Page 204 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
After a moment more, Kase cleared the emotion from his throat. When had he become so soft? He pulled back and lookedat her. “Then we should probably get into the air soon, though you can’t include me in any sketches. I didn’t do my hair this morning.”
“Only if you swear not to do any mad loops or something else equally terrifying.” She raised an eyebrow. “Been there, done that.”
Kase laughed as he led her to the wing and knelt slightly, clasping his hands and creating a step-up for her to use. She slid her hand onto his shoulder, and even through the thick leather, heat spread at her touch. He wasn’t sure if it was her power or simply the way she looked as she climbed up the wing and into the cockpit. He rather appreciated the way her trousers fit over her hips, as well as the maiden sash accentuating her curves. She threw her satchel into the co-pilot’s seat and turned. When she noticed his glassy gaze, she rolled her eyes.
“If you don’t stop gawking, I’ll draw you like those Wanted posters in every sketch.”
“Well, it’s your fault, really.” Kase pulled himself up onto the wing; Hallie stared at him, utterly deadpan, as he climbed into the cockpit and slid into his seat, smirking. “I’m only human.”
He winked at her, then buckled himself in and performed the final pre-flight procedures, checking the power gauge and the oxygen levels. Muttering under her breath, Hallie took the seat beside him.
Kase looked over at her, lifting his eyebrow. Her soft pink lips tugged down at the corners, cheeks flushed with annoyance. It was a rather adorable scowl, made even more appealing by the fact he was the one who put it there. He resisted the urge to forget all his plans and spend the time kissing her instead. “Does my flirting displease you, my lady? Would you prefer I stop?” He pressed the button to warm up the engine. “My most sincere apologies if—”
The hover interrupted him with a spray of blue liquid from the dash.
“Blech, you stars-ridiculous ship!” That was the second time the thing had doused him.
Hallie roared with laughter. “I guess Merlin doesn’t appreciate your sarcasm.”
He wiped his face with one of the blankets he’d tucked under his seat and laughed along with her. “Merlin?”
“All pets need a name, and this one needs a particularly noble one, seeing as it helped you save us all.”
“Merlin was a wizard, not some dog.”
“A wizard and companion to one of the most famous literary heroes of First Earth.” Hallie patted the dashboard in front of her. The hover hummed in response.
Of course the machine would like her better.
She flashed him a victorious grin. “And as Merlin here has some sort of magical technology, well, it simply makes sense.”
“So does that make me Arthur?”
Hallie thought for a moment. “Perhaps, but that would then make me Guinevere, and I’m not sure I’m okay with that.”
“Feels appropriate to me. You certainly order people around as well as any queen.”
“I feel like I should take offense to that.”
“Well, Merlin and myself would be so grateful if you’d hold off on that and buckle your safety straps, Your Highness,” Kase said, buckling his own.
“Technically, queens are addressed asMajesty.” She clicked herself into her seat and pulled out her sketchpad and pencil.
Kase flipped the switch to turn the machine on completely. The hover purred in response. Maybe it was more like a pet than Kase realized. “Well,Your Most Esteemed and Illustrious Royal Majesty, we’re about to take off, so hold on tight.”
She clutched her sketching supplies in her lap, her nose scrunched and her eyes shut.
“Ready?”
She opened one eye. “No.”
Smirking, Kase pressed lightly on the accelerator and pulled a lever to his left, turning on the hover ability. Cold started in his toes, but he pulled the blanket out and settled it over his legs. The cold stopped for the moment. He ignored his father’s words about his uncle, that the reason this hover was here at all was because of his deadly discovery. Hallie didn’t say anything about it again either. There was a chance she was being polite, though that wasn’t necessarily her style, but more than likely, she probably thought if she pushed too much, she wouldn’t get to study the machine.
He loved her curiosity and scholar’s heart and the way she always found a way to make him laugh.
“So you just pulled that lever.” Hallie leaned forward to look. “That’s not like your old hover at all.”
The night he’d taught Hallie how to fly his hover flashed in his mind. How he wished he could go back to that. Almost. He kind of liked how their story had played out, and despite the hardships they’d encountered, his love ran deeper than he could have ever imagined, the bond between them fire-forged.
