Her magic chilled, crackling beneath her skin as she clutched Iskarius.
Domenic didn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t need to—he felt it. Just like she felt his.
“Imagine me touching you,” Ellery spoke next.
The heat suddenly heightened enough to burn. “In any particular way or…?”
“Imagine I’m kissing your neck.” A twinge of longing escaped with her words as she remembered their kiss at the solstice. They’d felt so invincible then. “How does your magic feel?”
“It feels stronger when you touch me. But stronger’s not a good enough word for it. It’s like my magic flares when you’re near. Like my every sense is magnified. Like a fight-or-flight response.” Domenic must’ve caught how that sounded, because he chuckled hastily. “No, I’m not doing a good job at describing it. Because I—I love it. How couldn’t I? It’s electrifying. Your magic pours over me like ice water, but inside, I burn like a star.”
His excuses only deepened her dread.
“Imagine that I sweep your hair aside so I can return the favor,” he went on. “I trace my finger down the back of that dress. How doesyourmagic feel?”
Ellery let the fantasy play out. Her body responded, so alert, so alive. She wanted to melt in his arms, but she wasn’t sure she should. Suddenly the delusion shattered, and Ellery pictured herself engulfed in a brutal blaze, charring away to ash.
“D-do you hear what we’re saying?” she gasped. “Are we wrong to like this? Are we really meant to be—”
“No, don’t say it,” Domenic choked. “Please.”
“But we’re both thinking it,” she countered. “You’ve been fishing just as much as I have.”
“Only because I’ve been looking for proof it isn’t true.”
“And did you find any? Because all this conversation has done for me is make it harder to deny. Maybe we’ve only been fooling ourselves from the start.”
“I… I know how this looks. Believe me, the thought of it’s been torturing me for weeks. But this traitor business, champion business—it’s all just getting into our heads, making us consider things that don’t even make sense. The original prophecy called forpeace. So please, El. Tell me you see how wrong this is. Tell me you’re still sure we’re in this together.”
Ellery touched the empty space across the bed, the duvet still perfectly made.
“I have a confession,” she said despairingly. “I know I told you Gallamere was my home, but I think I was wrong, Dom. I think it’s you.”
He uttered a fragile, hopeful sound.
“I’ll come over,” he said urgently. “I’ll leave right now. Because we’re in this together. Of course we are. So say the word, and I’m there.”
Yeshovered on the tip of her tongue. But she couldn’t be with him like this, doubting, dreading, wondering if they would die alone, or together, or in each other’s arms, or on each other’s swords.
“Don’t,” she forced out, and hung up.
XXXVDOMENICWINTER
Domenic hung up the phone with a shaking hand. Always, always he and Ellery were of one mind. But if she was that close to giving up…
Phantom red tinted the edges of his vision, and he braced a hand against his nightstand. He was unraveling at the same seams he’d sworn he’d sealed.
He crept out of his room. He meant to go to Iseul’s, but to his surprise, a light still shined from downstairs. He descended the steps to find Iseul curled on a sofa in the parlor, her pajamas and reading glasses on, theGazettein her hands, a tea tray upon the coffee table.
“You’re still up,” she said.
“So are you. Calling family?” Sometimes Iseul woke or retired at strange hours to place calls to the other side of the world.
“No, not tonight. I’ve been waiting for Hanna. I don’t like that she went right to the Citadel after dropping you off. The Council is debriefing your mission to Nordmere first thing in the morning. Does she never plan to come home? She needs to rest. And so I can only assume, probably to bathe…”
“I tried to tell her, but, well, she insisted.”
Why? There’s no one at the Citadel. At least let it wait until morning.
