Page 105 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Vaeril is looking up at the tree canopy now with a gleam in his eyes, and I know his mind is miles away. “Galandell is beautiful, you will like it. It’s built in a way so all of us can live there and access it if we need or want to. I don’t know how to describe it, you’ll see when we arrive.”

Now that his wound is dressed, I go to pull his shirt down, but it’s turning stiff from where the blood is drying. I make a face and move over to the abandoned pack, digging around until I find another large overshirt.

“Take your shirt off,” I demand, holding my hand out for the offending item. He pulls his gaze from the trees to look at me, an eyebrow raised as a half smile appears on his face.

“You want me to take my clothes off?” he queries for clarification, and I realise with mortification how my order sounded. A blush flushes my cheeks, but I refuse to back down now.

“That one is dirty,” I answer simply, holding eye contact, my hand still held out for the shirt. My heart has sped up at his sudden change of attitude, and only proceeds to accelerate even further when he leans towards me, pushing up onto his knees with barely a wince, and maintains eye contact the whole time.

“I think you’ll find that I can be very dirty.” His voice has deepened, almost into a purr as he brings his face closer to mine. I drop my hand to avoid touching him, not because I don’t want to, the exact opposite, Iwantto touch him, and not in the way a healer would.

“Shirt,” I demand again, but the order loses its authority when my voice breaks. He holds his position, his face so close to mine that I can feel his breath on my cheeks. Desire starts to ignite within me, and my breath hitches as his eyes drop to my lips.

“Of course,” he finally answers, sitting back with a wince as he pulls the shirt over his head. His muscles in his chest and arms bulge as he removes it, and I won’t lie by saying I don’t admire the sight. As he lowers his arms, he catches me watching him, and a rare, cheeky grin flashes across his face. For a moment, I’m stunned. I’ve never seen him smile like that and it completely changes his whole face.

“It’s okay to find me attractive, it’s only natural,” he comments with a slight shrug, his now cocky smile still in place.

I stare at him, dumbfounded for a second. “Wha—” All desire I had for him quickly evaporates, and I stand up and take a few angry steps away before turning and glaring at him. “You think awfully highly of yourself!”

“All high elves are attractive, it’s part of the reason we’re so deadly,” he reasons, his smile falling away as he watches my angry pacing, until he’s wearing a confused expression.

“Let’s go, we need to find somewhere to camp before it gets dark.” Embarrassment fills me as I start stuffing the pack with our scattered belongings.

Of course he doesn’t find me attractive, he basically just said that it’s part of his nature, and I just fell for it.

“You’re mad at me.”

I walk over to him and hold out my hand, offering to help him stand without saying anything. He stares at my hand with a considering expression, like if he accepts it he will be signing some sort of contract. Making a noise of frustration, I shake my hand. “Come on, we need to go.”

His eyes move up to my face, and something that looks like sorrow flickers in his gaze for a second before he locks it down and takes my hand. Grunting in pain, he gets to his feet with my help, grimacing as he steadies himself against the tree. Grabbing the water flask, I thrust it at him, holding it out until he takes it from me. He removes the lid and takes a gulp, and I turn away to grab the pack.

“I didn’t realise when we escaped together that you were such an insufferable flirt.” I hate the bitterness that coats my words, but I hear him splutter on his water, and as I turn to face him with a raised eyebrow, I see he’s pushed away from the tree and is taking a few unsteady steps towards me. He has to be hallucinating or something, this is so out of character for him.

“You knew next to nothing about me, why has this upset you so much?” He frowns, stepping into my space again. Usually, I would just back away, but right now my anger is building again, and I’m tired of being pushed aside and buried.

“I’ve been locked up for a hundred years without a fuck, can you blame an elf for trying?”

My thin control over my bubbling anger snaps, and as I take a menacing step forward, and I swear his eyes flash with excitement. “Is that all I am to you? Some human tail? Are you going to go back to your elf buddies and tell them about how you slept with the foolish human who betrayed her country and followed you back to your home?” I don’t raise my voice, but my outrage is clear as I let my fears, insecurities, and heartache flow out of me. I see the moment he realises he’s crossed the line—his cockiness dies and a flash of concern enters his expression. Taking another step towards me, he holds out a hand, as if he’s going to touch my shoulder, but I jerk out of his reach and start to walk away.

“Clarissa—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I interrupt, shouldering the pack and picking a random direction to walk in.

“You’re not… ‘human tail.’ You are so much more than that,” he calls after me. I don’t want to, but my feet stop walking as part of me wants, no,needsto hear what he’s trying to say. I don’t turn, but my body is hyperaware of him and I can almost feel him taking small, stumbling steps towards me. “I-I’m not good at…this.”

You’re so much more than that.His words circle through my mind

“At what?” I turn now, crossing my arms over my chest. I was right, he is taking unsteady steps towards me, wincing with each movement. Sighing, I take pity on him and march over, sliding my arm around his waist, careful not to touch his wound, and he drapes his arm over my shoulders. The link between us is practically humming at our proximity, but I ignore it and start half dragging Vaeril in the direction I had been walking.

“Talking,” he mutters, hobbling alongside me. “Even before I got captured I... You have to understand, in my culture, words are a weapon, and so much more is said with body language.”What he says makes sense, it also explains why he’s so quiet and almost examines me before he responds. I guess after a hundred years of being mostly silent, you’re going to be a bit rusty with communication. “Also, we’re going the wrong way.”

“Oh.” I stop and gaze around. Everything looks the same, how could he know where we need to go? “How do you know?”

“Look at the trees.” He points at the closest tree and I frown, not understanding what I’m looking at. “See that green lichen growing on one side of the trees?” Nodding, I glance at the others and see that most of the trees have the same, green, mossy type plant growing on the same side. “It likes to be moist, so it only grows on the north side of the trees. If you keep going that way, you will end up back in Arhaven.”

“Huh,” is all I can think to say. I let him steer us in the right direction and we begin walking again. Tilting my head to one side, I roll my eyes up to look at his face. “Is this kind of knowledge common among high elves?”

“High elves, we’re a prideful lot, and we’re known for our knowledge and our many libraries,” he tells me, keeping his gaze straight ahead as we walk. Everything he’s saying makes sense, and I feel like I’m getting to know him with each word he speaks.

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