Page 40 of The Midnight Arrow
“I don’t have only one home,” he replied, picking up the weed I’d plucked, twirling it around in his fingers. “I have many. I like it that way.”
“So you’re like a nomad, flitting from village to village?” I asked.
His lips curled, and he shot me a sharp look. “Something like that.”
Did he know I was trying to pry? But he was so private and closed off about anything personal that I was beginning to feel strangely about it.
“I don’t know much about you, Lorik,” I said softly. “For all I know, you could have a mate tucked away somewhere with five or six children running around and I would be none the wiser.”
Lorik narrowed his eyes. “Do you believe I’m that type of male?”
“No,” I said. “But you never truly know someone, isn’t that right? I, um, was involved with a male from the village…oh, six years ago, maybe? He told me all sorts of things, promised all sorts of things. Turns out he was a liar and he stole all my potions on his way out. So…my instincts about someone have been wrong before.”
A strained silence followed. Truthfully, I was a little embarrassed to have admitted that I’d been taken advantage of by a man I’d trusted. Umerie had been his name. He’d had beautiful silver eyes and a charming smile. And I might’ve been too lonely and desperate to feelanythingthat I’d been blinded by him. I didn’t want that to happen again.
“Marion,” Lorik said. Hesitantly, I looked up to meet his eyes. “I can promise you with every part of me that I don’t have a mate or children hidden somewhere. You’re the only woman I want, the only one I’ve even allowed myself to get close to in a long time. That’s something you never have to worry about with me.”
I nodded, turning back to the garden bed. His words burned in my belly and brought heat to my cheeks. I was glad it was achilly night to help hide it, but I had a feeling that Lorik knew the effect of his words anyway.
“You’re…you’re the only male I’ve allowed myself to get close to in a long time too,” I confessed.
“Let me show you something,” he murmured. Curious, I turned back to him, and he took my hand, placing the stem of the weed between my fingertips.
I held it, and he closed his palm around mine. I savored his heat and the calloused brush of his fingers.
“You have more magic than you think—I’ve told you before,” he murmured, staring down at our joined hands. “And when I join yours with mine…”
I gasped, feeling that familiar tingle crawl up and around my hand. It felt like an electric touch, comforting but still holding me on the edge, anticipating what would come next.
“You feel it?” he asked.
“Yes,” I breathed.
“I can call it so easily when I’m with you. When I’m here with you,” he told me. “It feels like breathing. Effortless. All because of you, little witch.”
The tingling sensation expanded, and I watched with parted lips as the weed began to grow. The shriveled bloom at the tip lifted, coming back to life, and with awe, I saw the petals unfurl, revealing a dark purple so deep it appeared black. The stamens were silver, and the stem blackened beneath our touch.
Beautiful.Not a weed at all.
“A midnight cosmia,” I whispered. “But how in the world did it get here?”
Lorik released his grip on my hand. “Their seeds travel far. Keep it in water, and it’ll last a lifetime.”
“Thank you,” I said, bringing it my nose. A beautiful, light fragrance, one that reminded me of quiet summer days, greeted me. “It’s a very nice gift.”
Lorik jerked, casting a quick look down at his inner wrist.
I frowned. “What’s wrong? A glowfly didn’t get you, right?”
But I saw no light of one, and Lorik turned his wrist into his side.
“It’s nothing,” he assured me, smiling. “I’m glad you like the flower.”
Hesitantly, I nodded.
Lorik looked around the night garden and then stood from his kneeling position.
“I’ll go put it in water,” he said, gently taking the bloom from my hand. “And let you finish up out here.”