Illuminate by Sarah Addison-Fox

Author:Sarah Addison-Fox [Addison-Fox, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Double Edged Sword Publishing
Published: 2019-01-09T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13.

Two days later.

With legs shaking, Merrin ascended the steps to the great hall. The beauty of the lush fields surrounded them, the yellow and pink followers sprouting, all lost in the uncertainty flowing through her.

Too many questions lay unanswered, too much doubt still cloaked her mind. Was Tarquin sincere? Was he still holding her to a promise made when she was desperate for his help?

Since they’d found his village, Tarquin had stayed away, barely making eye contact, making sure they had what they needed and not giving her any hint of how he was feeling about everything that had happened between them or what he’d shared.

Every time she’d sought him out to see how he was doing, every time she snuck away from Skylar’s watchful eye, Tarquin shied away as if he was afraid to be near her.

Or is it Skylar that he’s afraid of?

The entire two days travelling through the forest, she’d tried to brush it off. But that he could so easily give her the cold shoulder after letting her see a hidden part of him stung more than she wanted to acknowledge.

With each day since evading Tartarean’s men, he’d grown more and more aloof, neither complaining or joining in as Skylar’s easy conversation met with stony silence.

The unresolved tension had grown incrementally. Skylar’s presence, however timely, seemed to have loosened the hold Tarquin seemed to have over her, but try as she might, there was still something magnetic about him. Something that drew her towards him, even after what he’d done, there was still a pull that she was desperate to escape.

While Skylar was calm, steadfast and reassuring as always, Tarquin was wild, unpredictable and no matter how much she tried to quash the residual emotion his presence caused, it was almost impossible to forget what they’d been through together and what he’d shared with her only a few days ago.

She squinted against the bright sun, annoyed at herself for still being so easily distracted when her thoughts should be on the apology she needed to make.

As quickly as she forced her mind to stop thinking about him, her thoughts were of her charge once more. She was responsible for not bringing him here sooner. She was responsible if he harmed anyone.

And if Tarquin had been who he said he was, he’d most likely done horrific things that didn’t bear thinking about.

Did she even want to know what he’d done while under Tartarean’s control? What horrors he had witnessed? What he had forced others to do?

Her muscles were quivering with anticipation and dread when she joined Tarquin as he climbed the stairs, his eyes darting about as he scanned the doors. Skylar took the lead, ready to knock and announce their return with a new Luminary.

Just like she should have done the second she’d suspected him.

Unlike the last time she’d been here, her failure was no longer holding her. Though she was nervous, she trusted Skylar’s words enough to know he was right.

She’d exiled herself, pushed for something that no one else wished for her.

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