Page 96 of Erik

“Unless you don’t want to, in which case I’ll just be embarrassed but that never killed anyone, right?”Hisliraismoothed the edge of the indigo coverlet, velvet rasping sensitive fingertips.“I mean, I figure it’s best if it’s you, and besides, being held down on an altar and almost stabbed makes a girl think, you know?It’s probably trauma bonding but there’s a lot of that in this place.Sara really needs a therapist, and my certification’s rusty but…” She snuck a tiny glance at his face, and it struck him that, ridiculous as it might sound, his impossible, stubborn, beautifulliraisomehow thought he’d turn her down.

“Um,” he repeated.“It’s, ah, up to you.But I… I like you, Liv.”What did civilian males say in this situation?Of course, a normal wouldn’t find himself in alirai’s bed after being stabbed with asarnakispear.“I mean, I likeyou.As… as a person.”

The flush mounted in her cheeks, and Erik was kicking himself for saying the absolute stupidest, most banal thing possible.

She cleared her throat, softly.“It’s not just that I’m, you know, alirai?Because if it’s?—”

“Is that what you think?”Erik sagged into the mattress.He wouldn’t mind getting free eventually; the damn thing was too soft.But at the moment, it cradled him nicely.“Ithink I was a goner the moment I knocked you out of your shoes, Liv.”

She searched his expression for a long, excruciating moment, as the hot blush in her cheeks faded.Finally, she nodded; theoneirosflashed, a signal fire from a faraway hill.The silence between them turned almost companionable, and for the first time he caught a glimpse of what she might look like when she truly relaxed.

It almost robbed him of breath yet again.Erik stared, memorizing her face, the slim column of her throat, the tender hollow at her temple and vulnerable notch between her collarbones, the curve of her wrist when she brushed at her forehead even though her hair was strictly confined.

“Well.Glad that’s sorted out.Oh, I have a question.”Hisliraistraightened, her chin lifting, and her smile held all the forgiveness in the world.“Can you get them not to haul me around like a sack of groceries?My ankle’s a lot better, but the Youngers keep trying to carry me everywhere.That’s partly why I want you to get better.I might be able to argue you into letting mewalk.”

“You can try.”Erik’s mouth answered independent of his brain, but it didn’t look like she minded.In fact, she grinned, eyes sparkling, and the pounding of his almost-cracked heart was both terrifying and achingly sweet.“I’m surprised you don’t have a list of reasons why I should, and another list of demands.”

She didn’t glare or snap at him.Instead, hislirailooked relieved.“Thereyou are,” she said, softly.“Good to have you back.Also, can I please go for a bit without being kidnapped again?Like, say, a whole week?”

He wondered how long he’d been out, decided that was a question better left for later along with all the others he didn’t have energy for at the moment.“Depends on how much you like getting kidnapped, beautiful.”

Then he was afraid he’d said the wrong thing, because she sobered again, watching him carefully.“I don’t mind if it’s you.”Quiet and matter-of-fact.“How funny is that?”

“Hilarious.”I don’t deserve to be anywhere near you, Liv.But I’m glad you disagree.His eyelids decided he’d had enough, began to creep downward.“Give me a couple hours to get back up to speed.”The god’s venomous whisper retreated, probably because Erik’sliraisent another tidal flood of power, this one reaching all the way down to his skeleton and surging outward again.

Reshaping him, he hoped.Making him somehow, in some way, a little better.A little less damned.

“Take it slow.”The chair creaked slightly as she moved, and her fingers threaded warm and soft between his bigger, callus-rasping ones.“We’ve got all the time in the world.”

If it was a lie, it was a kind one.Even the ghost of the whispers retreated, barred by her presence as Erik’s eyes closed.

The Mad God never ceased planning, though, and his hatred for all Dreamers would be sharpened afresh.The god would return, creeping through cracks, sending his minions, corrupting and claiming.

When it did, Erik would be ready.

“After all,” she continued, “we still have to go on a real date.Getting tied up and stabbed doesn’t count.”

“Glad to hear it.”His eyes simply wouldn’t stay open any longer, so he closed them and settled a little deeper in the mattress, willing his body to heal.“How about dinner instead?”

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