Page 21 of Hearts Lost

ITHRONEL

THE CURSE

“The what?” I ask.

Aloserin clearly means those words to be impressive, or intimidating, or maybe both, but they mean absolutely nothing to me. Plus, this asshole just knocked me over onto my back, interrupted all the progress I was making with the shadow creature, and scared the poor thing half to death. My patience is feeling a bit frayed.

Although I do have to admit, grudgingly, that it’s a relief he’s awake. I’d started to think he was never going to wake up, and that I was either going to have to drag him out of here or spend the rest of my life watching him sleep.

“The void,” Aloserin says again.

He glances nervously over his shoulder as he says it, as though he’s waiting for something to jump out of the forest and attack him. Kind of like he attacked me. I cross my arms over my chest and wait for the man to start speaking a language I can understand.

“It—It’s—” he stammers.

Then he sighs, runs a hand through his thick, dark curls, and raises an eyebrow at me.

“You took my weapons,” he says.

Embarrassment flutters between my ribs. Yes, I took his weapons, and I still remember how warm he’d felt under my fingers. And the soft, half-swallowed sound he’d made as I’d unbuckled his belt, almost like he’d wanted me to continue. To reach down further, to the growing bulge between his legs.

And that’s exactly why I’d stopped at his weapons, why I hadn’t gone any further than removing his cloak and jacket so he wouldn’t die of heat exhaustion. I’d left everything else completely untouched, although some part of me woke every morning wondering whether it wasn’t time to search his pockets, to see if perhaps he was carrying some tea in those tight black pants.

“You can have them back,” I grumble, turning to focus on the strap holding his dagger around my waist as heat rises in my cheeks. “It’s not like you were using them.”

The strap comes undone in my hands. I hold the dagger and its scabbard out to Aloserin. He takes them with an expression that looks almost like it’s trying to be a smile.

“The rest of them are over there,” I say, tilting my head toward the little shelter I’d made with his sword and cloak. “I just— It’s useful, having a dagger.”

“Indeed,” he replies in such a dry tone that I can’t tell if he’s mocking me or not.

Well, screw him. I scramble to my feet as my cheeks burn. How could I be flustered already? The man just woke up, for the stars’ sake.

“So, what’s the void?” I ask. “How do we get out of it?”

Aloserin comes to his feet slowly and then buckles the dagger’s belt around his chest. His hair falls across his forehead as he does so, and stars, he’s so pale. Something tightens in my chest.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He tilts his head to the side and watches me through the tangle of his dark curls. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I shift awkwardly as the blue grass tickles my calves. Stars, maybe it was easier when he was unconscious.

“You were out for five days,” I say. “Do you, uh, want something to eat?”

Aloserin tightens the strap on his dagger’s belt, and it pulls tight, emphasizing the flat plane of his chest.

“Something to eat would be lovely,” he replies.

I lead him over to the little shelter I built, very painfully aware of the fact that I’ve folded and stacked his jacket in the same pile as mine, and the way I used his sword as one of the supports for the little shelter where I’ve been sleeping next to him every night. Where I’ve sometimes woken up with my body curled around his.

“So, these are edible,” I say, trying to shove my embarrassment somewhere else as I reach into the makeshift bag I’d made out of my dress sleeves and pull out one of the lumpy orange fruits I’ve collected.

I hand the fruit to Aloserin. He eyes it like he’s expecting it to explode.

“How do you know it’s edible?” he asks.

“The animals eat it.”