Page 35 of Fate Unchained

“Nonsense.” A line appeared between her brows. She took his hand again, and he had to stifle a purr. Her damn hand was making him purr now.

Lilah led him to the small pool at the back of the cave. Overhead, the light drifting in from the skylight cast enough of a glow that the cave was fully visible. She grabbed a fur steeped in both of their scents and dipped a corner into the pool. “I’m destroying all of your sleeping skins.” She put the dampened cloth on the burn on his shoulder.

He flinched again, but the water cooled his skin, and the burning lessened. “The storm’s died out, so we don’t need them. Unless,” he raised a brow, “you’ve grown attached to the cave and want to move in.”

She rolled her eyes. “No. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

He frowned. A shade had just barged in on them, so he wasn’t keen on spending another minute in here either, but she was acting like her time with him was terrible when he’d had her in ecstasy under his tongue earlier. She acted like the experience had never happened, speaking to him like a school marm and keeping her distance all day.

She’d said she only needed to touch him once. Maybe that was true.

They were silent for a long moment as she continued to dab water on wounds that didn’t need healing. But he liked it anyway. “Your page,” he gestured toward her jacket where she’d tucked the page from the grimoire, “it smelled of spawn.”

Her mouth dropped open. “It did? What does that mean?”

“A spawn held it. A creature from the underworld, like that shade, but I can’t think of a single one who would care about a book or runes. What did this Boris look like?”

Her brow wrinkled. “He looked like a large human. But he did have an odd smell. I only smelled it when he got really close to me.”

Kyril left the water and paced into the center of the cave. “I know some bauk who were enchanted to look like humans, but they were helped by someone powerful, and he’s dead.”

“Boris lives in Eroica, not the underworld. And he’s lived there for a decade, maybe.”

Kyril shook his head. “No enchantment would last that long. When he gave the page to you, did he mention anything about where it came from? Did he say anything about it being from a grimoire?”

She inhaled sharply. “You think this page is from a grimoire? Really? That would be really dangerous.”

He nodded. “I’m certain it is. This grimoire was created by an incredibly powerful sorcerer, and Hoyt had it before he died. In the wrong hands, it is dangerous. We need to get it back.”

She raised a brow. “You weren’t going to mention this when I told you about the page earlier?”

He shrugged. “You hadn’t killed a shade then.”

She scoffed, but her lips twitched.

He glanced up at the ceiling. No snow fell through the opening. “The storm’s over. Time to head into town.”

14

Lilah stepped out of the cave. The suns were low in the sky, but the remaining rosy light reflected off the waves of white snow coating the forest. The past two days in the cave seemed like a weird dream, and now she was reemerging into reality. A thump sounded to her left, and she jumped, but it was only a large clump of snow falling from the branches of a huge pine. The snow rose above her knees, forcing her to wade through it.

Kyril walked around her into the snow, easily, of course, and took a few steps. He pointed at the footprints he left behind. “I can make a path, and you can follow.” He eyed her. “Or I can carry you.”

He already had a pack slung on his back; he didn’t need to carry her too. She shook her head. “I can do it.”

He sighed, and in one swoop, slung her over his shoulder. She squealed. “Put me down! I said I can walk. I’m not a sack of potatoes!”

“You’ll slow me down.” He trudged forward.

“This is hardly the proper way to carry someone.” But it was tough to act dignified while dangling over his shoulder, clinging awkwardly to his pack.

He growled and shifted her so she now lay cradled against his chest. “Fine. Hold on to my neck. Tight.”

“I’m too heavy, I’ll walk.”

He growled much louder this time. “Yes, you’re quite a lump, aren’t you?”

She spluttered. “A lump!”

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