Page 30 of ColdIron
The limelight overhead flickered for a second, then stabilized. I kept my face blank, revealing nothing.
Aelindor crossed the room and extended a hand toward me. A peace offering.
I hesitated, studying that outstretched hand—the long, elegant fingers, the quiet steadiness of it. Then I placed my hand in his. The touch sent an electric shock through my arm, down to my toes.
It wasn’t that no man had ever touched me. I’d held hands with Rogue, and it had felt warm and safe. But this was different. This was a living current humming, pulling at something sleeping deep inside me. It made me wonder what it would feel like if he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
Aelindor’s eyes glowed blue, and for one unguarded heartbeat, longing crossed his features—the kind that surprised even its owner. The next heartbeat, he’d smoothed it away, his expression settling back into cool composure. But I’d caught the flash of pleasure before it vanished.
I yanked my hand back despite the protest of my body.
I’d show no weakness. Need was a vulnerability I hadn’t known I carried, and I refused to let it rule me now.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you, sir. Can I go?”
“Of course.” A faint smile touched his lips. “You’re not a prisoner, Max. Not anymore. But where will you go?”
Itrusted him a fraction more than before, but I wasn’t about to hand over everything. My friends and I had decided our destination would be Ashford—a town in Wyoming where neither the White Witch nor the heirs held firm control.
“One of the frontier towns.” I kept it vague.
“You won’t survive out there.” Nikolai leaned against the table, arms crossed. “Not alone. Not in your condition.”
“I’ll take my chances.” I smirked.
“Or you could stay.” He straightened, his voice losing its casual edge.
“Stay, Max.” Caspian stepped forward, earnest. “We’ll help search for your friends, if they’re still in the area. We have resources you don’t. When you’ve regained your strength, you can join the search yourself.” He met my eyes, and my pulse quickened. “How does that sound?”
I bit my lower lip.
Trust was a foreign language I’d never learned to speak. But the smart thing was to stay. Caspian was right—I had no supplies, no allies, no knowledge of the territory beyond the Scorched Wastes. If Desta and Kaid were still out there somewhere, these people had a better chance of finding them than I did, alone and half-starved.
Also, I really wanted another one of those peanut butter sandwiches. I could eat them for every meal.
“Fine,” I said, letting reluctance coat my voice.
“You’ll have to earn your keep, like everyone else!” Drakken’s hard voice cut in from the doorway.
He hadn’t left. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed, shoulders filling the frame. The gold had receded from his eyes, leaving cold gray, but his expression stayed shuttered and hard. He’d composed himself behind that wall of duty and iron control. No heat shimmer. Just a prince guarding his kingdom from what he believed was a threat, even if the other three had overruled him.
I held his stare a beat, then looked away. He was wrong about me. But he wasn’t wrong to protect his territory.
“What are your skills?” Aelindor asked, drawing me back. “I don’t suppose you want to work in a mine. We have a small one near the east border.”
The east border. I’d heard about it—dangerous territory where the DarkVeil split the chasms along what used to be Kansas and Oklahoma. A wall of shadow and warped space nothing could cross. No one knew what had become of the East Coast after the Rupture, or whether New York still stood. The mine near those chasms would be grim.
“No mines,” I said.
Aelindor nodded, as if he’d expected that answer and only asked out of courtesy.
“We have many positions available. Kitchen crew, factory worker, tailor, messenger.”
“There’s a position open in my office.” Nikolaiexamined his nails with studied casualness. “I need a new secretary. I’ve been meaning to fire Tiffiny for a while.”
“Does Max look like a desk type to you?” Caspian rolled his eyes.
“I’m willing to take a chance on him.” The look Nikolai gave me grew hungrier. “I’ll have him trained.”
