Page 174 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

There was heavy silence. His breathing fell uneven, and she saw a spark of his eyes go dull and start to cascade into the blackened abyss

“Hey?” Touching his hand, Garrik flinched, the darkness faded. “Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. Or don’t talk about it. We can just lay here and I’ll talk. I never cared for my birthday either. Kaine always made it a point to be away. I spent them alone.”

“I wasn’t.” Garrik shook his head, blinking, and turned to the folded parchment in her hand. “What is it?”

She excitedly grinned, crossing her legs like a giddy faeling. “It wouldn’t be a gift if I told you.” Holding out her hand once more, Alora pulled Garrik’s hand from his abdomen and placed it in his palm. “Open it.”

Silver ribbon fell away. Black ink flowed across the parchment. Melodic sequences ended in rhymes under the burst of light in the sky.

Garrik rolled onto his side. “You wrote me?—”

“A song. Well … just words for now. Maybe one day I’ll put music to it, if I ever see a piano again.”

Garrik’s eyes scanned the words solicitously.

The silence was unbearable. Why would she think that something as little as ink on a page would be a gift? With the silence, her nerves battled her heartbeat. Hands became heated and clammy.Stupid gift.What would the High Prince of Elysian do with a poem, at best?

“It’s not a great gift. The lyrics are sloppy. The rhyming is?—”

“Perfect,” he breathed. A seemingly small amount of liquid lined his softened eyes. “It is perfect.”

She saw the silver glow return as her own sapphires stared in disbelief.

His hand quivered. “Thank you, Alora.” Voice cracking, Garrik folded the parchment and gripped it tightly. “This is … this means … more than you know.”

Come on,darling. You need to sleep in an actual bed tonight, Garrik’s warm voice broke through a dreamless sleep.

She’d fallen asleep sometime after tracing shapes in the stars, laughing at Garrik’s poor attempt to imagine a unicorn in the constellations, giggling over Garrik’s stories of Aiden, and reminiscing of tales of her and Rowlen.

Garrik’s arms were delectably cold, lifting her to her feet, steadying her on the dirt while she rubbed her eyes and yawned. When she blinked them open, they were no longer on that hill, and the heavy aroma of fires wasn’t as strong.

She blinked again, feeling his calluses scrape against her arms as he pulled away only to see canvases around them.

He must have dawned them back to camp.

“Off to bed, clever girl.” Garrik cupped her lower back and gestured.

But his hand wasn’t guiding her to Jade’s tent. Instead, he purposefully guided her forward. And when he noticed her confusion, Garrik simply swallowed. “You will not be sleeping in Jade’s tent.”

Eyes wide, Alora pushed herself from his hand, fully awake now. “And wherewillI be sleeping? If you think I’ll be coming in your tent tonight just because it’s your birthday?—”

“I would not dream of it”—an edacious grin grew up the side of his face—“unless you are offering.”

She produced a healthy middle finger and turned back to Jade’s tent, but his voice stopped her.

“You two will not be tenting together any longer … because your punishments are over.”

Before she could consider speaking, Garrik faced Aiden’s tent, and Smokeshadows rippled from his shoulders, down his arms, and out his palms in the empty space beside it. In a storm of shadows, a canvas of similar size to his Shadow Order’s individual tents appeared.

As the shadows cascaded away, Garrik turned to her. “Try not to cut a hole in this one.”

With a wink, he held open the entrance.

It was empty, save for the canvas walls and chandelier-like faelight hanging, casting a comfortable, cozy glow.

A gentle breeze blew through the cracks in the tent’s entrance, rustling his gray hair. “This is yours to make your own.” Garrik paced, scanning the empty space. “Is there anything you desire? Perhaps something from Telldaira that was left behind?”

It was all too much. Happening so fast that she couldn’t think. Rather than keep him waiting, Alora murmured, “A cot is all I need.” And rolled her lips between her teeth.

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