Page 175 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

Garrik tracked the movement. “That is not what I asked. You can ask to turn the inside into a castle full of rooms if you so wish. Anything. You should see Aiden’s. It would put Galdheir to shame. He lives inside a ship. Sometimes, I can hear the ocean outside his canvas.” He stood there and waited, watching her move around the tent.

The truth was, she didn’t know.

Apart from the coin bag she earned to buy her way onto a ship to another kingdom, nothing in the manor was ever hers. Even her clothing wasn’t of her own possession. She simply occupied space there. Anything she used to desire was crumbled away piece by piece. The smallest things she wanted were rejected by Kaine or if she brought something new in, he would find out, and it would be gone anyway.

The truth was, there was nothing she’d left behind that she’d want from the manor. Not the coins. Not the clothing. Not even a single notebook. All that was hers was lost.

Even herself.

You didn’t deserve such luxuries. You didn’t deserve anything at all.

No. Please no.Alora’s eyes shifted around the room at Kaine’s voice until they fell upon Garrik, who had walked to the other side of the canvas, still inspecting. Only, when she looked, she didn’t see lush hair in gray hues; she didn’t see his black clothing, or tanned, icy skin. The eyes that turned as he pivotedhis head weren’t those of glowing silver that drew her in like a blissful daydream. No. What stared back was her monster.

Her version of nightmares.

Kaine wickedly smiled in Garrik’s place. Watching her freeze. Watching as her eyes narrowed and her vision blurred. She couldn’t find her breath fast enough, couldn’t calm the panic that gutted her heart and sent it into a racing pain.

You still think you can hide from me? You’re stillmine. I will find you. And when I do?—

That gentle caress brushed against her mind.

Alora blinked. realizing that she’d frozen, blaring embered orbs into Garrik—into Kaine.

Kaine’s mouth opened, but it was Garrik’s voice that cut through like warm honey, soothing to her nerves. “Where did you go?” His voice ruptured Kaine’s visage, shaking from one person to another as she continued to stare. Continued to fight and bring herself back to reality. “Alora, what is wrong?” That gentle caress was now a reassuring finger drawing down her forearm.

Shivers encased her spine from that touch. From his small surge of his power that made her nerves calm and settle. She couldn’t tell him. Not that Kaine still haunted her, walking in and ruining every ray of light that brightened her day, hiding around every corner. Appearing in illusions at the smallest twinge of her heart.

She couldn’t tell him that in the smallest moments of kindness, Kaine would invade her thoughts. Persuade her that everything around her, every conversation, every simple act—as little as handing her a dinner plate—every touch in the arena … that it was all a lie.

She couldn’t tell Garrik that oftentimes, even when she stared into his silver, Kaine’s mahogany stared back.

Garrik closed the short distance between them, his figure passing through Kaine’s, leaving only Garrik standing there. “Talk to me.” Silver dulled in worry as he forced a swallow.

“Nothing,” she breathed. “Nothing. It’s only,” Alora paused. What were they talking about before? Her eyes trailed around the tent. Empty. It still was empty. “I … don’t know … what I want.” Stuttering, nervously rubbing her thumb on her death mark.

Garrik stepped closer, extending a hand near her death mark, but stopped. “It is alright. You do not have to figure it out now. Enjoy the time to explore what you want, who you are now.” His smile softened. “When you want something, it does not matter when, where I am, or what I am doing. Please come ask.” Smokeshadows swirled in the corner behind her. A black, wooden framed bed, triple her size, adorned in a mound of plush pillows and soft, thin blankets rested on top. “What is your favorite color?”

That was an … odd question. “What?”

“Your favorite color. What is it?”

“I—” It used to be green, was it now? She despised the color in the manor. It was suffocating. But out here, the evergreens they passed along the road and trails caught her eye. The green of emeralds or a delicious apple she enjoyed. Or maybe … was it blue? Like the sky on a clear day. A sapphire like her eyes, encased in a fine blade.

“Green,” she blurted, surprised. “I suppose it’s green. Like dark emeralds.”

Garrik’s face lit up, and without a word, Smokeshadows swirled again. Across the bed, a new blanket, covered in swirls like smoke in emerald hues, laid across it. “Excellent choice. Anything else?”

She rolled her bottom lip nervously as her eyes avoided his.

“In time. You will come to know who you are. For now, dream and be not afraid to learn who you have become. Rest, darling.” He stepped forward and leaned down. Pressing a tender, icy kiss to her forehead.

She took in a sharp breath, a blush heating her cheeks.

If he noticed her face scarleting, he didn’t mention it. Garrik turned on his boots for the door and began to walk out.

And before she could stop the words, Alora blurted, “Can I have—” and stopped herself.

Garrik’s boots twisted in the dirt, meeting her eyes. “Go on.” There was no irritation there. Only a gentleness, lightly caressing her like a soothing kiss from a winter breeze.

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