The Poison Season(59)

Her face went scarlet as she clamped a hand over her mouth, but he pulled it away gently. “Leelo, I like the way you taste.”

Now her face was truly on fire. She drank so much water she nearly choked, and he patted her on the back.

“Easy, there.”

At least the room had stopped spinning. She sat back on the floor and waited for his face to come into focus. “I really am sorry. I didn’t think. I just wanted to see you. And I thought you’d like the cake.” She gestured feebly to the heap of crumbs on the blanket.

“I’m extremely happy you came to see me,” Jaren said, and truth be told, he looked a little tipsy himself.

“You drank some of the plum brandy, didn’t you?” she asked.

He colored and looked down. “Guilty. I was feeling bad for myself that you were at a festival with your friends while I was stuck alone in this shack.”

Leelo laughed, a little less embarrassed now. “I thought you might be feeling that way.”

“And you weren’t having fun?” He pinched some of the crumbs between his fingers and tossed them into his mouth. “The food was clearly excellent.”

Leelo sighed, tugging a daisy free of her hair and spinning it between her fingers, just to give them something to do. “I don’t know. Everyone was dancing, but my heart wasn’t in it.” It was here, with you, she thought, and then wondered what was happening to her. She’d known Jaren just a few weeks. She couldn’t be falling for him. That was ridiculous.

He tossed a few more crumbs into his mouth and leaned back. “I feel like this is a dream, and any moment I’m going to wake up.”

“Why does it feel like a dream?” she asked shyly.

“Because I wished you would come here. And I wished I could kiss you. So, you see, I’ve had two wishes come true in a row, and that never happens. Clearly, I must be dreaming.”

“Technically,” Leelo said, scooting closer to Jaren, “I kissed you.”

He reached up, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “That is a fair point.”

Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. “So only one of your wishes came true.”

He smiled, his thick lashes falling against his cheeks as he sat up and closed the space between them. His lips were soft but firm, his entire body radiating warmth that she wanted to curl up in like a blanket. She pressed as close to him as she dared, and when he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her even closer, any trepidation she’d felt before coming here melted away. She felt the farthest from scared she could imagine. In fact, it was the safest she could remember feeling, as if the rest of the world didn’t matter when they were here together in this tiny cottage in the woods that no one else knew about. As if nothing else existed at all.

When he finally pulled away, he cupped her face in his hands, looking into her eyes with such earnestness she felt something swell in her chest. “Two wishes,” he whispered, and leaned in to kiss her again.



Chapter Thirty-Four


By the time Leelo returned to the festival, it was full dark. The sky was awash with stars, the familiar constellations her father had taught her before he died so clear and close she felt like she could touch them. Most of the elders and children had already returned to their homes, leaving the young adults dancing and singing in small clusters, their voices a little off-key, occasionally breaking off into fits of laughter.

Leelo was still feeling warm and light, though she could no longer attribute it to the wine. It was the lingering effect of kissing Jaren, of knowing that he liked her as much as she liked him. Of knowing that tomorrow was her day off and they would spend it together.

She found her mother where she’d left her, leaned up against the base of an oak tree, sound asleep. Leelo smiled and pulled Fiona’s light summer shawl closed to keep her warm and went in search of Sage. But it was her aunt who found her.

“Where have you been?” Ketty asked, her cold voice a harsh juxtaposition to the night. She hadn’t been enjoying herself, clearly.

“I’ve been here,” Leelo said, and for once, she didn’t feel bad for lying.

Ketty’s eyes narrowed, the dying firelight dancing in her irises. “Who were you with?”

Leelo felt all the warmth rush out of her. She couldn’t claim she’d been with Sage. That would be too easily disproven, and Leelo didn’t trust Sage to cover for her. Vance was a risk, too. Leelo didn’t even know how long she’d stayed.

She swallowed, trying to get some moisture back into her suddenly dry mouth. “No one in particular. I was just dancing.” She dropped her eyes to her feet. “I might have had too much wine and lost track of time.”

Before Ketty could respond, Leelo felt a hand close over her shoulder.

She turned to see Sage standing behind her. Her cousin’s eyes were as dull as her aunt’s were sharp. “What’s wrong?” Leelo asked.

“Nothing is wrong,” Ketty said. “Hollis proposed to Sage. She has accepted his offer.”

Leelo whirled back to her cousin. “What?”

Sage nodded, but her mouth stayed closed in a firm line.

Leelo found herself at a loss for words. She had known that Ketty intended for this to happen eventually, but tonight? Sage hadn’t even finished her year of Watcher duty. Her eighteenth birthday wasn’t for another six months. Surely it was too soon.