Page 9 of A World of Ruins

He laughs. ‘I don’t believe I am an angry little woman.’

‘Little?’ I frown at him, and outrageous offence takes over my tone. ‘I’m above average height, you toad!’

‘Mmm, I love it when you speak dirty things to me, Ambrose.’ With a grin, he winks.

He truly knows how to ruin sentimental moments.

I glare, clearly in no mood for his antics. ‘Just talk to him. You never know what could happen.’

‘Are you saying that because you never thought you would fall in love with the Golden Thief?’

My heart begins to rattle. I lick my lips, feeling them freeze over with the cold weather. ‘No,’ I breathe. ‘I have always been in love with him.’ My view of Rydan’s puzzled features blurs as I focus on my brother and Link talking to one another. ‘I just needed to remember.’

You’re all I’ve ever wished for, Goldie.

‘Nara?’ The clearing of someone’s throat awakens me back to reality, and Rydan’s eyes widen.

He whispers as he looks down at his hands. ‘Did I just summon him?’

The fact he believes he can do that makes me almost laugh before I peek over Rydan’s shoulder and see Lorcan standing there. He looks nervous, his lips twitching as if unsure whether to smile or keep a straight face.

‘I uh—’ he starts, but I know what he wants.

He wants to talk.

CHAPTERFOUR

It seems somewhat nostalgic.

The reality of having Lorcan here by my side as we walk past the training grounds.

Male and female warriors in burgundy armour blast each other with fire onto the sandy terrain, and I simply watch them. Study them even, as if that will miraculously aid me in becoming Solaris. But I know that thought is too illogical under these circumstances. I am not a phoenix, not like Lorcan.

My gaze slips from the phoenixes to the side profile of his face. I look at how his jaw is coated in auburn stubble, and his hair is slightly overgrown. It might seem so silly to others that something minuscule, such as not shaving or growing their hair out a bit too long, is noticeable to me. But when Lorcan was a Venator, I never saw him be this carefree with his looks. He needed to present himself with this image of power. A second-in-command. Now here he is, a phoenix. What he was meant to be.

He casts me a sideways glance, thinking I am already looking away, but I am not, and it is obvious I have made him uncomfortable by outright staring at him. He clears his throat and points to the palace in the skies before us. ‘I see you are close to the shifters residing here.’

‘Solaris,’ I mutter under my breath.

‘Is something the matter?’

I shake my head as frustration slices across my chest, deep and agonising. ‘Don’t do that.’

‘Do what—’

‘The small talk, the idea that everything is perfect right now,’ I sigh before stopping our walk and facing him. ‘This is not the same as before, Lorcan.’

He looks away, ashamed. ‘I am just not sure how to speak to you any more. You ignore me and act as if I am still dead and not here to help. It’s been three months, Nara.’

I close my eyes and exhale a breath. I do not want a reminder. ‘Did you think three months is all it would take for us to go back to normal?’

He bites the inside of his cheek, his face still turned away from me, as if he is intent on not answering that.

‘I spent longer than that, thinking you haddiedthe day of the trials.’

Lorcan’s gaze falls to the grass below, a distressed sigh escaping his nose.

‘I don’t hate you for what you did to my father. It wasn’t you.’ I confess what I have been unable to face for so long. He finally looks at me – looks at me like there is hope for us again. I can see it; I notice it because it is the same look he gave me when he visited me in the dungeons the day before the trial. ‘But,’ I whisper, and my throat suddenly burns, ‘you were still one of the first to break my trust.’

---