Page 28 of Zel
Liar, but Zel did not know Ulrich had been watching the entire time. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Of course.” Zel’s eyes did not say the same, and Ulrich kept their gazes locked in wait for the truth. Zel sighed. “He… called me a name I do not care for. Pretty petal? Lothar, who runs the Thieves Guild, also calls me that. He has never wronged me directly, but his attention has never sat right with me. He controls the guild and all who are in it. He scarred my mother, when the mark you left on her healed. And he covets my company. He has made that much clear.”
A swell of possession overtook Ulrich. He did not like the thought of anyone coveting Zel’s company, and definitely not anyone acquiring it. He was glad to know that this Lothar had not gotten what he wanted thus far, but now Ulrich wondered who had.
Zel had been honest about being a virgin, but also about that not meaninguntouched.
“How disappointed he must have been when you left,” Ulrich said, picking a few stray leaves from Zel’s hair. “Pretty as you are, I will be certain to never call you that myself…little cabbage,” he ended on a whisper.
Zel laughed, and the clouds cleared from those vivid green eyes. “Cabbage? Shouldn’t it be ‘little lettuce’?”
“Lettuce can be frail. But cabbage, while similar, is stronger than it looks.” Ulrich continued to smooth Zel’s hair and pick out debris from the tousle on the ground. He took his time, becauseonly with his fingers in contact with those locks did he feel as if he might never need another soul again, especially with Zel’s eyes on him.
Eventually, the chill in the air, or perhaps Ulrich’s lingering closeness, caused Zel to shiver. Ulrich saw the added gooseflesh forming across Zel’s skin. Saw the invitation wrought with hesitation in Zel’s eyes. All of it seemed so real, despite knowing there were lies hidden within the truths.
“Shall we return to the tower?” Ulrich suggested.
“To do what, my lord?” Zel smiled, banishing at least a little of that hesitancy.
“By the time we return, we will have worked up an appetite again.”
“Oh?”
“Aren’t you starting to crave something, Zel?”
“Are you, my lord?”
“Forlunch. Then afterward…” Ulrich bent closer, so his lips were right beside Zel’s ear. “I will give you time alone before dinner.”
Zel’s inhale was audible when Ulrich almost bent low enough for his lips to brush Zel’s skin, but then he didn’t. He lifted his head, reached with his blackened hand, and led Zel by the small of the back, turning them to return in the direction of the tower.
If Zel was disappointed by the tease, nothing was spoken to express it.
The question remained: did Zel deserve the fate Ulrich originally had planned?
And now, another question had surfaced: regardless of what Ulrich decided, would he indulge in Zel first?
Because gods above, he was starting to want to.
Six
ZEL
It was a nice lunch. A nice, quiet afternoon. A nice dinner. Even the earlier stroll in the autumn chill had been pleasant—until they were interrupted.
Zel would have killed the bandit without remorse if another moment had passed before Ulrich came to his rescue. Someone like that, more intent on the kill and defiling his victim, was worth little consideration from one’s conscience. And then, seeing Ulrich swoop in like moving shadows, reforming into his glorious self, and sucking the man dry of his awful soul, more than only fear had stirred within Zel.
Little cabbage. It wasn’t so different an endearment from pretty petal, yet somehow it was worlds different all the same.Zel was tempted, so tempted, to succumb and simply be Ulrich’s bride.
But he couldn’t. Wanting a bride meant Ulrich expected a woman, and he had made it clear he did not suffer liars. Ulrich’s wrath would be great if he discovered Zel’s secret. If Zel failed to kill him before the month was up, that wrath might be turned on Zel’s parents. Even if they escaped Ulrich, Lothar’s wrath could very well be worse.
If a bandit deserved death, did not also the vilest villain the kingdom had ever known? Ulrich had changed during his solitude, clearly, but he was still something preternaturally fearsome. He was stillevil. Wasn’t he?
And now Zel knew from Ulrich’s own admission that there might be a way to reverse the curse embedded in his arm, to undo the exchange that gave him immortality for the price of his pain. Zel merely needed to discover what that was. He could not get distracted by how much he enjoyed Ulrich’s company or his touch on Zel’s skin and in his hair. The mutual bliss their contact caused could only lead down a doomed path.
Zel had gone many winters wanting more from Rudy and not being able to submit. Of course, he had only wanted thephysicalfrom Rudy. If something physical was all he could have now, he could weather a lack of Ulrich’s touch with an abundance of his own.
Given his scuffle on the ground, Zel had decided to bathe before bed. His hair dried quickly, magically so, but it was easiest to let it dry during the night. While it was wet was the only time it felt heavy to Zel.
