Page 22 of Moonlight Hearts

In his unblinking eyes, there was a plea for me to believe him.I did.Perhaps it was the magic that had called for another firebird to build a home on my skin, perhaps it was my imagination, but regardless, I knew somewhere deep in my heart or mind, deep in my blood, that Soyer had given himself to me.That with or without the ring on my finger, we were a pair.

“All right.”I paused until I saw him relax and blink again, then said, “Did you keep count of the people you dated?”

He raised a brow and opened his mouth.Then closed it.“Feisty after all the cocktails, aren’t you.How about you, Amory?Any crushes you hoped would turn into more?”

I let my head fall back so I could look up at the ceiling high above us.“Not really.Nothing that was ever more than me noticing a person was good-looking.Hey, that widow you mentioned, the one you almost married.Who was she?”

“Just a rich aristocrat with about as much money as curiosity.A good conversationalist.More opinions than sand in the desert, which I liked and her contemporaries loathed.”There was a pause, and I looked over at him.He had a faraway look in his eyes.“You’d have liked her.She was fun.She’d quote Homer in one breath, then tell a dirty joke in the next.”

I cocked my head.“You liked that widow.”

He shrugged.“She was fun.That means for most of our interactions, she didn’t bore me to tears or outright annoy me.I wouldn’t necessarily say I liked her.”

My Soyer.Sometimes he wasn’t telling the truth, only I wasn’t sure if he even realized when it was happening.“I’d have liked to meet her.”

He chuckled.“Oh, she’d have eaten you alive.Imagine Elias, but with the absolutely ruthless and conniving mind of a master chess player.”

“I think you’re trying to compliment her.”

He gave me a flat look.“Seems like her ghost is speaking through you to put me in my place.Fine.She was a fine conniving mastermind.Happy?”

“I’m just glad you met some cool people before me, you know?But I’m also glad you didn’t marry her.”

He clicked his tongue.“How the fuck did we get here, hmm, Amory?I asked if you were happy.”

I finished the last of the bread roll.“I’m happy knowing you had friends.”

“Conjecture.”

I chuckled.“Hey, I think I should’ve asked this right after I burned, but how many are there?How many people like us?”

Soyer’s mouth thinned.“Exactly one each.There is no one who bears a curse quite like mine, and you are the only pawn to have been created by this curse.”

“Yes, but…people who can’t die.I know Elias, Simeon, and Valentin are vampires.And you said Vico can’t die either.Are there a lot of immortal supernaturals running around?Do you know them all?”

He narrowed his eyes.“What, now you want me to tell you about our secret society?”

“You’re making fun of me, but wouldn’t that be cool?A group of people messing with history because they’re immortal and powerful and have nothing better to do.”

He rolled his eyes.“That sounds extraordinarily boring, but if you’d like to try something like that, I’ll bake the coffee cake for your meetings.”

“So nothing like that exists?”

“No, but there are people you’ll keep running into.Like Elias.”

I sighed.“I have to let him take photos of me.”

“If he says so.”

I thought about that—not the photos, which just made me feel awkward, but the idea that we’d know each other for…well, forever.I wondered how long Elias would try to get me to give him a chocolate milkshake.And I wondered if anything would ever change between me and Soyer.If he would ever wake up one morning, look at me, and realize he couldn’t stand me anymore.

It hurt, thinking that.Soyer was perhaps the kindest person I’d ever met.He’d given me so much—love, confidence, trust—and I didn’t want to turn into someone he couldn’t love anymore, not ever.

At the same time, the feeling that came over me, or tried to, when I did think like that was like being back in that cold room in the witch’s house.That was how I knew the doubt was a remnant of whatever magic the witch had done to me.It made it easier, knowing that.Made it easier to trust in us.

“Worrier.If you keep doing that, you’ll get wrinkles.”He brushed his fingers over my forehead, the gesture as tender as his voice.“How about we go upstairs?It was a long day.”

“Hmm.Do you want—”