Page 31 of When the Moon Met the Sun

So what was I waiting for?

Additionally, I realized, a small part of me has missed Robyn this week, although I couldn’t place why.

Maybe it was the way he carried himself, with the confidence of a great ruler. Or the way his slightly too long hair fell across his forehead just so. Or maybe it was the light that shone in his eyes that made me want to keep fighting, even when everything in me screamed to give up.

“So?” Ezra said, snapping me out of my haze. “Will you come with us?”

I hesitated a moment, but slowly nodded as I said, “Yes. I’ll join you all.”

He jumped up from the couch, a smile beaming across his face. “She said yes!” he exclaimed, resulting in a few voices in other parts of the library to hush him. He had the decency to look sheepish, obviously having forgotten where we were.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Pack what you can, my queen. We leave in the morning.”

Chapter Twelve

Aseries of sharp knocks on the door had me stumbling over my untied shoe laces to reach it.

“One moment!” I shouted through the door, reaching down to tie up the laces of my black boots. They matched the rest of my black, leather outfit perfectly for traveling, besides the giant slits and holes I had to make in all the clothing I had been given here in the South so that my wings could fit through the backside of the tops. I had also made sure to braid my hair into two plaits down the sides of my head and down my back as soon as I woke up this morning so I wouldn’t have to bother with it. The only part of my hair not perfectly tamed were the bangs that fell across my forehead.

I took a quick look at myself in the mirror and fussed over my bangs for a moment. I made sure the fitted eye patch was in place—I still wasn’t sure I wanted to display my recent change to the world—and went to open the door.

If I hadn’t been in such a rush to fling the door open, maybe I would have noticed that I had heard that specific knock before.

I stopped dead in my tracks, the slight smile I had given my reflection falling off of my face as I looked up into the green eyes of Robyn.

It had only been a week since I’d seen him last, but he already looked different. His skin was a half shade darker, as if he’d spent the entire week outside and the sun had shone solely on him. The time outside made his freckles pop, too—his cheeks and the bridge of his nose covered in them, like somebody had splattered a spray of paint on him. His eyes, though, I recognized, and feared I always would. I knew I’d be able to pick his eyes out of a crowd anytime, the perfect shade of forest green. They matched his deep green, cotton shirt perfectly, complimenting his brown, leather pants.

I imagined I should be upset with him for leaving and not telling me anything about it, but I couldn’t think past the relief of seeing him in one piece in front of me.

It wasn’t until I heard my name being said, for what I assumed wasn’t the first time, that I snapped back to the present moment.

“Pardon?” I asked, not having been listening in the slightest.

A knowing smirk overtook his plump lips as he said, “I was just saying I came to fetch you. Everybody else is outside, getting ready to depart. Where is your bag?”

I opened the door further, the smell of freshly carved wood coming off of it still strong from being replaced, and allowed him to step inside. I rounded the side of the bed and went to reach for my bag, but Robyn beat me to it, grabbing it and slinging it over his shoulder in one smooth motion.

It took everything in me not to stare at his toned muscles moving beneath the skin of his arms.

It wasn’t until he turned his back on me to walk out of the door that I realized the bag I had packed with my few belongings matched his, which was hanging from his other hand, perfectly.

“Ezra gave me that bag yesterday. It wasn’t a spare though, was it? It’s yours?” I asked as I ceased walking before I exited the room.

He turned his head to look over his shoulder and simply nodded, still wearing that stupidly handsome smirk of his. Then he walked out of the room, forcing me to follow after him.

Fae males.

It took a few paces, but I caught up with him. If I hadn’t known better, I could’ve sworn he was taking smaller strides than normal just for me.

Not having anything to carry or put my focus into, I held my hands together in front of me and began picking at my cuticles without thinking much about it. Truthfully, I was nervous about this trip. We were venturing even farther into the South, farther than most Northerners had ever gone, yet here I was. I also didn’t know the Valwain all that well yet, and I didn’t know what to make of them. I knew I wanted to learn to trust Robyn and the rest of them, but how do you start letting people in when your whole life you had a wall built around your heart?

Seeming to sense my worry—probably literally—Robyn shifted the bags to one hand and reached across the space between us, gently brushing his knuckles across my hands, causing me to drop them back down to my sides. The moment our skin touched, I could feel the zirilium pumping in my veins sing.

“About my Valwain, you have nothing to fear. Each member is a good fae, sworn to protect and serve the citizens of the South—which includes you now. Some might be a little rough around the edges, but I assure you, we all only want the best for our people,” he spoke quietly, “especially you.”

The last part he said so softly, I thought I’d misheard him.

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