Page 20

THE HALLWAY INCIDENT

A fter brief detours to drop off both the peaches she’d collected and the ingredients for Dagomir’s Mixture, Gisele tidied her appearance and went to find Malediction.

It didn’t occur to her until she had trekked untold passages, through all the stacks in the library, and up and down the tower where he’d fiddled with the wards yesterday, with no sign of the damn fairy, that he might be avoiding her.

It wasn’t reasonable to be annoyed with him for this, given she’d been doing the same until now, but nonetheless by the time she grudgingly focused on the faint bond-sense to lead her finally to his workshop on the lowest level of the house, she was thoroughly annoyed, mainly by the reminder of their connection.

She slammed open the door, an awareness of his presence flooding the bond. “There you are.”

He glanced up, his hands full of delicate wire, and smiled with unguarded pleasure. A spindle and a pile of straw sat behind him, upon which Zingiber was sleeping, with skeins of gold stacked neatly beside them. Cold panic seized her, and she backed away.

He came out of the room a handful of seconds later, smile no longer in evidence, and found her leaning against the wall in the hallway, taking long, calming breaths.

“I assumed you’d rather I didn’t turn all your supplies to straw,” she said, by way of explanation, her heart beating painfully in her chest. He’d been surrounded by a fortune in gold and other precious metals, but that hadn’t been the whole reason for her reaction.

She felt wounded, somehow, hurt that this man who was the closest thing she had to a nemesis could look happy to see her.

Wounded by the reminder of what he’d done , of bales of straw turned to gold…

His shirtsleeves were rolled up and his collar was undone, exposing freckled skin. He looked… She didn’t want to inspect any of the adjectives that rose to mind too closely, because she refused to be thinking any of them.

“I’ve upset you again, but I’m not sure exactly how. I didn’t even say anything this time,” he observed, entirely and infuriatingly reasonable.

She blew out a breath. “It’s just— Never mind. I’m being silly. It doesn’t matter.”

“I would not characterise you as silly,” he disagreed, searching her face.

She gave him her perfectly bland princess face, not wishing to dig any further into the subject. “What were you doing in there?”

His ears lay unevenly. “Making a brooch. It helps me think. Does the transformation to wood only happen to things that you touch?”

“No,” she said shortly. “There’s a fairy lady in your orchard who smells like apples, did you know?”

He blinked at the abrupt segue. “She shouldn’t have been able to get past the wards.”

Gisele pushed off the wall. “She wasn’t bothered by my presence, and she said the bond between us was turned inwards. Is that true? Can I touch people without harming them now?”

He frowned. “Possibly? There was a release of accumulated energy when we touched for the first time, and the connection between us changed. If that same energy was what was causing the people around you discomfort, it would make sense for that to no longer be the case.”

“Will the curse return if I leave?” she asked.

His body swung towards her, and he slammed his hands against the wall to either side of her, holding himself apart from her with visible effort. His breath curled against her lips, and she could feel the heat of his body, which hovered over but didn’t quite touch hers.

An immature part of her, or possibly just the part of her desperate to be touched, was tempted to see what would happen if she continued to provoke the magic binding them, but sense eventually prevailed.

She put a hand on his bare wrist, the contact making him inhale sharply.

A quiver of emotion went through her, panic and desire and magic.

His eyes were wild, the scent of vanilla strong enough to taste.

“I’m still here; I haven’t left,” she said.

He breathed out carefully, and she had the sense of a veil being drawn, the jumble of sensations cutting off. He stumbled back. “My apologies. You took me by surprise; I’ve got a hold of it now.”

“Will you be compelled to stop me if I do try to leave?” she asked, wondering if the question would make him launch himself at her again.

But although he quivered, his feet stayed firmly planted.

“I won’t let anyone or anything control me again,” he said, and there was steel in his voice.

“You should do as you please.” The tendons in his neck stood out, and his teeth seemed sharper than usual.

Don’t warn me if you do , she could have sworn his eyes silently communicated to her.

Maybe they had communicated, given this strange magic between them. She leaned back against the wall. Whether it had been his thought or hers, it was a good one; she doubted whether his willpower would be sufficient to restrain him if she blatantly set off to leave in front of him.

“Well, I’m not leaving right now in any case, so hopefully that removes the urge to throw yourself at me.” She realised what she’d just said and blushed.

He kept his eyes on the ceiling, but colour striped his cheeks. “As you say, that is a fate best avoided.” He swallowed, and Our Lady, but she couldn’t help fixating on how his throat moved.

Honestly , she gave herself a mental shake.

Stop it! He doesn’t want you, and you don’t even want him, really, if you’re thinking straight.

It’s just the magic and your own touch starvation.

Once you get this mess sorted out between you, you can go and indulge the latter need as much as you like with any number of more sensible candidates.

The thought helped steady her. She blew out a breath. “I am, however, going out temporarily to have a drink with Apfela.”

He quivered, but the caveat seemed to work. It did not, however, prevent him from scowling. “Why?”

“I’m allowed to make friends, aren’t I?”

His ears had gotten all bristly again. “I thought your priority was solving our… problem, not gallivanting off to drink with flirtatious women.”

So he did know Apfela, then. She found it reassuring that he didn’t think she was dangerous.

“Keeping myself sane while I solve it is also a priority, and I think a bit of space would be good for us, don’t you?” She raised a brow at the wall, where faint claw marks were visible in the wood.

His eyes widened, and he lost a little of his colour. “Ah. Of course.”

“Besides, I don’t exactly get the opportunity to go to fairy pubs every day.”

He went utterly still, as if afraid his body would move unexpectedly again if he didn’t focus on holding each muscle in place.

His voice held the same tight control. “If you must do such a thing, I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread the information about my nameless state far and wide while you’re exchanging pleasantries. ”

“I’m not an idiot. Of course I won’t.”

He gave a tight nod and retreated with a dark spike of emotion that she took for irritation. It was only as she left the house that she realised it hadn’t been that at all. It had been envy.