A Bond of Broken Glass: (The Severed Realms) by T.A. Lawrence

Author:T.A. Lawrence [Lawrence, T.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: T. A. Lawrence
Published: 2023-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Evander returned me to my rooms, and my heart sank a bit as I watched him unlock the door with the heavy brass key. As was his custom, he’d borrowed it from Blaise before he invited me on the walk, and as was her custom, she’d threatened him within an inch of his life if he didn’t bring it back.

Apparently Blaise didn’t have much confidence that Imogen would let her use her copy of the key should she need it.

Of course, Imogen had arrived at my door soon after Evander came to get me, so it hadn’t ended up mattering.

The lock clicked, and the door swung open.

I entered my room, noting the bright swaths of sunlight that brightened the blue wallpaper and shimmered against my silver bedspread.

Evander lingered, propping himself against the doorpost. He crossed his arms, the deep cut of the muscles of his forearms visible where he’d rolled up his sleeves.

“What is it?” I asked, suddenly suspicious of the careful way he was eyeing me.

“Promise you’ll stay?” was all he asked, his sea-green eyes gleaming as his voice deepened an octave.

My mouth went dry, my lips fumbling for words. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

He shrugged, and it was as if I’d imagined the intensity in his stare. He dangled the key before me, its metallic sheen gleaming in the light coming in from the window. “I mean if I leave this here, you won’t run off, will you?”

I went to snatch the key, but he caught my wrist with his free hand. As fast as he’d grabbed me, his touch was just as gentle as he pressed the key into my palm.

I found it was difficult to breathe.

A lazy grin spread across his face, and before he could say something that would inevitably hurt my feelings, I cut him off. “Wouldn’t the fae bargain suffocate me if I tried to run away?”

Evander returned to crossing his arms, and I felt the absence of his touch more than I should have. “Maybe. Maybe it would think you were trying to refuse the bargain. Or perhaps it would think you’d gone out to town to purchase me a lavish wedding gift.”

I turned the key over in my palm, the cool metal like a gentle breeze against my fingertips. “Is that your plan, then? Gift me a key so I’ll run away, accidentally kill myself by refusing the bargain, and rid you of me once and for all?”

I waited for Evander to confirm it, to parry with some teasing insult, but it never came. When I met his gaze, there was something uncharacteristically earnest in the way the edges of his eyes creased, the way his jaw clenched ever so slightly.

“You won’t try to run,” he said. “You’re too smart for that, anyway. I’m just tired of you being caged up. That’s all.”

A lump in my throat swelled, and I opened my mouth to thank him as I clutched the key to my chest, but he was already gone.

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