Page 39 of The Mirror in the Mountain

There was a flash of pure joy down our bond, her eyes bright with tears. “I love you, Bash. With all that I am. No matter what happens.”

“Good,” I murmured, kissing the flush on each of her cheeks. “Because I may not deserve you…but you’re mine, and I’m yours. And I plan on creating a future where nothing and nobody will stand in the way of that ever again.”

Chapter 17

Eva

By the time we made it out of our bedroom I could tell it was well past midday by the light streaming through the tan linen curtains. I found Quinn in the kitchen eating lunch with Rivan and Yael at the long, oak table, the smell wafting off the steaming bowls making me suddenly ravenous.

“About time,” Yael said with a slow grin.

My lips quirked as I turned to Quinn. “I do hope they’ve been good guests.”

Rivan laughed, low and rumbling. “We do happen to be housebroken.”

“Debatable,” Yael said with a shrug, and Quinn laughed. “We’re already fast friends, don’t worry. Even if she’s been tightlipped on your most embarrassing stories despite our interrogation.”

I raised a brow. “Knowing you, seeing if she’d give into your questioning was a test in itself.”

Yael only smirked.

I nodded my thanks to Quinn as she set down a bowl in front of me, vegetable soup paired with a thick crusty bread that was slathered with salted butter. She sat next to me as I inhaled it, barely pausing between bites to breathe. Bash ate his ownserving at a more leisurely pace on my other side. I noted the churning gray of his eyes before noticing the shadows that clung to my sleeves, seemingly unwilling to risk being separated from me.

Bash took my bowl as I finished mopping the remainder of the broth with my bread, rolling his eyes at my indignant noise in response before returning with a second helping. I gave him a sheepish look, and he brushed a kiss on the top of my head before going to help Yael and Rivan with the dishes.

Quinn sighed contentedly, leaning in so our arms rested against each other’s. “While our parents were both bonded, I never really thought about the effect it must have, feeling another’s emotions like your own.”

“I’d say it took some getting used to,” I said, swallowing a bite of soup-soaked bread. “But it didn’t. With him, it felt as natural as breathing. Like it was always meant to be that way.”

“You were empty for such a long time,” Quinn said softly, watching the way Bash’s eyes found mine across the room even as he responded in a low voice to whatever Rivan had asked him. “When I lost my parents, I at least knewwhy. Who and what they fought for. The reason they left me.” She sighed. “I’m glad you finally got the answers you always deserved, along with someone who lights up your soul.”

“My parents would have told us on our Seventeenth,” I said, tensing at the memory of what happened instead. “I can’t stop thinking about what it would have been like if they had. If we’d both made it back to Agadot with our families still intact.”

Quinn gave me a sad smile, and I took her hand under the table. “It’s easy to get lost in the would have’s. I spent far too long wondering what would’ve happened if we’d gone with my parents when they left to see if it was safe to return. If somehow, I could’ve stopped what happened to them. Even if it’s far more likely we would have all been captured or killed.”

“I wish we had them with us,” I whispered, a lump forming in my throat. “But I’m glad I at least have you here with me now.”

Tobias walked into the room, his gaze immediately finding Quinn before he slowly walked over to the soup, ladling some into a bowl. His shoulders were stiff as he responded quietly to Bash, Yael, and Rivan’s greetings, his face a cool mask. I frowned. My brother was a lot of things, but he had never been standoffish or shy. Though I knew he would be different after years apart and all he had endured.

I wondered if I seemed just as much of a stranger to him.

“What about you?” I asked Quinn. “Did anything eventful happen on your journey here that you left out?”

“You mean did I stumble into ananimabond with the fae warrior who brought me into this realm? Or did I fight off the False King himself more than once since getting here?”

Quinn laughed, and I noticed Tobias turn slightly at the sound, a smile teasing at the edges of his mouth before it slipped away.

I surprised myself by chuckling softly. “Just a few minor bumps along the way.”

Quinn shrugged. “I ran into some trouble a few times, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

She gave me a satisfied smile that I returned in kind. I was only too aware of how well-trained she was with the number of sparring sessions we had faced off against each other through the years.

Tobias silently sat down next to me, hesitancy radiating from every line of his hunched posture. I swallowed, trying not to think about how he had spent the last few years stuck in a cell, barely being able to talk while his magic was repeatedly stolen from him. Then winced as I remembered how painful that process had been for me just once. Now, my mental image of his time there was that much worse.

Yet I hadn’t forgotten the fact that he had spentyearsnot coming to find me after our parents’ murders before his capture. Had made it all the way here to Soleara while letting me believe he was dead. I didn’t care that he had done it to keep me safe. Quinn at least had the excuse of being magically bound not to speak about it. But my own brother? He had made me spend years missing him,grievinghim. Even if the last few weren’t his fault, he should’ve come back for me sooner.

And I was having a hard time getting over what could have been if he had.

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