Page 27 of The Heir the Fae Forgot
I nodded, even as I felt the loss of his touch the moment he did as I asked.
It took no little effort, but I forced myself to concentrate only on the feel of the cool, green vine between my fingers. I closed my eyes as I was instructed, but even without the feel of Icarus’ hand on mine, I was all too aware of how close he still stood behind me, of the shape of his body still so imprinted on my own, of how it would feel if he closed that space between us once more.
It was no wonder fear and desire were considered sisters. Whenever Icarus stood this close to me, I could no longer tell which of the two I felt.
Sensing my frustration, though hopefully notwhyI was actually frustrated, Icarus finally stepped back from me and briefly set a hand on my shoulder instead.
“Even without a glamour like the one placed over you, something like this will take time. Now, sit. We’re only just beginning.”
The heart of Icarus’ magic drew from the Wildness itself and all that was in it. His lessons consisted mostly of me trying to feel the magic that he cast, ranging from small summonings of seedlings and insects to larger ones, things like causing the trees around us to whither and die, only to spring back up again as fresh, young saplings.
Though he was patient with me, that patience began to wane slightly after an unexpected visit from one of his demon servants. He appeared in the midst of a new test—where Icarus had me sticking my finger into various half-finished concoctions to see if I could sense any of the properties of the ingredients he’d made them from—and stood in silence, ignoring Icarus’ obvious attempts to wave him off until the fae lord finally stood to see what he wanted.
They spoke without words, or so quietly that I didn’t even see either of their lips move, but whatever the servant had said to Icarus made the patient mask on his face start to slip.
Curiosity prickled at me, daring me to wonder what could unsettle a lord like Icarus, until I finally could contain it no longer. It was half that burning curiosity that drove me to it, and half out of the equally burning need to find literallyanyexcuse to stop the endless train of disappointment this lesson was quickly turning into.
I’d expected to feelsomething.If I had this so-called overwhelming glamour that both Icarus and Shiel wanted for themselves, why wouldn’t it show itself, even a little? Icarus had said there was a new glamour now, but apparently, I couldn’t even call on that. It could easily be that I’m simply not a member of Icarus’ court, but it wouldn’t exactly play well into either of our hands if that became obvious too quickly.
Better for Icarus to think I may be one of his, then for him to start suspecting the truth.
Or Shiel’s truth, anyway. I still wasn’t convinced of that, either.
I waited until I caught Icarus glance over his shoulder, his eyes scanning something only he could see on the horizon as he had several times already, before I took my chance.
“Something’s bothering you.”
His eyes were narrowed in suspicion when he looked back at me. “Is that what you’ve been thinking about this whole time?”
“I—” There was no use in lying, so I clamped my mouth shut for a moment. I knew from his lack of an answer the first time that I was pushing my luck, that I should just let the matter die, but the thought of sticking my fingers into one more potion made me want to tear my hair out. “You told your demons not to bother you unless it was an emergency, but that one wouldn’t leave.”
This time, when Icarus looked at me, that suspicion had transformed into a more intense kind of interest.
“I didn’t tell you that.”
“You’re not the only one who can understand the unspoken things,” I said, all too aware of the fact that I sounded far more confident than I actually felt. “I don’t need to read your mind to know something’s up.”
A sly smile had spread across Icarus’ face.
“See, finally some progress,” he said. “Maybe you are Wildness Fae after all.”
Something small leapt in my chest despite myself. I might not want to be one of his fae, but that didn’t mean a fae lord showing pride in me wasn’t going to affect me—objectively, of course.
Icarus fixed his eyes on something over my shoulder this time, and for a long moment, he seemed to be considered something.
“It’s just a small thing,” he said, at long last. “Nothing I can’t handle. But it may mean I have to cut some of these afternoons a little short.”
A slight frown creased my brow. “Is it that serious?”
His eyes flickered back to me then, and he reached out a hand to clasp mine. With it, my heart melted, just a little.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about, My Storm,” he said. “I have this well under control.”
His hand slipped from mine at the same time his eyes dropped once more to the remnants of our failed lesson.
“But for now, perhaps we retire. You might not feel the draw on your own glamour, but I can assure you, it’s happening. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
I wanted to argue, but the moment he stood, the female demon he’d assigned to me appeared at his side. Several steps behind him, the trees and vines were opening to the staircase beneath already.
