Page 15 of Blossoms and Bloodlines
And okay,okay. He was gorgeous.
Ash blond hair so pale it gleamed silver in the fading light pulled back in thin tresses that left those pointed ears in full view. Eyes bluer than a glacier with a flicker of violet hiding in their depths like some kind of secret. His lean and strong body, too graceful to be fair, moved with the easy precision of someone who’d been trained in everything from swordplay to diplomacy to how to make a casual lean against a fence look like a declaration of divine right.
He wasn’t eye candy. Candy was too basic. He was the cake you see behind glass at fancy patisseries, coated in glossy ganache, decorated with gold leaf and red gooseberries. But then you take a bite, and it’s surprisingly grounded. Real. Not overly sweet but rich and scrumptious. It hit differently.
And that made herwary.
Because it didn’t line up with what she thought she knew about him. At all.
He rose, stretching slightly as he took in the result of the day’s work. “I guess we got you all caught up.”
“I am,” she said, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “Thank you. Seriously.”
Shadows lay long over the grass, deepening the green. At the edges of the sky, purple bruised the darkening blue. The first stars blinked into view. “I’ll be in town for a couple of weeks longer,” he said, hands shoved in his pockets, voice unexpectedly unsure. “I had vacation days I had to use. I figured I could spend them here. I haven’t been to Diamond Lake in years, and it’s spectacular this time of year.”
Beth tilted her head, catching the shift in him. He looked almost self-conscious, like he didn’t quite know what to do with his hands or his words. His gaze was too focused on the horizon. “How about we go together?” he added. “Some incline, but it’s an easy hike. Three to four hours, tops.”
Beth blinked. She’d heard the words. Understood each one. And yet, her brain refused to translate them into anything reasonable. “I wouldn’t necessarily trust your idea of ‘easy,’ considering you’re an elf,” she said slowly. “But yes, I know the trail. It’s beautiful. Is anyone else coming? Other humans? Maybe an out-of-shape magik or two?”
“No,” he said simply. “Just you and I.”
Oh.
Oh?
Ohhhhhh.
There was no way to misinterpret that, and no logical reason for it, either. Her brow furrowed. “But... why?”
He blinked, confused. “What do you mean, why? This is one of the best afternoons I’ve had in a long time. I enjoy spending time with you, and I’d like to do it again. What’s crazy about that?”
Where did she start?
They’d never shared more than clipped greetings and passive-aggressive glances before today. He’d flat-out insultedher. And Bryn. That story still sat like grit under her skin. “Well,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “everything is crazy about that.”
His beautiful mouth tightened. “Name one.”
One? She had ten. Without trying. But she went with the obvious, the one that summed up the entire ridiculousness of this interaction. “I’m human,” she said bluntly. “And you’re basically a prince.”
His jaw set, and that noble chin rose. Instantly, he became a High Elf again—regal, rigid, and very pissed off. “And?”
“And elves like you don’t mix with, well, anyone else.”
He paused. The look he gave her wasn’t angry or even amused. Just hard and cold with something deeper beneath it. “You should start forming your opinions based on first-hand knowledge,” he said, “not rumors.”
She flinched, because there it was. The crack. The elephant in the room they had managed to keep hidden for the afternoon. “It’s not a rumor,” she said, voice sharp. “It’s from the person who went through the heartbreak.”
His nostrils flared. “His heart wasn’t the part of his body involved,” he said flatly. “I can assure you of that.”
“So you don’t deny it? You broke them apart because she was High Family and he wasn’t.”
“I don’t deny doing what I was expected to do,” he said, voice low and tight. “What honor and justice demanded.”
Her temper flared like a match to dry straw. “Honor?” she snapped. “You mean the kind of thing that keeps power in the hands of the already powerful? That’s not honor. That’s just a convenient excuse to dictate other people’s lives and feel okay about it.”
His head snapped back like she’d struck him. Pain, sharp and raw, flickered across his face before he shut it down. He swallowed. “I see,” he said, voice quiet. He stepped back. Hishands were no longer in his pockets but clenched at his sides. “Have a good evening, Beth.”
He turned and walked away.
