someone who didn’t understand them, especially when they stood close enough to plunge them into his heart.

But Aislin took it and turned to her clothing, a crease between her brows and a frown turning down her lips. He heard a ripping sound, and before he realized what was happening, she’d cut both her chemise and her dress in two.

She’d already donned leggings, to which she added her bodice, her boots, and the leather jerkin, which was still somewhat damp but would at least protect her from the rock if they had to crawl through any tunnels. Her voluminous skirts lay discarded on the ground, and she placed her hands on her hips as she regarded them with evident relief.

“I really thought they would be the death of me when we fell in the water,” she explained, handing back his dagger before rolling the skirts into a tight ball that she stowed in his pack. “This way, if it happens again, I’ll be less likely to drown.”

Fiercely practical, his human.

No, nothis… God of Shadows, what was wrong with him?

Turning to the fire, Tal kicked it apart and stomped on the coals until they went out. Not that there was anything else in the cavern that could burn, but the smoke might leave a trail if the old woman decided to hunt for them.

“This way,” Tal said, his voice nearly a growl, and turned to go, remembering only then that with the fire out, Aislin could not see him. Could not see anything.

He retraced his steps until he stood mere inches from her shoulder. Curiously, she did not look afraid, only resolute. Waiting confidently for him to lead her into the darkness.

What could possibly be the source of that kind of faith? He had already lost her twice. First when she fell into the cave, and then again at the waterfall.

He reached out and took her hand, and she wrapped her fingers around his without hesitation.

“Why do you trust me?” he demanded suddenly. “You have every reason not to. I could leave you behind in the blink of an eye or kill you without a second thought, and I have made no secret of it. How do you set that aside so easily and place your life in my hands?”