Page 92 of The Iron Flower

Yvan sighs deeply, his jaw tensing. “Iris has been a good friend to me, Elloren. But it’s not like that between us.”

But I bet she knows all your secrets. Since she’s Fae, too.

And she doesn’t look exactly like Carnissa Gardner.

I sit up and hug my knees to my chest, wishing I could look like anything but what I am. “She’s very beautiful,” I say as more tears roll down my cheeks.

“So are you.”

I stop breathing for a moment, confused by his admission. “But...you told me once that you found me to be repulsive.”

He winces again. “That was before I knew you. It was wrong of me to be so unkind. I’m sorry. It doesn’t excuse my behavior, but at the time, I was thinking more of what your looks represented.”

“My grandmother?”

“Her... All of them.”

I wipe at my tears. “And now? What do you see?”

He lets out a long sigh and studies me, his green eyes blazing gold at the edges. “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He inhales sharply and looks away, his mouth set in a tight line, as if he’s said too much and wants to prevent himself from making the same mistake again.

When he finally looks back at me, I can see my own loneliness, my own longing for him, reflected back in his eyes. I hug my knees tight, heart racing, not quite believing I’ve heard him correctly.

“It’s late,” he says, his voice sounding strained and sad. “We should get some sleep.”

No,I want to say. Come here and stay with me. I want you. Only you.

Instead I say, “All right,” my voice equally strained, equally sad, reeling from his sudden reserve.

I watch him as he stiffly moves back to his spot near the fireplace and stretches out on the floor with his back toward me. His body looks tense and uncomfortable, his head resting on his arm. An aching loneliness hangs in the air and chills the room.

“Elloren,” he says as he lies very still.

“Yes?”

“Do you know what happened to the family of the Kelt that Sage Gaffney ran off with?” When I don’t answer, he says, “I ran into some people I know at that tavern we stopped at earlier today. They told me.”

“What happened?” I ask hesitantly, almost not wanting to know.

“They found them a few days ago. They were all killed. By Gardnerian soldiers.”

“No,” I whisper, shocked.

“His parents, his brother, even their animals.” Yvan hesitates for a moment before continuing. “The Mage Council sanctioned it, Elloren. At the request of the Gaffneys. It was a Mage purity strike.”

Nausea roils through me, and I suddenly understand the reason for Yvan’s distance. Why he’s on the floor right now instead of in my arms. It says right in our holy book that the loss of a Gardnerian woman’s purity by a man of another racemustbe avenged. And horrific acts like this are becoming more common in the Western Realm, the Alfsigr Elves also enforcing purity in this way.

“You think being involved with me could be dangerous in that way,” I say, my voice numbed.

“Iknowit would be.”

“Because of my family.”

“Yes. And because some very powerful people want you wandfasted to Lukas Grey. Anyone who gets in the way of that will be in danger, especially if they’re not Gardnerian.”

“Anyone...meaning you and your mother.”

“Yes. I can’t think of a way to get around it. And believe me, I’ve tried.”

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