“I don’t disagree. But I have to wonder… Do you think the Aetherborne truly believe in that mythos?”
“According to what I’ve read, yeah. It’s not supposed to be a parable—they legitimately don’t believe that immortal souls reincarnate. They just… linger. By design of the Source.”
“Hmm,” I replied. I had finally managed to tear my eyes from the darkness above, just as the streetlamps nearby began to flicker—the arcana activating, setting the streets aglow.
We started walking again, and I chewed at my lower lip, pondering the possibilities.
“What’s on your mind now, Arken?” Kieran asked as we were approaching my block.
“I like your take on fate. On carving our own paths,” I admitted. “That resonates with me, and yet I still find myself drawn to the concept of these fallen gods, weaving our threads, guiding the way. I can’t explain the appeal, though. I suppose it could be that if even theAetherbornebelieve in such things, I’m more inclined to consider the possibilities? But those two considerations exist in conflict…”
“Are you saying that you believe everything the Elders claim?” Kieran teased. “I pegged you for more of a skeptic, bookwyrm.”
I snorted. “A bold accusation coming from a man who swore an oath to protect and serve those very same Elders.”
“I swore my oath toSophrosyne,” Kieran corrected, winking at me. “Not just the Aetherborne.”
“Semantics,” I scoffed, waving a hand around flippantly. “You still answer to the Nineteen.”
“Sure,” Kieran said. “And I respect the Convocation and their beliefs. I hold the Elders in high regard… But that doesn’t mean I follow them blindly. Nor do I think they’re infallible.”
I frowned at the implication, intended or not. I was not so naive.
“I never said they wereinfallible,” I argued. “But you do have to consider their lifespan. The Elders have been alive for well over a thousand years, have they not?”
“So they say,” Kieran replied easily, his tone free of that initial skepticism.
“I’m more inclined to believe assertions of our history from those who witnessed it first hand. They are theprimary sources, after all,” I said.
“History is always written by the victors, though,” Kieran murmured. “And I trust the Aetherborne. But I’m still not certain if our fates are truly written in the stars.”
“Now who’s veering off into poetics and philosophy?” I teased, elbowing him gently in the ribs as we arrived at my doorstep.
“Guilty as charged,” Kieran laughed, leaning in to my jab slightly.
Silence fell between us for a moment, the air thick with tension. A part of me wanted nothing more than to invite him inside, yesterday’s agreement to keep thingsplatonicbe damned. I watched his gaze drift from my eyes to my mouth as my teeth grazed my lower lip, a nervous habit.
“You have a good night, Little Conduit,” Kieran breathed, his voice a low rasp that sent heat straight towards my lower belly, desire pooling up from an endless wellspring.
Fucking Hel.
“You too, Captain,” I replied softly, rifling through my satchel to find my keys before I could act on the stupid, reckless impulses running rampant in my brain.
“Let me know when you’re ready for our next adventure,” he said, turning back towards the street, smiling over his shoulder. “You know where to find me.”
It took everything I had in me to resist the urge to catch his arm and pull him closer. No matter how much I wanted him, I knew damn well that if I acted on those feelings I would regret it.
Even so, I spent the rest of my evening in mild torment, haunted by the kiss I couldn’t bring myself to steal.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kieran
A week or so had passed since I took the Little Conduit to see the Mural of Creation, and yet as I was lazing about in bed on my day off, I found that my mind would still wander back there, seeking quiet pleasure from the memory of that day,andthe one that followed.
I was a lucky bastard.
It wasn’t until after we’d arrived at the museum that I realized our first little adventure could have been very easily misconstrued. It was my way of sayingfuck it, let’s be friends—but I was so accustomed to keeping people at arm’s length that I didn’t even realize that I had taken her on the equivalent of a date.Again.