* * *
It took until lunchtime for Aveen to emerge from the castle, her cheeks glowing and skirts peppered with flour, but seeing her smile was entirely worth the wait. The way Ruairi’s fangs fit into my mouth felt so awkward, until I smiled. Maybe that’s why the dog was always grinning. Because there wasn’t enough room in his mouth for his teeth.
“Hostage,” I said by way of greeting when Aveen stopped at my side, a basket swinging on her arm.
“Guard,” she returned, smiling back, setting off a new wave of flutters, until I realized she wasn’t actually smiling at me. She thought she was smiling at Ruairi.
“I have a surprise for ye,” I grumbled, turning toward the gate. Did she always smile at him like that? Maybe she was still thinking of my trick this morning. She couldn’t be this happy about the prospect of spending the day with a worthless pooka.
During my long wait, I’d adjusted the wards so that they would allow her through. When she reached the gates, she passed beneath without issue.
“He let me out . . .” she whispered, the breeze tangling her hair around her upturned face.
“Good hostages are rewarded,” I told her.
We followed the path twisting toward the cliffs. When we reached the jagged ledge, I stopped, wanting to see her face when she saw the way the land dropped into the sea.
I hadn’t found joy in much over the years, but this land, its wild beauty and rugged charm, always made me feel a little more . . . I wouldn’t say hopeful or happy. At peace, maybe.
It may have been hard to imagine with the way the waves slammed against the black cliffs and sea birds screeched overhead, but here amidst the wild was where I felt most calm. And with Aveen by my side, the moment felt as near to perfect as I’d ever experienced.
I searched the landscape and horizon for witnesses, finding none. Then I dropped my glamour, just for a moment, just long enough to slip my hand around Aveen’s waist. Her body went rigid as a plank, and she squealed until her gaze tangled with mine.
“Disappointed?” I asked, a little breathless and a lot happy.
“So disappointed,” she murmured, catching me by the collar and stamping a kiss to my lips. The way she relaxed once she knew who I was left me grinning like a fool. “Why are you here?” she asked.
“To torture you. Why else?” As much as it killed me to do it, I recalled my glamour, settling into skin that felt like a heavy, ill-fitting coat.
A frown returned to her lips. “Why can’t you be you?”
I gestured toward the merrow who’d just appeared, dancing among the waves. It wasn’t likely that they would recognize me from all the way up here, but one could never be too careful.
“What’d you bring me to eat?” I asked, shifting a blanket to cover the grass so we had a place to sit.
“Something far nicer than you would have made.”
There was no doubt about that. The last thing I’d cooked was Tadhg’s special sand-and-eggshell-custard. “Ah, here now. I can’t be good at everything.” Oh! Cake. Brilliant. And Tadhg wasn’t around to steal it from me. I ate the miniature deliciousness quickly all the same, vanilla and sugar kissing my tongue like a bite of heaven.
Aveen watched me with an unreadable expression.
“Revolting.”
When her gaze dropped to my hands, and her brow furrowed. Before I could explain that I was obviously joking, she caught my hand and shoved back my sleeve. “What’s this?” she asked, tracing the ribbon I’d worn since the day I stole it. “Is that mine?”
It wasn’t always around my wrist. Sometimes I tucked it into my pocket. Other times, my boot. “I was hardly going to let Ruairi or Tadhg have it.”
“Sentimental Rían.” She fanned her face, pretending to faint on the blanket. “Be still my heart.”
It had nothing to do with sentiment. I simply could not stand the thought of my brother or his pet having something that belonged to my human.
All right.MaybeI liked the idea of having something that belonged to her as well, but mostly it was about the other men.
She kept looking at me, an unreadable expression flickering across her face.
“Do you always stare at Ruairi this much?”
“I stare at him all the time,” she said. “Barely get anything done when Ruairi’s around.”