Shadowstorm (Sorcery and Science Book 6) (14 page)

His eyebrows slid up. “Making your sword glow?”

“Ha-ha. No, not that. Though that
is
a handy trick. I’m surprised no one else does it.”

“Maybe they have a hard time getting their heads around the idea of coating their swords in a dust almost exclusively used to give your nether regions warm tinglies while bathing. One use is professional, the other recreational.”

“To some people, fighting is recreational,” she pointed out.

“Most of those people are Phantoms, so they don’t count.”

That was Davin logic for you.

“But all jokes aside,” he said. “I’m glad I got to see one of those famous Zephyr sunsets. And that it was with you.”

Ariella hardly heard his last sentence. “Famous Zephyr sunsets,” she echoed her mother’s words. “Of all the sneaky, devious, manipulative…”

Davin leaned in, his eyes curious. She’d pined for him for years, longing to be with him, and it had taken her
mother
sending them to a canyon of lust-inducing rocks to make it happen. She would never live this down. Never ever. She didn’t see how she could even look either of her parents in the eye anymore. Forget love rocks; she could really use an invisibility rock to hide under right about now.

“You’re upset,” Davin said.

“More like mortified. They planned this, Davin. My parents sent us here because they know how I feel about you—and of the enchantment the rocks hold. They wanted this to happen.”

He shrugged. “So what.”

“So what?”

“Yes, so what. All that matters is what we wanted to happen. For weeks, I’ve been planning to talk to you, but I didn’t have the nerve to do it. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I was avoiding you.”

So that’s why they hadn’t been alone since…she couldn’t even remember how long. Though he had sent her a box of chocolates on her birthday last week. She hadn’t been sure how to take that.

“When I received the message from your parents this morning, I knew you had to be the one to show me here. And I knew this was my chance to finally tell you how I feel. The whole time we were walking, I was thinking about what I’d say to you.”

“That explains why you were such a dull traveling companion.”

His smile wilted. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I…I don’t know why I teased you like that.”

His smile returned, twice as bright as before and radiating happy satisfaction. “Because you’re starting to realize that you can’t scare me off. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Even when we leave this place and its magic rocks?”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. His face was serious—not enchanting, not playful. Serious. More serious, in fact, than she’d ever seen it.

“Ariella, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. You know how Elition bonds work. Once forged, they run deep. The rocks may have helped move things along, but they couldn’t create something that wasn’t there in the first place. Enchantment is superficial. It’s on the surface, pretending but never being. It’s not real. Trust me, I know.” He laced his fingers with hers. “What we have…it’s deep. It’s raw. Magic strengthens it, but it cannot imitate it. I feel our bond in my bones, in my blood, in my magic.” He pressed her hand against his chest, and his hand to hers. “Do you feel it?”

Did she feel it? The magic that linked them was a taut band, crackling with as much power as a magic sword. Yes, she felt their bond. She felt it so strongly that she didn’t want to let him go. Not ever.

“Yes,” she said softly.

“You’re mine, and I’m yours. For as long as you can stand me.” He brushed away the tear on her cheek. “That’s what I should have said but could never think of before. Even those long hours on the trail yesterday were inadequate to the task of divulging feelings that go back years. So whatever deviousness you believe your parents to be guilty of, the fact remains that I will forever be in their debt for bringing us here. I’ll have to remember to thank them when they arrive.”

“Don’t. You. Even. Dare,” she choked out.

“Kidding.” He chuckled. “Mostly.”

She tossed a pillow at his head, but he caught it before it slammed into his face, soft down fluffiness and all. He looked at the pillow, but he wasn’t seeing it. His eyes, intense and thoughtful, stared right through it.

“I need to find Terra,” Davin said after a long silence. He handed the pillow back to Ariella. “She deserves an apology from me for what I’ve done.”

“For the marriage?”

He rolled his jaw around, chewing on the idea. “Lord Adrian had her. That, combined with the newfound knowledge of who she really is, sent me into a panic. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he exploited her for her power. I had to get her out of that cell. So I made the deal with Aaron. In retrospect, I might have jumped too quickly to extreme measures. But everything I did, I did to protect her.”

Ariella set her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “She knows that.”

“I hope you’re right.” Guilt saturated his eyes. “The marriage is only part of it, and in some ways it’s the lesser evil. I need to apologize to her for my behavior toward her.”

For making a pass or two at her, he meant.

“I didn’t know she was my sister. From the moment we met again at Rosewater, after so many years that I didn’t recognize her, something was drawing me toward her. Like we were connected somehow. I thought it was love, and it was. But not of the romantic sort.”

He paused, but Ariella just waited. She’d been wondering about this for months. And she was glad she hadn’t been the one to bring it up.
Hey, Davin, why were you hitting on your sister? What was that all about?
Awkward didn’t even begin to describe it.

“What I mistook for attraction was merely familiarity. Her presence must have reminded me—however subconsciously—of happier days. Of that time back when we were a family, and we were all alive.”

His voice shook. His eyes were heavy with unshed tears for his mother. Ariella took his hand, stroking his palm in slow, even circles.

“When Aaron told me that she was my sister, I threw up the entire contents of my breakfast. Right in front of him.”

Elitions didn’t typically vomit, courtesy of their accelerated healing. It took a very powerful emotion—or the stench of something like a rotting corpse—to make it happen.

“Sick as I felt then and there, the conflicting feelings I’d been having finally made sense. I knew I cared about you.
Really
cared about you. But then why was I feeling drawn to her? Why did I feel like kissing her would bring back all that I had lost?” He punched the mattress. “I can’t believe I tried to kiss my own sister. That’s just so…so revolting.”

Watching him drown in regret and disgust like that—his beautiful face contorted in misery—it felt as though someone were squeezing her heart into a slop of bloody mush.

“If it makes you feel any better, I actually kissed her.”

“How would that make me feel…” A light went off in his eyes, drawing him out of his own anguish. His voice lifted in surprise, “You did what?”

“I kissed her. One of our classmates dared us to kiss, and we did. He nearly fell over in surprise.”

“I’m sure he did.”

Ariella shrugged, which wasn’t an easy feat with all her weight braced against one arm. “It was nothing more than a quick peck on the lips. And that boy was anyway a moron.”

He laughed. “I don’t know why, but that actually did cheer me up.”

“I aim to please. I and my irrelevant anecdotes.”

Davin kissed her. “I’m glad I found out about Terra. The image of acid-slathered, regurgitated blueberry muffin bits will be forever burned into my memory, but I’m glad nonetheless.” His second kiss was longer, deeper. “Because it brought me to where I should have been all along: with you.”

“Not conflicted anymore?”

“Never again. I know how I feel, and I know what I want,” he said, his lips so close, so tempting, that she could hardly resist the urge to give them a nip.

Resistance was overrated. As they collided in an explosion of impatient kisses, she clawed at his back, pulling him closer. But he couldn’t be any closer, not without…

“Ariella, what are you doing to me?” he moaned.

She did it again, just because she could. And because she just couldn’t resist.

“I love you,” he muttered, his breathing heavy.

“I believe you. You don’t look drunk on magic now.”

“Not on magic.” His hand cupped her cheek, and he stared into her eyes. “On you.”

His hands worked down her body, reviving memories of last night.

“Davin?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you too.”

A grin spread across his face, confident and self-satisfied. “Of course you do.” The grin spread wider. “I bring you chocolate.”

Laughter intercepted her kiss, and she fell onto her back. Davin rolled on top of her, his lips tracing a fiery line up her neck.

“Ariella,” he whispered into her ear, his breath sliding across her skin. “Don’t be alarmed, but your parents have just arrived downstairs.”

Her sudden upward flight knocked him over backwards. He turned the fall into a roll and slid down the other side of the bed, landing neatly on his feet.

“What do we do?” Ariella muttered, panic staining her voice.

“Getting dressed would be a good start.”

He stood there, his bare skin aglow in the halo of the morning light, looking down at her without a shred of modesty. She jumped up and began to scour the dusty wood floor panels. One by one, she gathered up articles of overboard clothing, tossing them either over her shoulder or at him. When she had a complete outfit, she scrambled to get everything on. Smoothing out the wrinkles, she turned to Davin, only to find him still shirtless. He was wearing everything else—just not his shirt.

“I think it’s still downstairs,” he said.

How could he be so calm? How? How?

“I carried your shirt up last night. I guess you don’t care enough about me to do the same.”

Ariella gawked at him. Yes, gawked. Her jaw might have dropped too.

“Kidding.” He set his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “It’s fine. I’m not squeamish about going around without my shirt on.”

“But my parents—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them. They won’t even notice.”

He took her hand, leading her out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

~
The Proposal ~

527AX January 11, Resonance Canyon

HER PARENTS DID, in fact, notice that Davin wasn’t wearing a shirt—at least if the amused sparks in their eyes were any indication. If there had ever been any doubt as to their intentions in sending Ariella to Resonance Canyon with Davin, it dissolved the second she caught those conspiring looks they exchanged. Ariella wasn’t a Phantom. She couldn’t sense the emotional blend of their resonances. She could, however, read their faces surely enough. They hadn’t looked this happy since the day she’d gotten the job as King River’s aide. What were they up to?

They stood, but continued to sip their tea in perfect silence. They didn’t speak, didn’t slurp, didn’t even clink their cups against their coasters. They merely watched Ariella and Davin descend the stairs and cross the room.

“Prince Halo, welcome to Resonance Canyon, the second wonder of Zephyr,” Mother said as Davin stopped before her.

“We hope your journey was swift and your time here pleasant,” said Father.

“It was. Your kingdom truly is wondrous,” Davin replied.

He slid out a chair for Ariella, winking at her as she sat down in it. Then he took the seat next to her. Ariella’s parents shared a meaningful smile, then they sat down as well.

“Prince Halo.” Father folded his fingers together and rested his chin upon them. “You appear to have lost your shirt.”

Davin gave Ariella’s hand a gentle squeeze beneath the table, and that alone kept her from running out of the room. Not that she would have done that. She was mature. Well, most of the time.

“Yes, it appears that I have,” Davin replied, completely unfazed.

Mother gave him a long, scrutinizing look. “You are such an attractive young man. And so charming. So amiable. So sweet.” She turned her gaze on Ariella. “It’s not hard to see why our daughter is in love with you.”

“Mother,” Ariella warned. Her mother was up to something. She knew she was.

“Oh, he knows of your love for him, dear,” Mother said with a smile.

Davin turned to Ariella, looking upon her with eyes radiating warmth. “And Ariella knows of mine.”

Delight danced across Mother’s face. “Well, that will make this all a whole lot simpler.”

Father nodded. “Agreed.”

“I knew there was something behind bringing us here,” said Ariella.

“Of course there was, dear. We wouldn’t request that the crown prince of Elitia meet with us if we didn’t have a good reason. That’s just bad manners.” She turned up her nose, as though the mere implication of unmannerly behavior reeked like week-old cabbage.

Mother offered a ceramic cup to Davin. “Would you care for some tea, Prince Halo?”

“I would, thank you.”

But when she handed it to him, he passed it over immediately to Ariella. Mother poured out a second cup for him, never missing a beat. Though she did give him an approving nod. She was big on shows of gentlemanly behavior. Ariella had a feeling Davin knew that too.

“Is that lemon cake?” Ariella asked as her father pulled a wrapped loaf out of the basket they’d brought along.

“It is.”

He unpacked the loaf, unleashing a sweet citrus aroma that curled out toward her, daring her to eat it. She wasn’t about to tell it no. Sometimes, the best response to temptation was to stare it straight in the eye and accept defeat.

She didn’t have to say a word. Father gave her a plate with two slices. Between them sat a tiny glass of whipped vanilla cream, sprinkled over with chocolate crumbs. Davin shook his head at her attempt to share, which was just as well. She was so hungry.

“Prince Halo, it has been seven months since your ordeal in Solarin. How are you?” Mother asked, her face equal parts sympathy and admiration.