Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(25)

“You make it sound like I’m a caged animal, Ilyan.” I didn’t look away from the window. I leaned closer to the moving air, letting it pick up the strands of my black hair and move them around.

“If you get your head any further out that window, you are going to look like a dog. A caged dog.”

I could hear the chuckle behind his voice, the happiness infectious. I looked back at him briefly before leaning away from him, pulling his arm and torso with me as I stuck my head and shoulders out the window. The driver began to yell as I stretched my face to the sky, the sun and the wind warming my face. But I didn’t hear what he said, I didn’t care. I smiled at the way the sun warmed my nose, the shiver of energy flowing down my spine, the way my shoulders seized as if I had been tickled. Ilyan said something back to the driver a moment before his hand tugged me into the car, his arm wrapping me against him.

“You are going to upset our driver, Siln?.” Ilyan spoke against my temple, the latent smile evident in his voice.

“I didn’t even get to stick out my tongue.”

“Next time little puppy, next time.” Ilyan patted my head condescendingly and I laughed a bit, moving away from him with a joking snarl.

“Caged animal, remember,” I said. Ilyan smiled widely at me, his shoulders shaking as he held in a laugh.

“Yes, I remember.” His smile broadened as the car pulled to a stop, the driver announcing our arrival and the charge, which Ilyan promptly paid. “How would you like to be free?”

“You gonna let me fly?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Not today.” Ilyan pulled me from the car, lifting our intertwined hands to eye level. He moved my hand close to him until his lips pressed against the back of my hand. His eyes met mine over the top of our hands, giving me that look I couldn’t quite understand.

My stomach flipped and I cringed away from him. I did not like the contact and I really did not like the way my body reacted because of it. I fought the need to pull my hand away, knowing I needed the connection, so instead I held on tighter and walked down the busy street, towing Ilyan after me.

After a few steps, I slowed to a stop. This part of Santa Fe was nothing like I would have expected it to be. Instead of tall glass skyscrapers, there were perfect rows of adobe buildings, each carefully built to replicate the old style of the Native Americans and Spanish Settlers. The burnt orange color of the buildings contrasted with the blue sky beautifully. The whole street was lined with adobe structures and at its head there was a large sandstone cathedral. It was a graceful box of ancient architecture with its elegant stone arches and circular stained glass windows. It was beautiful, even though it didn’t look complete without the tall stone towers that are common in cathedrals.

“Wow.” I said, a bit more awed than I intended, but the way the street was designed kind of deserved it.

“I take it you like it then?” Ilyan said and began leading me down the street, his hand tightly wound around mine.

“Honestly, I would like anything as long as it had moving air, but this has a unique charm. It’s kind of... unexpected.”

“Santa Fe has a long drawn out history. The buildings are designed this way as a reminder and a link to the past. It’s one of the reasons they don’t have a larger downtown.”

“I don’t think they need it,” I said. My eyes dragged over one of the buildings as we passed, its interior was an upbeat teen clothing store. The window was filled with graphic t-shirts and feather accessories – clothing that Wyn would wear. The contrast between the old and the new was somewhat silly, but it didn’t take away from the nostalgia of the architecture.

“Prague is mostly the same. There is the old town and the new town. The new never mixes with the old.”

“And is there a cathedral there as well?”

“A few,” Ilyan said. I could tell there was more to his answer, but part of me didn’t care at the moment. I wanted to focus on this city and my current freedom.

I let Ilyan take the lead, his embrace gently pulling me along as we walked by small boutiques and larger restaurants. I finally had to pull him to a stop when we came to a row of street vendors under the overhangs of the buildings. Each person had a blanket set in front of them with jewelry, watches, and other handmade objects laid out, each with a tiny paper price tag. I slowly walked by them, taking in the large amounts of turquoise and silver.

My feet stopped when I saw it. The simplicity of my need making my legs week.

A long board.

It wasn’t even for sale. It was simply someone’s possession, being used as a different way to showcase the intricate turquoise jewelry that lined its top. But still, I needed it.

Mine had been lost forever when Ilyan had picked up my broken body from behind that dumpster and brought me into this crazy world I now lived in. I missed it. I hadn’t longed for it in that deep pining way I had seen other teenagers do, I simply missed it. I missed what it represented. I missed the part of me that had disappeared when it had. I missed normal.

I kneeled down next to the street vendor’s blanket, Ilyan’s hand never leaving mine. I looked up at the old wizened woman, her legs covered with a beautifully woven blanket. She looked down at me happily.

“Which one do you like?” Ilyan’s voice was soft in my ear. It took me a second to grasp what he was talking about. He thought I was ogling the jewelry.