Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(42)
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I know I have not known you for very long, but I do feel a certain responsibility toward you. I am pleased that I was able to offer you my assistance when you required it. Because of this, I do not want to accidentally hurt you through a miscommunication that could have been avoided.” He stroked my cheek. “I care for you.”
His last words settled over me pleasantly.
“If you want me to try monogamy”—his mouth twisted as if he’d tasted something horrid as he said the word—“I will, for you. You need only to say the word.”
My heart thudded in my chest as I thought about the implications of his statement.
Did I want that?
Did I want him to forsake all others?
Did I want him?
I didn’t even have to think about the question to know the truth—Clay was the one who had inspired the passion in me that Aiden was responding to. I had absolutely no right to ask Aiden to commit to me exclusively when I couldn’t offer him the same courtesy in return—at least not mentally.
“I care for you too,” I said carefully. “But I could never ask you for that.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“GET UP and get dressed,” Aiden said, pulling my blankets off me.
I’d been at the court for a little over four months, and Aiden loved surprising me with random little treks. The months had passed by quickly, and I’d been able to settle into life in the court—even if I still largely kept to myself. Most of my time was spent with the fledglings, with Aiden, or reading in my room.
“What are you doing in here so early?” I grumbled, trying to fold in on myself and get back to the blissful state I’d been in only moments earlier. I’d been comfortable, warm, and, best of all, spending time with Clay in my dreams before I’d been so rudely awakened.
“We are going to put on our exploring hats today.”
I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm and yawned. “Okay, but why do we have to go so early though?”
“The sights I want to show you are a wonder to behold. For instance, today you will be lucky enough to witness firsthand exactly how beautiful the sunrise is from the roof of the school on North Brother Island,” he said.
“But North Brother Island is inaccessible—unless you’re talking about a pre-dawn kayak to a protected area, which really isn’t my idea of a good time.” Was Aiden monitoring my habits? Over the last few weeks, I’d been borrowing books from the fae library to learn more about New York. Just last night I’d come across an article about the General Slocum tragedy on North Brother Island. When I’d read further, I’d discovered that the island was an old quarantine station that had been repurposed a few times before being permanently closed for use as a protected bird sanctuary.
“Will you please just trust me and get dressed?”
I groaned. “There’s no way I can say no, is there?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
“Fine,” I grunted, giving up any notion of going back to the sweet dreams I’d been having. I pulled myself out of bed. “Give me five minutes.”
“I shall return in two,” he said with a laugh as he swept from the room, dodging the pillow I’d thrown at his head.
As much as I disliked the rude interruption to my sleep, I had to thank him for it. It was all part of his desire to keep me from wallowing, which was what I’d wanted to do more often than not. As much as it bothered Aiden having to remain inside the court, he stayed in each day for as long as he was allowed just to ensure I had company. The hours he spent away on duty were when I escaped to the classrooms or the library. The excitement and splendor of the fledglings were contagious, making the school corridors one of my favorite places to visit. After discovering that I spent most days indoors, he created these impromptu dates to get me outside.
I dressed as fast as I could, throwing on a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Just as I was tying a scarf around my head to cover my hair, Aiden came back into the room.
“We must be going, or we will be late. Dawn will break soon,” he said, taking my hand and yanking me from the room.
Through the net-like exterior that covered most of the common areas of the building, I could see the creeping grayness that indicated the sun was about to rise. “We’ll never make it in time,” I said as I struggled to keep up with him. There was no way I could think of that we’d be able to reach North Brother Island before the sun rose above the horizon.
“Just trust me,” he said again.
Dragging me behind him the whole way, he raced through the corridors that led to the back of the court. I wanted to say something because we were going the wrong way to get out of the building, but I bit my tongue. It was too early in the morning to be admonished again.
Eventually, we reached a part of the court that I had yet to visit—a large indoor forest filled with flowers and trees, the like of which I’d never seen before. All thoughts of North Brother Island and sunrises were swept from my mind by the beauty of the room in front of me. Tangles of vines twisted endlessly around gnarled tree-trunks. Roots snaked out of the ground and coiled around makeshift pathways through the trees. Bursts of bright colors in every hue imaginable almost appeared to explode in vivid displays of blossoming bouquets from among the deep greens of the foliage. The air was filled with the delicious intermingled scents of the multitude of different blooms. Through the flora, I could see the fluttering of wings belonging to fairies of various ranks. The whole garden seemed to thrum with energy and life.