Page 88 of Bound By Darkness

My eyes snapped to his voice, a wicker basket in hand as he stepped around broken pieces of metal. The basket reminded me of the first time I’d met him in Gwen’s garden, toiling away as the sun cast rays across his sweaty brow.

“Sorry I’m late,” he muttered. “Chiron needed to talk to me.”

I hadn’t missed our meeting. A breath left my lips. “I just got here from the library too.”

His brow rose. “Now? You left in the afternoon.”

I grimaced. “Time went by quickly.” I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about the door I’d found leading to the underground library. Something told me that was off limits—a place I wasn’t supposed to have discovered.

“Did you find anything?”

I shook my head, guilt bubbling like acid in my stomach. “No.”

“Then we’ll keep looking,”he said with a small smile, the corners weighed down. “Somewhere has to have the answers you are seeking.”

I sent a nod his way, the papers crinkling as I shifted, the weight of what I kept hidden tearing me alive.

Clearing his throat, he pointed to the cliffside. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

“What is it?” I asked, shoving guilt away for a later time.

He grinned. “Follow me, unless you’d rather wait here by the gate.” His eyes raked over me, as if searching beneath the exterior I often held.

“Just walk,” I frowned as that stupid grin widened. Biting back the urge to tease him, I followed after as curiosity bit me. A few daises danced in the wind as he led the way, the basket swaying gently in the breeze.

It was hard to keep up with him, fatigue sticking to me from the descent into the library and hours of flipping through the tiniest writing I’d ever seen. When I thought my body was finally about to give my secret away, he stopped.

“Here.” He gestured toward an empty patch, placing the wicker basket between us as he pointed to the cliffs.

“What’s—” The words died on my tongue as I stared into the expanse of sea, waves crashing against rocky terrain. The sea breeze whispered its greeting as the moon illuminated a feeling I’d forgotten.

The sea was well below the cliffside, but I could see it, hear it, taste the salt on my lips as I stared into the unobstructed view. Wetness lingered on my eyelashes as I stared at an everlasting reminder of home.

Warmth clung to my shoulders as a blanket wrapped around them, the frayed edges tickling my hands.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, my trance immediately lifting as I looked at him.

His smile was wide,that imperfect dimple shining against the moon’s light. It faltered for a second, his hands rubbing the base of his neck. “T—the sea, I mean,” he stuttered.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I glanced at him, his eyes refusing to meet mine. Surely he didn’t mean me? The sea—obviously he meant the sea.

His shoulders squared as he gestured to the scene before us, his throat clearing. “You enjoy nature, don’t you?” His eyes locked onto the frothing waves below. “At Gwen’s, I noticed you glancing outside often.”

“It was that obvious?” I pressed the blanket closer as my eyes closed, breathing in the air around me. I had missed the sea, my home a few minutes from the ports of Armas. I missed the feeling of water—ofthem.

Yeva would have loved it here between the daises and sprites dancing between the blades of grass. Yeva?—

A hot, vivid memory sliced through me. How had I forgotten?

“You.”

Ivan shifted, his eyes narrowing. “Me?”

“You,” I repeated, my eyes meeting his. “You said her name. You said my sister’s name in the forest.”

He swallowed, his lips parting as he spoke faintly, “I did.”

“How do you know so much about me when I know nothing about you?”

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