Page 54 of The Mirror in the Mountain

I kissed him hungrily, moans building in the back of my throat as he thrust into me faster, the roll of my hips urging him on.

“Harder,” I begged. “I need you.”

Because someday not too far in the future, I could very well be gone and wouldn’t ever be able to get enough of him.

Bash’s gaze never left my face, even as he found his own pleasure amid my own shuddering climax, as if he knew there was something ephemeral between us, something frighteningly perilous.

Something that could be taken away.

When we broke apart, still wrapped in our own dusky world, we were both panting.

A dark smile graced Bash’s mouth. “You know, it’s a bit of an inconvenience having a world to save when I just want to spend the rest of my life making you moan.”

“Promises, promises,” I said under my breath as I pulled on my pants, brushing bits of bark from the back of my cloak.

But there was worry in the crease of his brow that belied his words, coalescing into something tangible across our bond. A hint of fear still swirling in those ever-changing eyes. The feeling like he knew more than he was letting on…but was willing to give me the space I needed until I was ready.

I almost laughed as a fit of hysteria hit me. Because of course he noticed my disquiet, even as he tried to explain it away. He had always seen right through me.

As that familiar panic leaked back in, I told myself to breathe—that I didn’t need to do anything now. That it would all seem less petrifying if I could only manage one deep inhale.

But I couldn’t do anything except stare into my darkness as it dissipated into the day, and wish my fears were as easy to eradicate.

Chapter 24

Bash

The future High Queen still had a shadow behind her hazel eyes, each ringed with a crown of gold around her pupils like they had known exactly what she was destined for all along.

Carefully, Eva pulled off her leathers, the fabric sticking to her skin from the sweat of our training session this morning. She had thrown herself into it with almost reckless abandon, especially when she and Quinn went hand-to-hand. When she had laughed for the first time in far too long as they had fought—the sound far too rare to begin with—I had to stop myself from granting her best friend my kingdom in gratitude.

Eva’s eyes met mine across our room. Her mouth hitched in a forced, unconvincing smile as she caught me watching her, but I couldn’t match it. As I stepped forward, she turned away, that smile fracturing. I hid my wince.

Obviously, whatever was consuming her had returned to haunt her.

It was an effort not to howl at the weight that was slowly crushing her. To demand answers about the dread leaking across our bond like she couldn’t hold it back. But after our discussion this morning and what I had only belatedly realizedwas her successful distraction, I had resolved to let Eva talk about the rest of whatever was worrying her in her own time—even if I desperately wished I could help carry her burden.

This war was already wearing on her, and the worst of it hadn’t even begun. I needed to find a way to help her before it did, though I found myself at a loss as to how to do so beyond giving her the reassurance I was there for her, and the time and space to process. Though time, as usual, wasn’t on our side, a thought that had me breathing through my own anxieties.

She disappeared into the bathroom without a word. I wasn’t sure if it hurt more that she still couldn’t bring herself to talk to me, or that she kept pretending everything was fine.

Was she really this haunted at the thought of facing Aviel again? Or was it memories of her imprisonment that wouldn’t let her out of their grasp?

After the way our last encounter with him ended, it should have come as no surprise that she clearly had little faith in our ability to win this. But I couldn’t entirely account for the fear behind her gaze when she didn’t think I was looking.

Steam wafted from the bathroom as she opened the door. When she walked past me to the wardrobe, I placed my finger on my palm, drawing a tiny heart in shimmering ink.

She stopped in surprise, and I couldn’t help my smile at the sight of her mouth curling up to form that perfect dimple as she looked down, then back at me.

“Just a reminder,” I said, grinning as she blinked at me.

“I hardly need a reminder of how much you love me,” Eva said, a smile still playing on her lips. “The wholeanimabond and all.”

“Agree to disagree.”

The buzzing feeling under my skin settled a little as I clung to the brief reprieve of lightness between us, like it might chase some of the darkness away.

But that wasn’t quite right. Not when Evawasdarkness, its velvet dim ever beckoning. Her considerable power had never scared me, that Celestial night the mirror to my own shadows.

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