Page 28 of Horn of Winter

I couldn’t help the smile that twitched my lips. “Given the council’s belief about thievery and my family, are you really all that surprised I seek to view the forbidden?”

Again, that wisp of a smile tugged his lips. I actually found myself warming to this old highborn elf in a way I never had with Ruadhán. “To be honest, no, but I would not mention it to the council, or they may enforce a blood oath on you.”

“They could try. They won’t succeed.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that, young woman. The council has ways of ensuring obedience, and your knives cannot protect you 24-7.”

Before I could reply to either the threat or the more surprising suggestion he was going to keep my comment to himself, the soft bell chimed again. Dhruv glanced around. “Ah, the family leaves. I am not surprised—the Lùtairs did not want this commemoration in the first place.”

I did my best to ignore the disappointment that surged at them leaving without being able to speak to Cynwrig, and resisted the urge to stand on my toes to look one last time at him. They were the actions of a desperate woman, and I wasn’t desperate. Really, I wasn’t.

And if I repeated it often enough, I might just well believe it.

“Then why did they accede to it happening at all?” I asked.

“Both the fae and business councils were planning a memorial with or without Lùtair involvement, so I daresay they thought it was better to control proceedings than not.” He bowed lightly. “It was a pleasure catching up with you again, Sgott. Young lady, I await your next update with anticipation.”

And with that, he wandered away. I turned to Sgott, my eyebrows raised. “You know, for a highborn and very ancient elf, he’s turning out to be pretty decent.”

“Always was once you got him outside more formal settings. You ready to go?”

I nodded. Despite those silent few seconds filled with nebulous promises that could never be, I couldn’t help but wonder why Cynwrig had broken all the rules to invite me here if he’d never intended to even approach me.

We made our way toward the exit. Our coats reappeared and, after a slender young man had politely helped me into mine, I followed Sgott down the long hallway. The day was probably darker than before, the storm I’d sensed earlier rippling acrossthe sky in sheets of lightning. A shower of tiny stars danced across my fingertips in response, forcing me to shove them into my coat’s pockets to hide the energy show.

That’s when I felt the velvet box.

I stopped abruptly, exploring the size of the thing without taking it out of my pocket. It wasn’t a ring box—it was far too wide—but there was a definite possibility of it containing a necklace or bracelet. And there was a small piece of paper tucked lightly into one edge of the box.

Sgott paused and glanced over his shoulder. “Everything all right?”

I jumped slightly and hastily caught up to him. “Sorry, it appears I’ve been left a message.”

“I would have been disappointed with the lad if he hadn’t done something like that. Best read it in the car, though, where there’s less watchful eyes.”

I resisted the urge to look around and wondered what Sgott was seeing that I wasn’t. I hurried after him again, my fingers clenched around the soft box and my heart tripping along at a million miles an hour. The white umbrellas appeared again as we left the building, though in truth I barely noticed the thunder and the sharp snap of rain as it bounced off the pavement as we were escorted over to the car. Once Sgott had informed Dispatch he was available—technically he wasn’t on duty until the evening, but that had never stopped him answering callouts if he deemed them relevant to cases he was investigating—he reversed out and we were on our way. I tugged the box from my coat pocket.

It was roughly five inches square and a rich black velvet with the Lùtair shield emblazoned in silver on the top. If the box looked this expensive, its contents had to be pretty special. But I resisted the urge to immediately open it, and slid the note free instead.

It said, in sweeping, decorative strokes,The restrictions of the mourning period mean I cannot see or contact you by any physical means for the next three months. And while I’m well aware it is inappropriate and unreasonable of me to ask you to wait for at least that long before your heart makes any decision in regard to your other suitor, that is exactly what I am now doing. The bracelet within this box is a Bruadar—a dreaming bracelet. Wear it if you wish a continuation of what we share in a non-physical manner.

It was simply signed,Cyn.

“Well?” Sgott said. “Is it a goodbye or something else?”

“Something else.” And wondered what the hell a dreaming bracelet was. “He’s asked me to wait until the mourning period is over before I make any decision about a full-time relationship with Eljin.”

Sgott glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “Has that lad even mentioned the possibility of becoming exclusive?”

I hesitated. “He’s skirted around the edges of it a few times, but never come out and directly asked.”

“And do you want that?”

My hesitation was longer this time. “Eventually? Maybe? We’re really still in the ‘getting-to-know-you’ stage, and I don’t want to be rushing things. That’s never led to good situations in the past, at least not romantically.”

Sgott snorted. “You do indeed have a horrible history of picking the absolute worst men.”

As demonstrated by the now-incarcerated former teenage boyfriend who’d very recently popped back into my life. He’d not only made the very bad mistake of misjudging the adult me, but had also been stupid enough to threaten my brother’s life. He was damnably lucky I hadn’t killed him as the hazy cloud of inner darkness had wanted.

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