Page 17 of Flame and Sparrow

I wasn’t sure when the lines had first started to blur, but at some point during the last year or so we had…slipped. Somewhere between the increasingly dangerous and desperate missions, we had discovered that the touch and taste of one another was an excellent remedy to combat loneliness and other things we didn’t want to talk about.

But we were nothing more serious than these occasional bits of fun, and every day I grew more certain it wouldn’t become anything more—though I hadn’t yet decided if this was a good or a bad thing.

We stayed beside each other, hardly talking, for the better part of the next hour.

I watched the tree limbs swaying, marveling at the patterns cast by shifting leaves and limbs over the moon-silver grass. I shivered as the night grew colder, and Andrel took off his cloak and draped it over my shoulders. I huddled under it, inhaling the comforting, familiar notes of his spice and sandalwood scent.

“Is Kinnara still angry?” I asked, finally breaking the silence and glancing over my shoulder.

He shook his head. “We had a much more productive talk this evening while you were napping. She’s staying the night partly so she can help plan our follow-up to Cauldra…she just wants to be more strategic about things going forward.” He gave a casual shrug.

I thought of how furious she’d looked earlier. What could he possibly have said or done to convince her to stay the night? “Your persuasiveness is frightening sometimes.”

He laughed.

I chuckled as well, despite the unease curling through my stomach. I stood, wrapping his cloak more tightly around myself as I paced the path that led to what remained of the gatehouse, skipping across broken pavers and kicking the occasional loose stone aside.

“The old houses have fallen,” I said, repeating Kinnara’s line from earlier. “Do you think she’s right? I mean, we’ve fallen on hard times, certainly, but the way she said it just sounded so…final.So desperate.”

“She’s afraid.”

“She should be, shouldn’t she?”

Andrel snorted—his usual response to any mention of fear. He got to his feet alongside me, walking the same path I had, pausing at my side before turning to fully take in the house behind us.

Quietly, he said, “It looks as if it’s still standing to me. As am I. Cillian still fights as well.” He looked to me, head cocked to the side, a challenging little smirk flirting with his lips. “And you aren’t going anywhere, are you?”

I shook my head.

No—of course I wasn’t.

Where else would I go?

He stepped closer, taking hold of the cloak he’d draped over my shoulders and using it to draw me toward him. He kept one hand fisted in the cloak’s heavy fabric but lifted the other to my face, cupping my chin and lifting my mouth up to meet his. My insides fluttered as his hand slid back through my hair, pulling me forward and pressing our lips more completely together.

He stayed close even after he ended the kiss, lips nearly brushing mine again as he said, “Our houses once ruled this realm. They will rule it again in due time, and the Creators will regret turning against us.”

A shiver went down my spine—one that had nothing to do with how close he still was. When he spoke like this, it was hard not to believe in him, to not admire his confidence and dauntless hope.

His gaze dropped to my lips, hazel eyes shining with hunger. With invitation. Another chance to lose ourselves in one another. Every nerve in my body sparked to life at the temptation, and my skin tingled with anticipation as his fingers brushed through my hair, down my neck, across the hollow of my throat.

But then it was happening again—that uneasy shifting in my stomach.

I couldn’t fully explain it…I just knew I didn’t want to be lost tonight. Not even with him.

I angled my mouth away from his and said, “You’ve had a report about the aftermath in Cauldra by this point, I assume.”

He hesitated, disappointment flashing in his expression for a fraction of a second before he composed himself and took a step back. “Yes. One of our informants stopped by with details an hour or so ago. The official reports are saying the temple is a total loss. Six lives were lost as well.”

“Six?” My voice came out fainter than I’d intended.

“Yes. Six humans.” His lips curled at the last word, as though it was laced with a poison he didn’t want his mouth to linger on.

I counted them in my head. The two I’d heard inside. The three unconscious guards outside. And a sixth…that Moon-kind girl I’d tried to warn?

“Were you hoping for less?”

The question made the back of my neck burn. I lifted my eyes to the stars and steeled my voice. “No. I was hoping for more.”

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