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He didn’t have the decency to even pretend to feel guilty as he took another bite.

“Sit on the swing and I’ll give you one.” He waved one of her cookies in the air while continuing. “Some spells expire, some are faulty, but you can trust this particular magic.”

Lore looked at him again—really looked. She’d seen him as tall, fierce, and too dedicated to his duties for his own good. But,at this moment, holding a bowl of stolen cookies and looking at her in earnest, it seemed he truly wanted her to see the good in magic, as he did.

She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t that she didn’t see the wonder in magic, but it was that she knew, too well, how beautiful having magic could be.

And how ugly it was that she didn’t.

Even so, those cookies were hers and she wasn’t going to let him eat them all.

“Asher, give me my cookies first and then I’ll sit on your beloved swing.” She hummed with moths’ wings again at the feel of his name upon her tongue.

He grinned, expression brightening. It was as if every smile until then had been half-hearted, but now that she’d said his name, they’d doubled in intensity.

Lore’s heart skipped a beat. She wouldn’t—no, couldn’t get used to his beauty. His brown skin, moisturized with fragrant oils, and his sharp cheekbones reflecting a hint of the moon’s light needed to alienate her. That thick, wooly hair and those brown antlers that reached through his topknot and up toward the stars should remind her of their differences, although she couldn’t help but wonder if they were as smooth as they looked. She needed to ignore how his full lips—especially the bottom one that she’d tried not to notice—jutted out into a slight pout when he was deep in thought, waiting for her outside the library. She definitely needed to shy away from his black eyes that always seemed to shift and move, like a midnight storm with flecks of lightning, rutilant with gold.

That was what she needed to do.

Instead, she took the offered cookies, noting that only a few remained, and sat cautiously on the swing, holding her breath. It seemed like it would hold. Slowly, she let her toes lift off the soft moss and reached one hand up, gripping the ancient rope to her right.

Asher moved behind her, placing a hand just above hers on the rope so the side of his hand rested against the edge of her own. She was quickly overwhelmed by the smell of him: blackberries and cedarwood, swirling with the tart lemon and the sweetness of sugar. He placed his other hand on the small of her back, and her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

He can’t hear that, can he?

He pushed gently, as if he knew she was still hesitant to trust the magic.

Lore closed her eyes, tilting her head up just a bit. The breeze felt cool on her flushed face. The moonlight of the autumn equinox, marking the start of their sacred long nights, filtered through the leaves and scattered like sunlight across a lake’s surface behind her eyelids.

When she opened her eyes, she spotted a fox sitting at the edge of the garden wall. Its bright, keen eyes followed her back and forth, back and forth.

Chapter9

The following day, Asher greeted Lore with a smile. Instead of melting into her shadow and walking behind her, he fell into step beside her. Lore hadn’t known which Asher would pick her up for another day in the library. The moody guard who eyed her with suspicion, or the guard who shared his dumplings, who traded secrets for cookies.

“May I ask you a question?”

Lore resisted the urge to say childishly:You just did. “Only if it won’t make me dislike you again.”

Asher frowned. “It shouldn’t. But now I don’t know.”

“Well, nowI’mcurious, so you must ask your question.”

“What made you risk your life? Watching you walk into the library my first day, I almost had to look away. It seemed like a dream to see someone passing through those doors. You didn’t even hesitate.”

Lore smirked. “You didn’t see me the first time I entered the library, that’s why. I was so scared I thought the doors were locked because I kept pulling on them when I needed to push.”

Asher smiled. “But still...?”

Lore thought before she answered. Just because the two were being friendly didn’t mean he had any right to her story. Theypassed a scullery attendant in the hall and Lore averted her gaze, lest she see a sneer on their face.

“One of your lords made a deal with me that I couldn’t refuse.” Literally. “He sent aid to my village in exchange for my... work here in the library.”

“That’s admirable.”

“Well, don’t you risk your life being a soldier? In exchange for your village?”

Asher’s eyes flashed with something dark for a moment. “What I do is not the same.”