Page 34 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

A pril in Emrys was typically our last month in Fox Haven before the season. It meant flowers, afternoons with short windows of rain, and rides on Pellix in the sunshine that followed.

In the Ether, it arrived around the time Orion’s leg had healed enough to return to our search.

We were back in the Meadow again, checking several clusters of older Shades.

Orion walked with a wooden cane that he’d fashioned himself.

I worried that his leg wasn’t healing quite as it should, but given the amount of blood that had poured out of the wound, I was thankful it hadn’t been worse.

Ry’s movements were stiff, and part of me suspected he’d insisted on checking the Meadow again because he wasn’t quite ready for the rougher terrain in the woods.

We’d give the Meadow another week and then resume our search among the trees, assuming he felt up for it.

For the time being, I carried blankets with us so we could sleep at the edge of the forest and Orion wouldn’t have to walk back and forth to the Meadow each day. We’d continued sleeping next to each other, although still on separate cots, and twice now we’d woken up with our hands clasped together.

There had also been several additional, passionate moments of kissing, but it had yet to progress further.

“Thank you,” I offered to the Shade I’d just finished speaking to. He’d only said a few words, but it felt right to show appreciation.

Another day full of strange faces and conversations that hardly ever made it past a turn or two.

“Bollocksing, bloody, blasted ghosts!” I kicked at the grass.

I’d been in the Ether all the way into spring, and I was ready to see some progress. I took a deep breath and walked toward Orion, calming myself down with each step. He was feverishly writing, with his leg propped up.

“Storytelling?”

I knew he’d started a new book, although he’d refused to let me set eyes on it quite yet.

“Not today,” he responded without looking up.

“Drawing up plans. I’m mapping out the rest of the Ether and how we can cover the different sections.

I know you don’t really anticipate finding him in the Meadow at this point.

You’re just humoring me and my leg. This way, at least I can feel like I’m doing something useful. ”

I looked down at the map. The canyon from our great bear chase was marked on it, along with the Meadow, and the place where I’d entered the Ether. He had several additional landmarks described in the forest, including a known slycat den.

West of the Meadow he’d crossed out a large portion of the map and written Charon’s . It was too large to all be his home, but Orion had given the deity a wide berth.

“You’re sure we can’t go there?” I asked him as he added some details to the area bordering Charon’s section .

“I would highly advise against it. The rest of the Ether could take us months. But”—I held my breath—“if we get close to the hour and see no sign of your father anywhere else, we’ll have to figure something out.

Although I warn you, Charon wouldn't be happy about finding us near his home. We’ll have to be very careful, and very stealthy. ”

“Sneaking and stealth is something I can definitely do. I know he’s a real danger, but the way you describe him he also sounds annoying. Worse than any member of the nobility I’ve ever met.”

Orion looked up at me, the grey in his eyes stronger today than the blue.

“Too true. By the way you talk about it, I’m guessing there are still some very pompous individuals running around during the season.”

“And the rest of the year. Ry, what were you like before you got down here? I know you liked to travel, and you were a protective brother. But what about as a duke? Were you a stuffy sort of lord?” I asked.

“Stuffy?”

“Yes, you know, were you someone concerned with your appearance? Someone who would have blanched or held his handkerchief over his mouth at the sight of something ghastly, like a woman whose dress showed her ankles. That sort of thing?”

Instead of laughing at me, Orion tilted his head, musing over his answer.

“I would have noticed something like that, if I’m being honest. I wouldn’t have minded, and I’d have thought those making a fuss were being a bit ridiculous, but I would have noticed.”

“Because you’re so attuned to details? ”

“Honestly, I was a bit removed when I was Duke Holmes. I cared a lot less about the season, and the gossip, than I did about my own properties and the people close to me. I was consumed with making sure our estate was a success and that everyone who relied on me was taken care of. It’s a lot of responsibility, having so many people look to you, and I didn’t want to let anyone down.

My father passed away when he was still fairly young.

I was the youngest duke the house of Holmes had ever seen. I tried to rise to the title.”

“You looked after everyone else, just as you did your brothers.”

“I tried. It’s part of why I was so certain our staff had nothing to do with what was going on, at least not purposefully. I knew everyone who worked for us and with us very well.”

“My father always said that to be a good leader, one must serve others,” I said.

“I think I shall like him quite a bit. We’ll have a lot to talk about, assuming he doesn’t challenge me to a duel for the way the two of us have been living down here.”

Orion raised one brow, smirking at me.

I just laughed, and when Orion winked at me I dissolved into a full-on fit of giggles.

I’d already explained my father to Orion, telling him almost as much about the head of Scops as myself. Orion was well aware that Father would be only too thankful to anyone who helped rescue him and keep his daughter safe, regardless of the means.

“Even my brothers will be won over by you,” I promised him.

Ambrose might not be, but the longer I stayed here, the less I cared. Didn’t I also deserve to be happy? Was I really willing to fall back in line once I returned to Emrys, simply because it was expected?

Orion moved even closer.

“I doubt that. Not when I’ve spent a good portion of your time here with my lips on your neck.”

I gasped as he leaned in, his breath teasing that sensitive spot at the curve of my neck.

“Ry,” I breathed.

His arms went around me, and I leaned into him.

“Starlight,” he whispered, his breath sending pleasant shivers down my spine. “When we do get back, will you travel with me? Seeing Shades from all over Rayus isn’t enough. I want to take you to Mejje, Tang, Sez, anywhere you’d like to go.”

“Like the pirate in your books?”

“If that’s what you want.” He trailed kisses down to my collarbone, then gazed at me with a look that was almost reverent.

“Everything down here was dull and lifeless until you arrived. You breathed life into me again. I want you to have the things you dream about as well; the things we both dreamed about before we came here.”

It wasn’t exactly a proposal, not in the marriage sense, but it was a commitment. He wanted to stay with me.

“We’d make a ghastly scene,” I warned him.

He just laughed.

“Oh, I haven’t been gone so long that I’ve forgotten that. Let them all talk. We’ve seen and experienced things that most people in Emrys wouldn’t believe, even knowing about the hour.”

It was harder and harder to imagine that I would let a bunch of prideful nobles’ opinions cow me, after this place.

“There’s no one I’d rather see the world with,” I told him truthfully .

He smiled, leaning back in to kiss me again.

His tongue was sliding across mine when I saw a bright flash, even from behind my closed eyelids.

Lightning struck the ground in front of us, and we leapt apart.