favorite food. I used to ask for it as a treat when I was small.”
Cate couldn’t imagine Rook as small. Ever.
The sliced fruit spiked the air with a sweet tangy fragrance and instantly made her mouth water. Damn, she was hungry. But she hesitated. What if she ate this and couldn’t go home?
What if I don’t eat and die from hunger? a little voice inside her head argued back.
Rook raised a brow, waiting for her to take the fruit from him. He’d asked her to trust him. Given it went against everything she’d been taught as a child, it was a lot to ask, but he’d already been far more solicitous and caring than any boyfriend she’d ever had. She carefully took the spiky wedge and looked at him, unsure how to eat it.
He bent it inside out, exposing the glistening pulp, and took a bite. The juices ran, a vibrant trail from the corner of his mouth. Cate’s heart rate sped up a little as she resisted the urge to lick it away.
She mimicked him, bending the piece of fruit so that the dangerous-looking spikes all folded inward, and took a bite of the juicy pulp. The intense sweetness burst in her mouth, a tangy mix of blackberry, raspberry and blueberry combined in a texture like that of a kiwi. It tasted of homemade berry pie still warm from the oven and a curious warmth spread along her throat and warmed her belly once she swallowed.
“It’s hot!”
Rook smiled at her delight. “It brings with it the heat of where it grows. One of the best things you can eat on a cold day is a gilly.”
So very strange. While her logical mind understood that magick flowed differently here, the physical manifestation of it still surprised her. “How do the portals between your world and mine work?”
He coughed. “From gilly fruit to portals? That’s quite a change of subject.”
Yes, it was. And this place was also quite a change from the coast. Heavy, tall evergreens and large-leafed maples created a dense shadowed wood that crept right up to the rolling edge of the blue-green ribbon of the river. Waves rushed in a frothy white swirl around rocks scattered here and there, filling the air with the sound of gurgling water and the high, chimelike laughs of the small fae that scampered through the trees like squirrels. The smell in the air of Christmas trees and green woodsy things caused a pang in her chest. It reminded her of home.
Cate tried to enjoy the moment for what it was and took another bite of the fruit, indulging in the taste of it, then licked her lips. She needed to press on, find Maya, and discover exactly what the invasion was about. Cate swept the toe of her boot in a wide arc through the gravely sand at the river’s edge. “Look, you asked me to trust you, so quid pro quo is only fair. I just want to know how they work.”
His eyes were fixated on her mouth. “Fae magick,” he answered simply.
“That’s it? Magick? Come on. You’ve got to do better than that. You asked me to leap a catamount over a river.”
His gaze lifted, connecting with hers. “Why so curious?”
“I’ve been watching the fae come and go since I was a little girl. It seems so effortless for you to travel between our worlds. Why are there certain times, when the veil is thinnest, where we can travel to your world? The portals seem rather temperamental to me.”
He gave her an indulgent smile and offered her another wedge of fruit. “Everything has rules, Cate. Even magick.”
Cate eagerly took the fruit and bit into it, the pinching hunger in her stomach easing. “So tell me the rules. I just want to understand.”
§
Rook supposed that being a Seer and not knowing everything would be a kind of torture of sorts, which made him appreciate her drive and desire to understand his world all the more. Perhaps like other Seers, once she fully understood what this world had to offer someone of her station, she’d never want to leave.
“Except for the eve before each solstice, when the sun’s movement disrupts the portals’
Cate couldn’t imagine Rook as small. Ever.
The sliced fruit spiked the air with a sweet tangy fragrance and instantly made her mouth water. Damn, she was hungry. But she hesitated. What if she ate this and couldn’t go home?
What if I don’t eat and die from hunger? a little voice inside her head argued back.
Rook raised a brow, waiting for her to take the fruit from him. He’d asked her to trust him. Given it went against everything she’d been taught as a child, it was a lot to ask, but he’d already been far more solicitous and caring than any boyfriend she’d ever had. She carefully took the spiky wedge and looked at him, unsure how to eat it.
He bent it inside out, exposing the glistening pulp, and took a bite. The juices ran, a vibrant trail from the corner of his mouth. Cate’s heart rate sped up a little as she resisted the urge to lick it away.
She mimicked him, bending the piece of fruit so that the dangerous-looking spikes all folded inward, and took a bite of the juicy pulp. The intense sweetness burst in her mouth, a tangy mix of blackberry, raspberry and blueberry combined in a texture like that of a kiwi. It tasted of homemade berry pie still warm from the oven and a curious warmth spread along her throat and warmed her belly once she swallowed.
“It’s hot!”
Rook smiled at her delight. “It brings with it the heat of where it grows. One of the best things you can eat on a cold day is a gilly.”
So very strange. While her logical mind understood that magick flowed differently here, the physical manifestation of it still surprised her. “How do the portals between your world and mine work?”
He coughed. “From gilly fruit to portals? That’s quite a change of subject.”
Yes, it was. And this place was also quite a change from the coast. Heavy, tall evergreens and large-leafed maples created a dense shadowed wood that crept right up to the rolling edge of the blue-green ribbon of the river. Waves rushed in a frothy white swirl around rocks scattered here and there, filling the air with the sound of gurgling water and the high, chimelike laughs of the small fae that scampered through the trees like squirrels. The smell in the air of Christmas trees and green woodsy things caused a pang in her chest. It reminded her of home.
Cate tried to enjoy the moment for what it was and took another bite of the fruit, indulging in the taste of it, then licked her lips. She needed to press on, find Maya, and discover exactly what the invasion was about. Cate swept the toe of her boot in a wide arc through the gravely sand at the river’s edge. “Look, you asked me to trust you, so quid pro quo is only fair. I just want to know how they work.”
His eyes were fixated on her mouth. “Fae magick,” he answered simply.
“That’s it? Magick? Come on. You’ve got to do better than that. You asked me to leap a catamount over a river.”
His gaze lifted, connecting with hers. “Why so curious?”
“I’ve been watching the fae come and go since I was a little girl. It seems so effortless for you to travel between our worlds. Why are there certain times, when the veil is thinnest, where we can travel to your world? The portals seem rather temperamental to me.”
He gave her an indulgent smile and offered her another wedge of fruit. “Everything has rules, Cate. Even magick.”
Cate eagerly took the fruit and bit into it, the pinching hunger in her stomach easing. “So tell me the rules. I just want to understand.”
§
Rook supposed that being a Seer and not knowing everything would be a kind of torture of sorts, which made him appreciate her drive and desire to understand his world all the more. Perhaps like other Seers, once she fully understood what this world had to offer someone of her station, she’d never want to leave.
“Except for the eve before each solstice, when the sun’s movement disrupts the portals’
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