Page 39 of The Midnight Arrow
“Can’t argue with that,” I finally said. Almost shyly, I added, “All right, it’s a deal.”
“Good,” Lorik replied, the word sharp and clear. His gaze studied my face, those eyes observing at his leisure. “Thank you for telling me about Aysia.”
I nodded, observing him just like he was observing me.
“You have a beautiful soul, Marion,” he murmured. He’d said something like that before, and it still made my heart leap. “You would make anyone very happy.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to fight the flustered beam that threatened to break out over my face. It was like I was swinging on emotions with him…but he made me feel safe.Heard.I felt like he did truly want to know everything about me because he cared about me. Because he knew that maybe one day, we would bemoreto one another.
“Too bad I’m a greedy bastard and I want you all to myself. The others can wait in line,” he deadpanned.
The laugh that sounded was louder than the first.
“Stop,” I whispered.
“No,” he answered, a small smile playing over his lips as he watched me. I had the impression he was drinking me in.Reallylooking at me. “Are you sore from earlier?”
“No,” I said softly. Iwas, actually, a little sore, but I wouldn’t admit it because I wanted him again too.
“Good,” he rasped, standing from the table, rounding toward me with that commanding body. “Now that I have you, I intend to take complete advantage.”
“Oh, really?” I asked, quirking a brow.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, little witch.”
Sixteen
The following night, we were in the garden.
Lorik’s hand strayed below my waist, and I shot him a stern look, which had his lips twitching. The glowflies illuminated his face in varying shades of color as they bobbed and weaved and worked around us. The glowflies liked Lorik—or at least the brightbells and the death needle varieties did. The fire cups? Not so much. The shadevines…he’d nearly been stung.
One death needle glowfly landed on the tip of his horn, illuminating the striations of the black bone in silver light. I chuckled and said, “You look cute with your little friend.”
The look in Lorik’s eyes as he watched me nearly had me melting in place. Warm and gentle, it made my heart thud rapidly in my chest.
He likes me,I thought, the knowledge filling me with dizzy hope and excitement.He likes me a lot.
Lorik reached up, and the glowfly crawled onto the outstretched tip of his claw. He brought it down with care, observing the small insect, taking in its transparent, large wings and the way its body shimmered like a jewel.
“Most people are afraid of death needles because of their name,” I commented softly, observing them both. Behind him,I saw Peek in the hollow of the tree, spying in the garden, one of his favorite nooks outside. I smiled. “But they are actually the gentlest and most harmless of all the glowflies. Wrathweeds…those are the ones you need to watch out for.”
“I’ll stay all the way over here with you, then,” Lorik rumbled. “Marvelous little things, aren’t they? With more magic in their bodies than most Allavari possess in their lifetime.”
“Do you think it’s true?” I wondered. “What the villages are saying? That the Below is somehow leeching magic from this land? That Allavari are losing their power because of it?”
Lorik’s gaze met mine. The death needle glowfly flitted from his claw, landing on the nearby plant I was tending to, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the tiny insect burrow its way into the blackness of the flower.
“No, I don’t think that’s true,” he replied.
“Do you think the Allavari are losing their magic?”
“I think that the Allavari like to blame others for their problems and lack of dedication and study to their craft,” Lorik said. “Magic is an element. It’s like the air we breathe, the soil in the earth. Nothing more. To strengthen and hone it, it takes practice and care. Focus and study. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s not supposed to come easily. The Allavari have simply forgotten that.”
“Do they have a ‘Study of Magic’ Guild in Olimara?” I teased, clearing out a stray weed from the death needle bed, tossing it to the ground.
“Olimara?” he questioned. “Why Olimara?”
“Because I figured you’re the head of that guild, if there was such one. And since you don’t live in Rolara, I thought maybe you lived in Olimara since you mentioned it before.”