A Thief of Nightshade(77)

“Ian was a coward.”

This got her attention. “What do you mean, a coward? Were you not standing beside me when he charged—”

Aislinn reached for her the moment he dropped his legs again, smiling when she reacted just as he’d anticipated.

“Damn it, Aislinn!” She waited until his arms were firmly around her waist before she reared back to wail on his chest with both fists.

He couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Then, just as quickly as the thought to force her closer had occurred to him, he dropped his arms from her waist, knowing she would grab his neck, and framed her face with the palms of his hands. “He was a coward because what he did was foolish and stupid. How could he think getting himself killed would help either of you?”

Tears welled in her eyes again and she tried to look down but he wouldn’t let her. “I’m sorry you lost a friend tonight.

But he and I were about to have some serious issues.”

She furrowed her brow and after a moment of silence she asked, “Dare I ask why?”

“Well, I don’t think he liked me very well and I can guarantee you that he would have liked me even less after he found out what was in your future.”

“My future?” Given laughed as hard as

she

could,

considering

the

circumstances. So hard, in fact, that it took her a second to calm down. “That’s absurd. I hardly think you’re in any position to know anything about my fut—”

Aislinn,

having

noted

the

convenience of the moment, leaned in and kissed her. He expected her to put up at least a moment’s struggle, but to his pleasant surprise she didn’t and he finally understood that feeling Jullian had so often referred to in regards to how his heart would know it when he found the one. This tore at him even worse, both his grief for his brother and the enormity of how hard he’d fallen for Given in such a short amount of time; no wonder Jullian and Aubrey hadn’t courted long. If this sappy emotional bit lasted much longer, it would kill him.

She refused to look at him when they finally pulled away.

He kissed her on the cheek, lingered, then whispered in her ear, “Told you so.

You’re in love with me!”

This got her riled up again. She pushed back, not too far as to let go, and frowned. “I am not in love with you.”

He chuckled. “Okay, if you say so.”

“I’m in a dark ... watery grave ...

scared half out of my mind ... and...”

“Easy for you to say.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Shut up and let’s find a way out of here. Please? We can discuss your arrogance at length once we find Aubrey and save Jullian.”

He tried to contain his smile, he really did. “Well, I’m assuming we can’t just yell for help.” When she didn’t respond he continued, “Lipsey will find Aubrey. In the meantime, we’re only looking at two options; wait for Oberon and pray someone finds us down here or...” He let his gaze wander to the water.

“This is a true well. There is nothing but dirt down there.”

“You don’t know that for sure. There might—”

“Yes, Aislinn. I do know that for sure.”

“How could ... you’ve been here before?” The idea made his guts clench.

She didn’t say anything at first; then she carefully reached out to touch a single stone that jutted from the wall. It was barely the size of Aislinn’s fist. “I held on for as long as I could. When I came to, it was to the sear of a brand on my wrist.”

They almost let her drown. He wished desperately that he could take back his teasing earlier. Before he could say anything, the torches high above them that had provided such scarce light before were blown out, blanketing them in darkness. Given immediately tensed and started to shake again.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her and pulled her closer.





Chapter Twenty-


Eight


THE PAIN HAD LESSENED, BUT AUBREY

DIDN’T know how long the respite would last. She tried to breathe slowly and evenly, but struggled. The walls and bars and floor were all made of ice, but weren’t as unbearably cold or damp as she’d expected. It was more like frosted panes of glass in the depth of December.

Its bizarre beauty reminded her of something ... but she could only see fragments of a memory: Glints of gold against the dark grain of cherry wood. The sound of a bell on the wind.

She could still feel the heat from Jullian’s hands as he’d held her at the masquerade, the contour of his muscles, the strength in his arms–arms that had pushed her into the Sidhe’s claws. She lowered her head.

“I’ll give you this much; you’re more stubborn than I’d imagined.”

She looked up to see Saralia standing on the other side of the bars. Aubrey hadn’t really had a chance to take a good look at the Queen before. Her face was slim, as was her figure; her skin true porcelain in color. Her lips were the pale cherry of a doll, painted the perfect size and given all the grace of an inanimate object.

“Why are you here?” Aubrey’s voice sounded weak even to her own ears. “You have what you want.”

“It really isn’t your place to tell me where I should or shouldn’t be in my own court, now is it? I want to see what all the fuss is about. I want to see the creature who my brother is willing to give up his immortality for. That’s fair, isn’t it?”