Page 21 of The Other Side of the Mirror

Eva was still asleep, her hand still holding mine. Despite how late we stayed up talking, I was the first one to wake. Yet I couldn’t seem to bring myself to take my hand from her soft grasp.

A frown crossed her face from whatever haunted her dreams, and my grip tightened until it passed and her breathing evened out, her brow slackening once more. She let out a small noise that almost sounded like my name.

I had moved closer in my sleep, our faces mere inches away from each other, as if drawn by some force I suspected was just her. While I had slept with my share of lovers over the years, there was something uncomfortably intimate about sleeping the way we had; our hands clutched together like we wouldn’t be separated, not even in our dreams.

Though we had only known each other for a matter of days, I had never been more comfortable talking to anyone. I wonder if Eva realized how rare it was for me to open up like that. For me to let my guard down, the walls I had worked so hard to build over decades of war and loss. While the entire realm knew of my parents’ deaths, I hadn’t confided in either Yael or Rivan about my feelings of guilt around their loss, and how I hadn’t been able to stop it. Eva was hardly the first friend of mine to have similarly lost someone…yet she had pulled it straight out of me without even trying.

I wondered if she always got right to the heart of someone, or if it was just me.

Perhaps it was the sorrow she wore like a shroud, that hint of vulnerability that belied her bravado. Somehow, it seemed like she had known exactly what I felt in my weakest moments. So I hadn’t hesitated to share the guilt I felt at not having saved my parents, one after another. Not when she knew the same heartache.

Eva let out a loud breath, and I couldn’t help but take advantage of the fact that she was unaware of my attention. Her lovely face was far more peaceful in sleep than she ever looked awake. I took in the perfect bow shape of her upper lip and the way her long, dark lashes pressed against her sleep-flushed skin. The soft glow of the early morning light kissed her tan cheeks, highlighting the downward curve of her mouth, the inviting lushness of her lips.

She smiled slightly in her sleep, and my focus narrowed on that utterly enticing dimple, unable to tear my eyes away. I barely stopped myself from brushing her hair away from where it had fallen across the bridge of her nose.

The uneven skin of Eva’s scar slid against my hand as she tightened her grip, and I could feel the raised rose branded there as it pressed against my palm. For a second, I saw the bleakness of old terror in Eva’s eyes as she recounted what that fire took from her and felt myself slide into a murderous calm.

One day, I would figure out exactly which Elementals had let loose those flames that night. And take my time as I killed her monsters one by one.

Rivan stirred with a snort, and I quickly let go of Eva’s hand, leaving hers reaching toward mine as if bereft of its loss.

Stop it. You have one job, and it’s to reunite her with her true love, I berated myself silently.Whatever this infatuation is, it needs to stop now.

I had seen and learned enough about theanimabond over the years and from watching my parents’ connection to realize the power it held. A power that could indeed reshape the world. But for some reason, I couldn’t shake the need to learn more about this prophecy linking Eva to her prince. Had anyone ever explained exactly how their union would stop the curse? Or had everyone blindly accepted the need to bring her to him once she was finally found?

I looked back at her beautiful face, another chestnut lock falling over her cheek as she twisted further toward me, her hand still outstretched.

Do your duty for the realm. I hadn’t gotten this far by letting my heart make stupid decisions.But Eva would need someone to look out for her, someone to help her understand this realm.I simply needed to convince myself that friendship was the only sway she had over me.

It was bad enough that I had to endure the daily torture of her riding in front of me—the exquisite feeling of her body moving against mine, that perfect behind sliding between my thighs. Or the way her waves escaped her braid to fly into my face, bringing her sweet scent with them.

Bringing her to her prince was the right thing to do. For her, for the prince who had saved all of us. For the entire damned world.

So why did the thought of leaving Eva in Morehaven make my stomach clench?

With a surreptitious look around me, I gave in, gently moving the errant locks of hair behind her ear. Eva’s breath hitched, whether from her dream or my attention, I couldn’t tell. I tried valiantly to ignore the hammering in my chest as I quietly rolled up my bedroll.

When I finished, Rivan opened an eye. Silently getting to his feet, he leisurely rolled up his own bedroll while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Feel like a quick bout?” I mouthed, gesturing to the woods—suddenly desperate to hit something.

He grinned, mouthing back, “Always.”

I wondered how many rounds it would take before I could shake off the strange feeling telling me to stay.

Chapter10

Eva

When I woke up, it was just Yael and me; Bash and Rivan having found somewhere to spar far enough away to not wake us with the sound of metal on metal. The morning air was cool, the light hazy as it filtered through the morning mist.

I pulled on a warm coat from deep in my backpack. Yael wrapped herself in an emerald cloak that highlighted her turquoise eyes, her long black hair pulled into a ponytail that swung back and forth against the embellished collar. She stoked the fire, and I tried not to wince at the crack of the mist-dampened wood. After she complained about wanting a warm breakfast on this chilly morning, I helped her collect water, oats, nutmeg, and cinnamon from a pack I was convinced had magically brought forth precisely what we needed. We added it all together in a companionable silence, taking turns stirring.

When the oatmeal was bubbling, we sat down to eat on a fallen log covered in a woolen blanket. After a few bites in shared silence, I finally dared to ask her the question that had been lurking in the back of my mind.

“When you told me about saving Bash with Rivan, you said something about sleeping nearby when the struggle woke you…” I trailed off, trying to find the right words. But I knew she understood my hesitant lack of a question.

Yael was silent for a long moment, standing up to put a kettle of water over the fire before sitting back down by me.

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