Page 38 of Winds of Ruin
He scoffed. “Youran intome.”
I chuckled, and he threw one hand over my mouth, leading me into the barn with his other hand.
“Shh!” he whispered. “You’ll get us caught.”
Once inside, the sweet scent of hay and grains filled my nostrils—along with other less desirable scents, courtesy of Sparkle’s’ healthy appetite.
Poking my head over a stall, I found Mayra curled up, snuggled into a pile of hay, fast asleep. The horses made faint nickering noises from their stalls, and my pony sulked in a corner by an empty grain bucket. At least she’d stopped trying to boss the Griffith chick around through their stalls.
In the dim lamplight of the barn, I faced Dritan. His dark curls were in disarray, and his blue eyes snagged on the book. “What do you have there?”
I’d found theperfectcombination of unbinding and binding curses. Aunt Asterie might think the risk too great, but she had to be wrong.
It would work beautifully. Once we unbound the Death Origin from the King, we could imprison him elsewhere. Then, we’d be able to break the Sethe curse and save my aunt years of moping about the estate alone.
Barely able to contain my excitement, I turned the tome’s cover toward him. “I have here a way we can separate Caym from your father. For good!”
Chapter 16
Elsedora
Knock. Knock. Knock.The rapping jolted me awake. I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour.
When I opened the door, Angeline’s silver hair and warm smile greeted me. She held up a bottle of wine. “I come with an apology offering.”
“Angie.” My drowsiness gave way to surprise. “I didn’t expect you.”
“I couldn’t find you in Luz today to tell you, but the palace baker was unwell. I covered dinner tonight. My apologies, dear, for being so late.”
I suspected Angeline missed her role as head baker. She itched to be in that kitchen. Em hated it and encouraged her to relax more and work less.
“You came all this way at night, alone?”
Angeline waved away my concern. “Well, I would have. But Emmerick insisted yesterday that Leo bring me. We didn’t want to startle you, so we Egressed into Belray and took a carriageover together. He’ll wait for me in town, since I can use your Egress later.”
“He could have just used the Egress, too. You both didn’t need to go out of your way.”
“There’s a little place in Belray, Shantey’s Pub, that Leo will make any excuse to drop by. He isn’t out of his way, trust me.” She chuckled. “Plus, Emmerick asked me to, and he never asks for favors. Not that I needed the reminder.”
Heat burned behind my eyes. I hadn’t realized how much I needed her here. Mention of her son dug a different sort of pit in my stomach.
I wondered if she shared similar hopes for his future. Would she bake birthday shortbread for her grandchildren and teach them all of her recipes?
“Have I intruded?” she asked.
“No, no. I’m happy to see you. Come on into the parlor.”
Angeline took off her cloak, and I hung it on a hook by the front door. “Be grateful your bones don’t grow old, Elsedora. Even the faintest chill becomes an assault on your will to move. I dread the winter more each year.”
Taking her arm in the crook of mine, I led her to the fireplace and helped her into the closest wingback chair.
“He was worried about you, you know? Didn’t want you to be alone today.”
Emmerick’s promise cracked at my resolve to keep my affection for him close to heart.“I will never let you face this week alone again.”
I uncorked the wine and poured us each four fingers of it. On nights like this, there was no use in pretending to strive for moderation.
After handing her a glass, I sat in the chair opposite hers. “I have Lark here for the summer. And your son would do well to stay out of my business,” I teased.
