Page 86 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
I laughed lightly. “Yeah, it’s been more than a little crazy. I might’ve been out of my depth, but I wasn’t helpless at least.”
One corner of his mouth pulled tight. “Are you calling me helpless?”
I flushed red. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
Damon laughed again. “Relax, I’m not mad at you. In the spirit of honesty, I understand more than you realize.”
“You’ve been kidnapped twice?”
“Four times, actually.” he said with a shrug. “When you’re valuable, people get ideas.”
The air between us shifted a little, the weight of something unspoken pressing in. I didn’t push, and he didn’t elaborate.
“I know I said it before, but I’m really sorry about the whole kidnapping thing. On one hand, I wish I hadn’t done it because then we wouldn’t be here ...”
“On the other, you wouldn’t have met Vareck or gone on this crazy adventure if you hadn’t.”
I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah, but it sounds kind of shitty given all you have gone through because of me.”
Damon shrugged. “As far as kidnappings go, I give yours a five. I totally would have gotten free if you hadn’t dropped me with the leprechaun so soon.”
I snorted. “Why do you think I did? Any good thief knows the best way to not get caught is to get rid of the proof.”
Damon lifted both eyebrows. “Oh, is that so? And here I thought Vareck found an upstanding woman.” I slapped his arm playfully and he snickered.
After a beat, I asked, “So, all that swagger, that’s just covering for what? The trauma of being kidnapped a billion times?”
Damon smirked faintly. “No. That’s just who I am. But it helps keep people from asking too many questions.”
We walked a bit farther, the silence between us easy now, more pleasant and comfortable than before. I didn’t know whatwaited for us at the Fold—or if we’d even make it that far—but this? This felt okay.
“So,” I said, casually, “if you didn’t sleep with them, why not correct Vareck? He may not believe you, but that’s his problem. As it is, he’s going to hold that grudge for a while now.”
Damon’s smile faded slightly. “Because it’s easier to let him hate me than to try to make him like me.”
My chest tightened. “He doesn’t?—”
“I know,” he interrupted, voice low. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve always been the reminder of his brother. Of what he lost. Of what he has to protect.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Damon blew out a tight breath then ducked under a branch. “My father was a shitty person. When my grandfather tried to take over the realms, he helped him.”
“Oh ... I didn’t know that.”
Damon smiled sardonically. “It’s not exactly something Vareck is proud of. While the mad king was siphoning power from Maeve, my father compelled Drayden and Vareck so they couldn’t intervene. Drayden’s rage broke the compulsion, and he killed him for it. Unfortunately for my aunt, he was too late. Maeve was already dead.”
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat, lips pressed together. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know that, but I can still be sorry you went through that and that the legacy your dad left behind is a burden you have to bear.”
Damon smiled faintly. “Thanks, Meera. I didn’t really have to go through it, though. Mum was pregnant with me when all of this happened, so I never knew my father, or Maeve. I only have the stories and memories of others.”
“That in itself is a loss,” I said quietly.
Damon didn’t say anything for a while, and I didn’t push. The forest rustled around us, full of distant sounds and unseen movement, like even the trees were listening. There was so much history between us all—some of it tangled, some of it bruised—but this moment felt simple.
