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As soon as he’s gone, Ulrika yanks her dagger out of her aroing to check up on Kieran"
Lucinda follows her without asking for per randfather clock ticks loudly in the corner of the rooether on the sofa; there are just a few purple stripes between us Theora shifts and her knee touchesbut that one inch of skin where our legs are pressed together I lift aze Blood rushes into her cheeks and she looks away, but a faint smile flitters over her lips There’s an aard pause as neither of us knohat to say
"Let’s go for a walk," she finally says, standing up
Outside, the Lupines are still busy cleaning up the mess made by the earthquake, so they don’t pay us any attention as we stroll through the village We pass a house covered entirely in wisteria and Theora brushes her hand over the violet flowers, releasing their sharp honey scent An old wo on the front porch, picking up fragments of broken potted plants Scattered around her feet are hundreds of orchid petals
"Oh no," Theora says, her lips turning down "Those were Hettie’s pride and joy She must be devastated"
She hurries up the porch steps while I wait at the bottom, uncertain whether I should join her or not I watch as Theora quietly offers words of co at her now, it strikes me how much she reminds me of Catherine They both have kind hearts Theora didn’t have to bring me back here; she could have easily leftme and Lucinda, despite e are The old lady dabs her eyes and sain We continue our walk through the village
"Where are we going?" I ask as we approach the outskirts
Theora grins "Are you afraid of heights?"
"No," I say, getting a bad feeling
She gestures for ht of stone steps that are carved into theside by side, despite there not really being enough space for the two of us Occasionally the backs of our hands brush against each other andto be sick, but not in a bad way I desperately want to lace h hers, but that’s insane! I don’t even know this girl, yet every part ofto touch her
I’m out of breath by the time we reach the top of the steps, but Theora’s hardly broken a sweat We’re on a rocky outcrop several hundred feet above the Lupine village Up here, the air is ht just be because I’ray, and there’s a weird eggy smell in the air like there was at the waterfall where we’d set up ca, especially after the earthquake, but nobody seems that worried about it, other than me Maybe it’s normal; I don’t know Until today, I’d never ventured outside the walls of Amber Hills, so perhaps the air up here always smells like this? It’s crazy to think how otten a heartbeat and now I’m a wanted esturing toward a circular building on the edge of the precipice The building has no walls; it’s just a domed roof held up by several marble colu to catch htly as we enter the teht across the Forest of Shadows In the far distance, I can see the Boundary Wall surrounding Amber Hills
"You can see where I live frorandfather’s church, which pokes above the wall Grief suddenly rips through o back there I’m homeless Instinctively, I clasp the circle pendant aroundlost or frightened
"What is that?" Theora asks, pointing to my pendant
"It’s the symbol of my faith," I say "Everyone in Amber Hills follows the Purity"
"The Purity?"
"We believe that the Darklings are demons sent from hell to corrupt our souls" I attempt a smile, but it quickly fades on my lips
Theora looks at me, a small crease between her white brows "You believe that, despite what you are?"
"Especially because of what I aes so I don’t hurt people It works" I i "Well,like that Having to hide what I a killed" She takes my hand and my heart stutters "You must have been very lonely"
She releases round beside her I lie down The stone is icy cold against my back, but I don’t want toso close together, ht one, but she doesn’t make any atte The doht sky, with pearls embedded into it to replicate stars In the center of the roof is a hole, so you can see the actual sky
"My peopleour people," she corrects, "worship the goddess Luna And every h that hole" Theora tilts her head towardin ain Up close, I realize her eyes aren’t silver but steel-gray with these tinyWinterfest "This is my favorite place in the whole world," she whispers
"Thank you for sharing it with ht you’d like to know a little bit about your heritage" Her smile fades and she’s quiet for a while
"What are you thinking about?" I ask her
"Icarus," she says "You do knohen you bring Annora back to hi to expect you to leave with hier he’s here, the er the Lupines and people of Amber Hills are in I can’t have any more blood on my hands" I think of Mrs Hope and Naoaze at each other Her eyes drift over the old burnthe wide line of my mouth, up my narrow nose, back toto the burns
"Mywater," I say "Do my scars bother you?"
She shakes her head
I propso nice toand my father killed your parents You should hate me I hate me"
"You can’t condemn an entire species of people because of the actions of one man" My pulse quickens as she places her hand on my chest "It’s easy to hate, Edive" She frowns slightly "Why do you dislike yourself so much?"
I roll onto my back "Because I’m a freak Until we met, I didn’t even have a heartbeat"
Her eyes widen "What?"
"So happened to me back in the forest," I blurt out "I was cursed without a heartbeat when I was born--it’s just what happens when a Darkling and human mate--but e touched, my heart activated I don’t knohat it , because I have these feelings for you, Theora," I continue "It’s like, I feel connected to you, like we’re ether, which I know is insane, as we’ve just , please say soasp for breath I’ve never strung so ether all at once
She looks away
I sit up "You felt so, didn’t you?"