Page 40 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
His sharp eyes snap to me when I say nothing. “I know you don’t wish for it, but this war is happening, Nel. It’s all I hear in my travels.”
My heart tightens to a knot.
“I know that,” I say quietly.
Svenn shifts his position to look at me better. “But don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”
Sweetheart?
His nicknames always make me feel weightless. But his tactical plan earlier worries me. I don’t want him to get himself hurt over me. “You don’t have to do anything for me, Svenn.”
“I want to,” he says, steady and certain. “I want you to know you can rely on me. Just talk to me. Tell me things again. Send me some kind of a fucking signal if you’re going to explore the sewers in the dead of night to chase after rats.”
His eyes roam over me, unravelling the knot in my heart. “I want you to trust me again.”
“All right,” I say, dragging in a shaky breath under that stare. “But trust goes both ways. You can’t keep secrets from me either.”
He flicks up an eyebrow. “Secrets? I don’t have any—”
His sudden pause makes me curious.
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” I offer.
“Deal,” he says all too quickly. “Your knight, Red. He’s keeping something from you.”
I stare at him with a look of surprise. “Garrett trusted you with a secret?”
“I found out on my own. But he told me to keep it,” he says, averting his eyes from me.
I’ve always known that Garrett is a little different from my other two knights. He trails along the gray lines of right and wrong. A Valorian Commander who once worked in service of the Aeonian.
Bile teases the back of my throat at the thought of my knight betraying me. No, his loyalty was never in question. Whatever this is, it’s something else…
I take a long, calculated breath. “This thing he is keeping from me… what do you think of it?”
“I approve it,” Svenn answers curtly. “You wouldn’t like it, though. That’s why I’m telling you.”
His words sear into my heart like a dagger. But I know Garrett would never do anything to hurt me. Neither would Svenn.
“He will tell me someday.” I finally decide.
A spark of amusement flashes in his eyes as he looks at me again.
“I don’t want to damage your friendship with him,” I add.
Svenn visibly cringes—scowling at my words.
Laughter bubbles from me at that face. “You need friends.”
He scoffs. “I only need you.”
My heart flutters like a songbird in a cage over those simple words. “You haven’t shared your own secret with me. Garrett’s doesn’t count. Tell me something about you.”
His gaze falls on the Rhunhraefn marking on my belly. “All my secrets, everything in my past, is open for you to see. You have my blessing to visit them.”
I make a face and pout. “Then tell me what you’re thinking right now.”
A dark chuckle fills the air. “I’d hate for you to run away, little fawn.”
