Page 9 of The Iron Flower

Lukas gently takes hold of my wand hand and presses his palm to mine. The branching lines inside me suddenly blaze, as if shot through with torchlight.

“And now?” Lukas asks.

“There’s more of it,” I breathlessly marvel. “More fire.”

Lukas smiles. “Does it feel good?”

I nod in spite of myself as his supple warmth ignites all over my lines. “You’re like the pendant,” I say with astonished realization.

“I am,” he says, his gaze enticingly dark. “I think we both are, to each other.”

My heart thudding, I pull my hand away from his and release the pendant, trying to regain my balance. “So...I must have strong earth and fire lines.”

“Yes, most definitely. You may sense other lines, in time.”

I glance up at him, curious. “What do you have?”

His lips tilt into a suggestive smile. “I think you know.”

A warm flush heats my cheeks.Yes, I know. From kissing him.“Almost all earth and fire.”

Lukas nods.

“Like me.”

“Yes. Just like you.”

My thoughts whirl as I realize why he’s both an enigma to me and completely familiar, all at the same time.

We’re a perfect affinity match—the balance of our elemental lines exactly the same.

Suddenly, the possibility that he’s not aligned with Vogel is almost as unsettling as the possibility that he is.

Men’s voices cut through my turbulent thoughts and pull my eyes across the street. The soldiers’ wagon is pulling away, revealing a defaced wall between two storefronts. I inwardly draw back at the sight before me, the troubles of the world crashing down. Painted on the wall in heavy black lettering is a phrase from our holy book.

I cringe at the words, this vile defacement of buildings rapidly escalating over the past few days.

“Doesn’t any of this bother you?” I ask Lukas, the question flying out of me. I gesture toward the words, both angered and troubled by them.

Lukas narrows his eyes at the wall, then turns back to me, serious. “Yes, that bothers me,” he says, as if in challenge of my view of him. “I don’t agree with the religious madness that seems to be gripping our people, if that’s what you’re getting at, Elloren.”

“That’s good, Lukas,” I say, meeting his gaze squarely. “I don’t think I could stomach you if you did.”

It suddenly dawns on me—if he can’t lie to me, and I can’t lie to him, then there’s a simple way to find out where he stands.

“What do you think of Vogel?” I ask, challenge in my tone.

Lukas’s eyes take on a guarded cast. “Elloren, I’m in the military. Mage Councils and High Mages come and go. We don’t pick the government, we defend the Magedom.”

We stare at each other for a fraught moment, tension igniting in the air between us.

A mutual standoff.

I sullenly realize that we might not be able to lie to each other, but we can hold our secrets back.

Lukas raises an eyebrow as if reading my fractious unease and considers me closely. “Are you having a bad day?”

I shoot him a frustrated look, and his lip lifts with a trace of amusment. “I could make it better.” His subtle grin widens to a dazzling smile.

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