You have to make your peace with Kaden, and he with you. You are not on opposite sides anymore. Do you understand?

Somewhere beyond all that, on an unseeable horizon, was Morrighan and all the people who lived there, going about their lives, unaware. My brothers. Pauline. Berdi. Gwyneth. And more patrols like Walther's who would meet their deaths, as unaware as I had once been. I want to go with you. Where I was going was no place for Natiya. It was hardly a place for me.

If I had been shipped off to Dalbreck, there are valuable things I never would have learned.

I do want tomorrows with you, Jase. I want a lifetime of tomorrows.

It was our story. It didn't have to have a happy beginning or a happy ending, but the middle was a feast at a banquet, a rich soapy bath, a night's rest at an inn and full stomach, a warm chest nestled up against my back, the soft heat of lips at my nape, stories whispered in my ear.

My breaths shuddered, still hot in my chest. I knew I had made a big mistake, but it was a glorious one, and I wanted to make it over and over again. But there was something in his eyes, something genuine and earnest and true that made me pause. This was more than just making the best of it, this was something taking root, a seed being planted. But it was a seed that couldn't be planted.

My head spun, but in a way that wanted to sink into, to drown in the warmth of it. I was falling into a vast dark sky and I didn't care. I wanted to disappear into it. I wanted more. Our tongues explored, soft, warm, and then he pulled away, his eyes searching mine, wondering, asking. Should he stop?No, I thought. No. Don't stop.His gaze held, waiting, as if he needed to hear me say it aloud.

The seed of the gift may come, but a seedling that isn't nourished dies quickly.

Every exchange of words between Jase and me seemed like a dance, a step forward, a step back, circling, both of us leading, anticipating, wondering what the next move would be. He didn’t trust me any more than I trusted him.