Page 97 of Antiletum

She nodded shakily, her hat catching on porous stone at her back. “Yes. Delaney. And you?”

At this, the boy pushed away from the wall, giving her space. Air suddenly became easier to take in. Or maybe it had been ripped away from her completely. Impossible for her to decipher.

He swallowed. Cleared his throat. “Sebastian,” he supplied, low and quiet. Deep. Right on the cusp of sounding like a man, matching the dark scruff of a beard developing on his neck and chin. Not unpleasant at all.

Hard expression slipping back into place, Sebastian opened his mouth; Delaney sensed a farewell about to spew from it, and right then and there, she decided that simply would not do.

Before he could deliver their severing, she cut him off, dropping their quiet whispers and speaking at normal volume. “Well, Sebastian. It seems I need to thank you for that massive favor.” Delaney smiled at him, wide and full, hopeful that it would mask the nervousness eating through her.

Sebastian frowned slightly. “You don’t owe me. I didn’t really do anything.”

“But of course you did! I don’t get much time away from our estate, and certainly not without a watchful eye.” No sense informing him on the full reasons why. The truth would probably cause him to flee from her vicinity immediately. “You’ve hand delivered me a much needed taste of freedom and brought brightness to my day.”

“You’re saying that I’ve made you happy?”

“Yes, I suppose I am.”

“I’m happy to have been of service.” Just barely, Sebastian’s lips pulled up again. Another teasing threat of a smile.

An explosion of satisfaction fluttered in Delaney’s stomach from that one simple twitch of muscles.

Sebastian was beautiful in a sharp, masculine manner. Absolutely extreme. And beneath his stoic expressions, he looked sad. A melancholy kindred to hers in a way. One that brought forth such a deep, inexplicable urging to blurt out, “I know how you feel,” even if unsure that she did.

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to elicit more of Sebastian’s shy, tentative smiles until they were open and bold and he gave them to her freely.

Hardly recovering herself, Delaney continued. “Besides, I’ve never been to Omnitas before. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you’re familiar with the city?”

“You could say that.”

“Perfect.”

Delaney looped her arm through Sebastian’s, his skin warm and frame slight. Despite his slimness, broad shoulders sat beneath his loose, worn shirt, sleeves pushed beyond his elbows. Delaney wondered what he might look like with a couple months of regular, solid meals and days not spent wandering the streets.

“You can show me around while I think of a way to repay you.”

Sebastian glanced down at their contact as if he discovered some new place and he couldn’t quite believe he had the freedom to explore.

“Unless you’re busy, of course,” Delaney hurried out to fill his silence.Deos, why did her heart beat so very fast?

Sebastian met her gaze again, unsure. “You don’t know me,” he said slowly. “I could be dangerous.”

She scowled at him playfully, batting away the phantom voices of her parents in her head, trying to make her agree. “Obviously I don’t know you. But I think I know enough.”

Delaney might regret it later, giving him her blind trust. But a vexing, powerful instinct told her that Sebastian regarded her safety in his hands. Not to mention she very much craved the company of a friend. This one in particular.

She smiled. “Maybe I’m the one who’s a threat.”

“I have no doubt at all that you could absolutely destroy me.” The way he said it—so sure and honest. Delaney was existing outside of herself, riding the wings of this strange new joy Sebastian was intent on instilling within her.

“I suppose we’ll just have to find out.”

“You would wander around with me? Without knowing a single thing about me at all?”

“I know your name,” she rationalized.

Another twitch of his lips. “The barest minimum, Delaney.”

Her smile answered the teasing of his own, especially at the sound of her name. She thought for a moment, and then asked, “How old are you then?”