Page 68 of The Iron Hex

“Being back here, I can imagine it takes you back to things you wish hadn’t happened,” Eira noted, leaning down and running her fingers over the half-frozen surface of the water, the shards of ice tinkling softly.

“It haunts me,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’ve noticed,” Eira answered, moving her hand to his arm and holding it softly. Suddenly, the cold air around him didn’t exist; he was all warmth and blistering heat. “That sleep potion that first day we were on the run wasn’t to drug you, you know. It was to help you actually sleep. You looked more exhausted than someone should after one night of riding.”

“Eira, I... I hate myself for what I did during my time in the Iron Retinue. I left to find Evangeline and you but... I also left because it was killing me,” Hugo choked out.

“Horrible things will do that to a person,” she mused.

“I just, I really need you to understand that I’m not the person I was when the Iron Empire rose to power anymore,” Hugo said, his hand clasping over Eira’s on his arm, begging her to understand.

“Hugo,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Who you were during the fall of the monarchy doesn’t matter to me. That Eira also doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Until you get your memory back,” Hugo said, not letting go of Eira’s hand.

“No,” Eira said thoughtfully. “I actually think she’s gone—at least, how she was before is. I don’t think there’s any way for me to simply go back to who I was. I’ve had all this time on my own as a free version of me. I think Viscountess Eira is me, and I’m also Eira Eckhart. But more than that, I think someone new will come out when I’m whole again.”

Hugo liked that. He had adored Viscountess Eira, but he felt something more for Eira Eckhart. Something so strong that it made his stomach churn in fear at the thought of losing her. He placed his other hand on Eira’s face, and she smiled. “I can’t wait to see that version of Eira too,” he said.

“I would like to talk about something more fun.” Eira’s smile turned devilish. “I need to know the most devious thing you and I both did when you guarded my family.”

“Together?” Hugo’s eyebrow raised.

Eira’s cheeks flushed before she playfully slapped his arm. “Only if we did something wild together! If not, you must tell me if you caught me doing something stupid, or if you got caught by me!”

The two talked until their fingers were numb, the cold settling in as the night got darker. Hugo wished that the hard part of what they needed to do was already done, so he could exist just like this, forever. He wondered if maybe with Eira he could find peace—if only in the fleeting moments, like now.

34

Eira

Eira had reached her limit for sitting outside in the cold, and as if he could read her mind Hugo had ushered her inside and back into the hallway where their rooms were. His tall frame, bulky and strong, held her hand as they walked down the dimly lit hallway to their rooms.

Hugo stopped outside of her door, both of them silent, knowing Evangeline was on the other side waiting for Eira to come back. But Eira didn’t want to go back in there. Not yet.

“Excuse me,” a woman who had been following them down the hallway said as she tried to get past them as they lingered in the hallway.

“No worries,” Hugo said as he stepped closer to Eira, mere inches between their bodies as he let the woman pass.

Eira’s heart raced as she looked up at him, at his golden skin and dark brown beard, his long hair flicked over his shoulder. She thought of the way he’d held her hand as they’d slunk through the streets of Cilirien, how he’d cradled her face when he’d thought she’d been hurt.

She needed him more than she wanted to admit.

“Hugo,” Eira whispered.

He looked down at her, his eyes on her lips.

“Yes?” he whispered back.

“When we were at the capital, did we ever... ?”

“Ever what?” Hugo asked, his hazel eyes sparkling as one corner of his mouth lifted, the pink scar on his chin moving with it.

Eira bit her lip, and she watched Hugo lick his lips in response. It was one of the hottest things she’d ever seen. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“Did we ever kiss?” Hugo said in a low voice, stepping toward her and closing the already small gap between them. Eira involuntarily took a step back and was suddenly up against the wall beside her door, Hugo’s body gently pressing into hers.

“Yes,” she breathed, barely any noise leaving her mouth.