Page 54 of Swords and Curses

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong?"

Eldon opened his eyes at the genuine concern in her voice. The song changed toI Can't Believe You're In Love With Me,and he shifted awkwardly. She was looking down at him, a small frown on her face.

"Your aura just flared strangely."

"I forgot you could do that," Eldon admitted and quickly shielded himself in case she discerned anything else.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to read it, but I haven't been around people for so long I forget to control it," Nimue apologized. "You are much harder to read now."

"That's because I'm not a young, naïve git."

"Well, you certainly aren't young."

"I'm going to have to talk to Rosa about being a bad influence on you if this cheekiness continues," he muttered.

"Or you could get up and dance with me," she said, holding out a hand to him.

Don't do it,a voice said inside of him before he found himself taking it anyway. He could feel the magic burning under her skin despite the bracelet around her wrist. He rested a hand gently on her back, trying not to breathe in her honey apple scent and failing miserably.

With all the records on the floor, they could only gently sway, but that was enough to send memories crashing through him.

"This feels familiar," Nimue said.

"God, we were so young." Eldon shook his head. "I can't even remember what that felt like."

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened to you?"

Eldon dipped her. "Are you ever going to stop using a glamour?" Nimue stilled, and he lifted her back up slowly.

"My glamour isn't malicious, and it's not hurting anyone," she defended.

"My secrets aren't hurting anyone either," Eldon countered.

Nimue placed a hand on his chest, and heat seeped through his skin.

"Hurting no one else but you," she said. She looked down at her hand and removed it quickly as if surprised to find it there. "I know I hurt you deeply, and I can never take that back, but you can't blame all of this on me. You are enough of the same person to know that secret pain will eat away at you the way time never will."

"There's too much even to know where to begin," Eldon admitted.

"You don't trust me yet, and I can accept that, but talk to someone before it kills you." He couldn't bring himself to answer, so Nimue left him standing alone in the lounge room, her bedroom door closing with a sound of finality.

Hours later,Eldon was lying in bed and staring up at the white plaster roof, his mind ticking over his conversation with Nimue. She'd always been beautiful, so he had no idea why she felt the need to cloak herself in a glamour. Was that thereason he suddenly wanted to trust and know her again? He sat up, shocked at the possibilities. Was this the next stage of her deception?Stop jumping to the worst possible conclusion just because it's her, said an inner voice that sounded far too much like Rosa for him to be comfortable with.

A high-pitched scream came from across the hall, and Eldon was up and running, knife drawn. He barged into Nimue's room only to find her not being murdered, but having a nightmare. Her hair was drenched in sweat, and she was thrashing about, trying to dislodge her invisible attacker. Her magic flared to defend her, and Eldon hurried to her bedside and placed a hand on her damp forehead.

"Wake up, Nimue," he said gently. He spoke a word in Unseelie to break her from her dreams, but instead, he saw her tied naked between two flogging posts, crying out to Ryn. Eldon jolted out of the dream and stroked her head with a trembling hand. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up, shoving his hand out of the way.

"It's okay. It's only me," he said quickly. "You were having a nightmare."

Nimue brought her knees up to her chest, letting out a small sob. In the dim light, Eldon saw her back, the thin, damp nightdress unable to hide the extent of her scars entirely. He sat down beside her and placed an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"It's all right, little one. You're safe now." Now that the glamour was gone, he could feel how slender she was. Whatever weight she may have gained during the last few weeks at Gwaed Lynn had still left her a shadow of her former self. He cursed himself for not considering the glamour was to shield them all from what the queen had done to her.

Eldon put his other arm around her, and as if he'd given her silent permission, she curled into him, his hands tightening asshe rested her face against his chest. He couldn't kill Ryn, but as Nimue wept, he promised to all the gods that the Autumn Queen would die by his hand.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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