Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2)(90)

But there was one more thing I needed to do, so I finished my dinner, went out onto the balcony, took hold of the drainpipe, and started climbing.

Just as I’d hoped, Devon was on the terrace, sitting in one of the lawn chairs and looking down into the valley at the magnificent view. But I only had eyes for him tonight, so I scuffed my sneakers to let him know I was here. Devon got to his feet. He took a step toward me, then hesitated. But that was okay because I went over to him, both of us standing next to the railing.

Devon looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my stomach, as if he was remembering the horrible wound and all the blood that had covered me just a short while ago. That made two of us. But tonight wasn’t about that, not anymore, and I forced away the gruesome images and phantom pain.

“You must be feeling better, since you used the drainpipe to get up here,” he teased.

I grinned. “Something like that.”

His face turned serious. “How are you—really? I wanted to come see you, after everything that happened with Katia. But I thought you might want to be by yourself for a while.”

I looked at him—really looked at him. The warm care and concern in his eyes took my breath away. Even now, after all the awkwardness between us and all the times I’d pushed him away over the past few days, his first instinct was still to make sure that I was okay. Katia had been wrong about a lot of things, but Devon wasn’t one of them. He really was a good guy, and bad girl or not, I’d fallen for him.

And now, tonight, I was finally going to do something about it.

He frowned. “Lila, are you okay? You have this really weird look on your face—”

I stepped up, put my arms around his neck, and kissed him.

Kissed him the way I’d wanted to for weeks now. Kissed him the way I’d been dreaming about for so long. Kissed him with all the depth of these wonderful, dizzying, terrifying feelings I had for him.

And he kissed me right back.

We melted together, spinning around and around on the terrace, our lips, hands, and breaths mixing and mingling together. More and more of those feelings roared up inside me, until I felt as though every press of my lips against Devon’s sent hot, electric sparks shooting out into the night air, the same way they were erupting in my heart over and over again. He pulled me closer, tighter, and I melted into him even more, breathing in his crisp pine scent. All I could see, hear, taste, touch, smell, feel was Devon.

And I loved it—I loved him.

The kiss was as perfect as perfect could be, everything I’d ever imagined and then some, and I never, ever wanted it to end.

But it slowly did, the way all good things eventually do.

Devon pulled back, his eyes slightly glazed and a goofy grin stretching across his face. “What was that for?”

“For just being you,” I said. “For being there, for looking out for me the way you always do.”

He smiled. “We save each other, remember?”

“Got it.”

Devon stared at me, his eyes dimming just a bit. “So . . . what does this mean?”

I looped my arms around his neck again. “It means that you were right and I was wrong. I care about you just as much as you care about me. But I’ve been a stupid fool, worried about getting hurt again, about getting my heart broken again.”

He frowned. “That could still happen. Not because I want it to, but because we both have a lot of enemies. And then there’s Victor and whatever he’s planning.”

I let out a breath. “I know, but I don’t care anymore. I almost died tonight, and we both almost died a few weeks ago at the lochness bridge when Grant came after us. If there’s one thing any of that has taught me, it’s that we should seize the moment, take a chance, because no one knows what’s going to happen next. I was alone, on my own, for a long time. It’s been hard for me to let go of that, to let you in, to trust you with my heart. I’m not a hundred percent there yet, and I don’t know if I can ever get there.”

His frown deepened. “Okay . . .”

“But I do know this. We could be—we will be—fantastic together. I’ve known it ever since our battle during the tournament, and I’ve been wanting to tell you for hours now. So if you’ll still have me, I want to give us a shot, Sinclair.”

Devon blinked and blinked, as if I’d surprised him so much that his brain just couldn’t process my words right now. So I decided to put it in simple terms for him.

“You and I are totally going to make out now,” I said. “And then, maybe tomorrow night or sometime later this week, we’ll go out on an actual date and see how things go from there.”

Devon gave me a teasing, wicked grin, his green, green eyes shining even brighter and hotter than all the lights down on the Midway. “The first date of many, I hope.”

“The first of many,” I promised as I drew his lips back down to mine again.





CHAPTER THIRTY


The next night, Devon and I did go out on our first date.

Sort of.

If you counted me breaking into the Draconi mansion again an actual date.

But Devon was hiding in the woods, keeping an eye on the guards and texting me updates about their movements. Since I’d already been inside the mansion once, it was easy for me to slip inside again.