Page 94 of Heavenly Bodies
‘There was nothing left of the healer once I’d finished with him.’ He let out his breath in a long stream. ‘Since the moment I was able to fight back, my father hasn’t dared to try and strike me with his light. But it still haunts me. I still dream about it.’
She squeezed his hand. As she looked at him, she understood. He did not want her pity. He simply wanted someone to listen.
She brushed a thumb over his hand. ‘One day, he will feel every inch of pain he inflicted on you.’
‘I know. I’ll be the one to do it.’
If Elara was her usual self, she might have raised an eyebrow at the open treason. Instead, she settled back down against Enzo, his shoulders untensing as his body moulded to hers.
‘So now you know what calms me after the nightmares. What calms you?’
Elara ran her hair through her fingers, chewing her cheek. ‘Fresh air.’ She gave a small smile, and gestured to the pile of books on the low table. ‘Reading.’You, she wanted to say, the word on the tip of her tongue. She swallowed it whole.
‘Reading,’ he said, picking upThe Mythas of Celestia.
‘That’s my favourite book.’
He raised a brow. ‘Mine too.’
Her lips twitched. ‘We’re more alike than you think.’
With a sigh she nuzzled into his neck. It smelled so comforting, bergamot soap cut with his heady amber scent. He stilled. Finally, his arm resumed stroking circles across her back carefully, as though scared that if he moved, he would break the spell. Merissa came back in quietly, placing a pot of tea on the small table. With another wavering look between them, she gave a small smile and left again.
After a while, Elara voiced the question that had plagued her. ‘That night I was taken…how did you escape?’
Enzo squeezed his arms tighter around her. ‘I have fate to thank for that. The room was empty when I awoke, the doors locked, but I burned through the boards of the sealed windows and jumped into the moat. I wasn’t running away, El,’ he said quietly. ‘I knew I’d have been no use to you dead or captured. I just…I need you to know that I didn’t stop trying to get you back, not for one waking moment.’
‘I know,’ she murmured.
Elara’s eyes closed as Enzo cleared his throat.
‘Now, how about this story? “The Night Wraiths of Asteria”,’ he read. ‘ “Once, long ago, in the lands now known as Asteria, the Dark was born. It was that from which everything came, and everything returned to. One such creature born of it was the Night Wraith. Merely a wisp of shadow darkening your own, or the pattern on a child’s bedroom wall…” ’ He trailed off as he looked at Elara smiling against his chest. ‘You like wraiths?’
‘Wraiths are friendly,’ she said quietly. ‘We would leave food and treats out for them every Hallow’s Eve. My favourite time of year. They protect the home.’
‘Hmm.’ He nodded. ‘Tell me more.’
She chewed her cheek. ‘ “The Nevercrow of Castor” was another favourite of mine. I loved his riddles.’
Enzo made an amused sound. ‘Me too.’
‘And “The Nightwolf and the Silver”. That tale always made me cry.’
‘When I was little, I’d always cry at “The Winged Lion’s Heart”.’
‘But the lion fell in love at the end,’ Elara said.
‘He did. But it was with the Light, which he could never reach.’
Elara nodded. ‘ “The Serpents of the Still Sea”—I always wanted to ride them. That bit in the story where they took the little girl underwater to the mermaid kingdom…’ She trailed off.
‘Have you ever swum in the Still Sea?’
‘Once.’ She gave a wan smile. ‘With…’ Her vision began to swim. ‘With my best friend.’ She frowned in confusion. She couldn’t place the name; it was at the edge of her grasp.
‘Sofia?’ Enzo asked, gently.
Red flashed across her vision; a blade, a throat being cut, a gaping wound, a velvet-clad stage. She winced as though she had been struck.