Page 58 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

“I’ll take you away from here—far away where he’ll never find you.”

A strange mix of hope and panic filled her chest. “You can’t! He’ll find me anywhere. I’ll never be free of him. Never.” A sob broke from her as fear threatened to overwhelm her. Would she ever be safe again?

Herrick stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her into him and pressing a soft kiss against her hair. She felt warmer—and safer—than she’d ever felt before. As Zorina leaned into him, he whispered, “You said yourself that he’s only a man.”

“A deformed and twisted man with black magic, yes.” She cringed, both at the remembrance of his face under the mask and at how easily he’d used black magic to harm others. How easily could he use it to find her and drag her back to him? How much magic would he steal from her?

And maybe even use it to destroy the man she loved?

Wait. Loved?

“But still just a man.” He pulled back a bit and tilted her chin toward him with his thumb and forefinger.

The revelation that she might actually love Herrick hit hard as she peered up into his green eyes. Fear for his safety—as well as her own—crashed over her. “Don’t underestimate him, Herrick. He’ll kill you before you realize you’re even in danger.”

His hand shifted to fully cup her face. “As long as I can keep you safe, it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters!” Her heart clenched at the thought of losing him. “It would destroy me, and I’m damaged enough already.”

He blinked several times in quick succession. “My death would destroy you? Out of guilt, or…”

Zorina took a jagged breath. “Not…not guilt.” She sucked in another uneven breath, his proximity seeming to make her lose all sense of reason. “At least, not only guilt.”

And, apparently, all sense of dignity as well. How could her words and actions betray her so much? She couldn’t possibly tell him…that.

His eyes darted to her lips for one brief moment before his thumb followed. “What else, then?”

The touch nearly melted her into a puddle right then and there. Her intelligence certainly seemed to vanish when the only response she could give was a breathless, “What?”

A satisfied grin pulled at the corners of his mouth as he leaned closer. “Perhaps this?”

Before she could even think of a question in return, his lips caressed hers in a tender kiss. His kiss was more gentle than she would have thought possible from a man his size, and she felt more cherished and loved than ever before. Zorina sank into him and kissed him in return, her arms reaching around his neck to pull him even closer. He responded accordingly, tightly wrapping his arms around her back.

How long she remained lovingly enveloped in his arms, kissing him fervently, she did not know.

Eventually, the kiss ended, but still he held her close. “I love you, Zorina,” he whispered as he kissed her hair.

Zorina blinked. “You…do?”

Herrick rumbled a light laugh, the sound vibrating against her head. “I wouldn’t kiss you like that if I didn’t.”

She pulled back farther to meet his eyes, though they were hard to see in the dim light. “I should hope not,” she said saucily. Then, sobering, she added, “But there is so much you don’t know about me. About my past.”

His hand cupped her face again, his fingers gently stroking her cheek. “And there is much you don’t know about mine. I…I was once the huntsman for Queen Melantha—the one she sent after her stepdaughter, the true queen and heir.”

Zorina gaped at him, her eyes bulging in shock. “Wh-what? You were?” Her thoughts scrambled, trying to recall what she’d heard through the rumors that had spread once Queen Ella had reclaimed her throne. “You didn’t kill her, though.”

“No,” he whispered, the single word sounding pained. “But I almost did.”

Staring deeply into his eyes, she asked, “Why didn’t you?”

Herrick took a jagged breath. “Because I realized it was wrong. She was too good, too innocent. I couldn’t harm her. For too long, I’d followed the treasonous queen’s orders. But I couldn’t just not kill the princess; I had to make the queen believe I had, so I brought her a boar’s heart to fool her. Then, before she could discover my treachery, I fled. In order to be as far away from Fallon as possible, I eventually settled here. I wanted to start over, without my mistakes hanging over me.”

Zorina studied him as she processed his tale. Part of her wanted to laugh that she’d been so worried about how he’d react to her past when his was just as tainted. She didn’t, though, because she didn’t want to be insensitive to his pain.

That, and she still hadn’t shared her worst deeds with him yet, either.

What if he couldn’t see beyond her greatest mistake?