Page 55 of Heart’s Rescue

Rowan's blue eyes dance beneath the shadows of his hood. That look makes something deep inside of me pull tight as if the tides of my body are responding to the curve of his lips. It’s awful and I have absolutely no idea how to stop it.

“I don’t know what actually happened,” Rowan continues, “but Orryen’s the one who captured her, and he took her back to the Crystal City. Somehow, she found a way to escape, and she took Orryen’s heart with her back to the Worlds Above.”

“What?” My voice is almost a scream. I can’t help it; that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

Rowan shakes his head.

“I know,” he says. “So now the king’s heir is waiting in a magical sleep until someone brings him a heart from the Worlds Above.”

I shiver under the heavy cloak. “So they can replace his heart with a new one?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Rowan answers. “I think it’s more to use the new heart as a key to open another portal, so they can go back and get Orryen’s. But no one’s given me the details.”

“They want you to help with it,” I say. “With the heart thing. That’s why that man Aloserin was at your house.”

“Shit.” Rowan rubs the back of his neck again and gives me an expression that could almost pass as a smile. “I knew you heard that entire conversation.”

“Well, your pantry door’s as thin as a piece of paper,” I snap in my defense.

“Heh. Yeah.” Rowan glances at the woods behind us, then back to me. “Look, that’s the problem. If I bring you anywhere near the Crystal City, it could be your heart the king’s using as a door key to get into the Worlds Above. You understand?”

I run my teeth over my bottom lip. “Wow,” I say, in what’s hardly more than a whisper. “That’s not leaving me with many options.”

Rowan huffs a sigh and stares up into the gloom. Tiny flecks of ice catch on his eyelashes and glitter across his lips and cheeks. He is strikingly beautiful, beautiful in a way that almost hurts.

“Okay,” I say, speaking slowly. “If I go back to the Worlds Above, they’ll probably put me to sleep—”

“No,” Rowan says, cutting me off. “No, we just have to be really freaking careful in the Crystal City.”

He’s looking at me now, grinning through the flecks of ice all across his face.

“We just won’t get caught,” he says.