Page 42 of Dragon Kissed
“My brother may have left us a trail.” Hope was worse than grief; Nica watched it enter Lirien’s eyes and understood why she wanted to stop him — because hope could be taken again, and grief at least had stopped moving. “I must know,” Caelen said. Lirien nodded, and they left together. Always together.
Nica watched them go. “You knew,” she said.
“That Caelen had a missing brother? Yes. That the photograph might be him? No.But I recognized the markings. They identify the Aldrith line.”
“Elves.” The word escaped her before she could stop it, and Demetri’s expression changed. Not much. Enough. Nica’s heartbeat accelerated. “Those aren’t tattoos. Are they?” He said nothing. “Demetri.”
“I cannot answer.”
Anger flashed hot through her. “Because of the law.”
“Yes.”
She laughed once, harshly. “This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“You agree?”
“Completely.” Nica pushed away from the desk and walked to the windows, the fog pressing pale against the glass, the world beyond it erased down to gray. She felt him behind her. Not touching. Waiting, with that particular patience of his that felt less like distance than like a held breath. “Everyone in this house knows what’s happening except me.”
“That is true.”
“And no one thinks that’s cruel?”
“I do.” She turned. “I think every moment I remain silent is cruel. I also know that speaking before I am permitted would place you in greater danger.”
Nica folded her arms. “You said you’d give me every answer you legally could. Then answer something else.” He waited. “What language were Caelen and Lirien speaking?”
“Elvish.” The word came softly. Real. Not folklore. “Caelen is an elf?”
Demetri said nothing. He did not need to.
“Oh my God.”
“Nica.”
“No.Don’tNicame.” She rubbed both hands over her face. “There are elves in your house.”
“Yes.”
“Lirien too? They’re married?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Demetri hesitated. “Twelve hundred years.”
Twelve hundred? What?Nica sat down; her legs had decided the matter without consulting her. “One thousand two hundred years?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not possible.”
“No.”
“But it’s true?”
