“I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop it,” Ravi mumbled against his skin, and Daks’s arms tightened.
“I felt it. Even a trained Seer wouldn’t have been able to control that. I’m sorry you had to suffer through it. You probably wouldn’t have had it at all if I hadn’t dragged you here.”
“You didn’t drag me anywhere,” Ravi said, pulling back and meeting his eyes. “I came to get you.”
Daks grunted and fell silent.
“What’s wrong?” Ravi prodded.
“Wrong?”
“Come on. You’re out here alone, leaning on a tree, instead of either pumping the locals for information, conning them out of more food and drink, or being inside with us. I may not have known you as long as Shura has, but I know you well enough.”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“Is it something I said in my Vision?”
Daks shook his head and kissed Ravi’s forehead. “No. Nothing like that. To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember what you said.”
“Then what?”
“I think my Shura may have finally fallen in love.”
Ravi drew back and gaped up at him, and Daks grinned. “I know. Crazy.”
“Mistress Sabin?”
He nodded.
“That’s good, right? I mean, I might still hold a little grudge over the drugging incident, but anything that softens her up is a good thing in my book.”
With a chuckle, Daks released his hold, stood up, and dusted himself off. “I’m glad she’s found someone. It’s just… Fara isn’t coming with us back to Samebar. She’s found what she needs here, more than she would ever get at the Scholomagi. That leaves Shura and me torn as to what to do next.”
Ravi bit his lip and stood too as his stomach twisted for an all new reason. “Shura wants to stay?”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Daks blew out a breath and stepped in close. He brushed a lock of hair from Ravi’s forehead as he said, “It’s a little more complicated than that. I was hoping I’d have more time before I had to make any life-altering choices.”
“What kind of choices?” he managed to get out around the lump in his throat.
He sighed. “You know Shura and I are partners, but you don’t know all of it. Remember when I told you about the time after I was sick and I lost Jos?”
Ravi nodded.
Daks’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “If you think I’m a pain in the ass now, you haven’t seen anything. I went a little crazy for a while. I searched Rassa for two years for any sign of him until the High Council finally recalled me, because I was making more problems than I was solving. They cut me loose, and I drank my way through several villages, moving farther south into the forests, avoiding returning home to my family hold in defeat. Until one night, I witnessed a mob forming to go after a clan of Cigani in one of those villages. A girl had been murdered, and they of course blamed the Cigani. Even drunk, I knew it wasn’t right for a whole clan to pay for something probably only one of them did, so I snuck out of the village and warned them.”
He grimaced uncomfortably and waved a hand in the air. “Anyway, some other stuff happened, and I was able to trace the magic used on the murdered girl back to a villager and not the Cigani at all, without much in the way of bloodshed, but the details aren’t really important. The important part is, the Cigani decided they owed me a great debt. And no matter how hard I tried to tell them a simple thanks and maybe some of their famous wine was enough, they decided to bind Shura to me anyway. In case you don’t know this, they take their oath-bindings very seriously. By that vow, she can’t leave my side until her death without disgracing herself and her entire clan.” He sighed and shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean she stopped being human, that she doesn’t have needs of her own. And if I force her to choose, it will tear her apart. She’s my partner and my friend. I love her too much to do that to her. She’s fought a fight that wasn’t hers too long for my sake…. But I have needs too, needs I’ve successfully ignored up until recent events have made that next to impossible.”
He met Ravi’s concerned gaze, and his lips curved in the oddest little smile as he skimmed his thumb over Ravi’s lower lip. A shiver ran through Ravi’s entire body.
“I’m really hoping you’re talking about me right now. Because if you aren’t, this is going to be extremely humiliating,” Ravi replied breathily.
With a chuckle, Daks moved closer. “I’m talking about you,” he agreed before kissing him deeply.
When they finally pulled apart again, Ravi clutched the wool of Daks’s cloak so he couldn’t go too far and pressed their foreheads together.
“So, uh, you think you might just like me too much to leave me, then? Is that what you’re trying to say?” Ravi asked, hesitantly, hopefully.
“I think I might have just fallen in love with you too much to leave you,” Daks corrected far too calmly.
When Ravi jolted and stared at him, Daks grinned.
“You don’t tiptoe around, do you? You always just wade right in,” Ravi croaked.
“Part of my charm.”
After sucking in a shaky breath, Ravi searched his face. “You mean it, though, right? You really love me?”
“I may be impulsive to a fault, but once I make up my mind about something, it’s made.” He trailed his fingers over Ravi’s cheek. “You snuck up on me, but I’m not going to hide from it anymore. I can’t.”
He didn’t exactly sound ecstatic about it, though, which put a damper on Ravi’s joy.
“But?” Ravi prodded reluctantly.
“But the two people I love are pulling me in different directions, and I have to make a choice—”
“Excuse me.”
Both of
