it, even if you can’t trust me to come back for you.”
He didn’t immediately accept her offering, so Leisa decided to pull death’s whiskers one last time—she wrapped his outstretched hand in both of hers and gently closed his fingers around the dagger’s hilt.
And he let her, his eyes fixed on that space between them as though he couldn’t quite believe she’d dared to touch him.
Feeling suddenly warm and more than a little embarrassed, Leisa yanked her hands away.
Only for his eyes to suddenly blaze up like silver stars in his shockingly beautiful face.
The dagger fell unheeded to the ground as one of his hands darted out, caught her wrist, and wrapped it in an unbreakable grip. The other lifted towards her face, slowly and tentatively, almost as if it moved despite his will.
His fingertips brushed her cheek. They traveled across her cheekbone, light as a breeze, wiping away tears she didn’t realize had fallen, then to her ear, brushing back a wisp of hair that had escaped her braid.
And all the while, his gaze burned against hers as if he could somehow stare past her eyes and into her heart.
“I will trust you, Leisa.”
At the sound of her name in his deep voice, Leisa nearly melted right into the ground.
“Thank you,” she said hoarsely. “I won’t let you down. Just wait for me.”
“I will wait for you.”
Across the link between them, something new and alarming flared into life, as fiery and dangerous as staring into the sun. And for a single moment, Leisa stared into that inferno and willed it to burn.
But she couldn’t stay there. She had a job to do, and all Kyrion needed from her was her magic. If she could only remember that. Perhaps if she reminded herself of it every time he entered her thoughts, she could avoid being consumed by this fire that seemed to blaze all the hotter the longer she stood too close.
So she pulled away from his touch and from the link they shared. “Be safe,” she said, already mourning the loss.
The glow in his eyes died. “And you,” he returned coolly, bending to retrieve her dagger before holding out her pack.
She took it. “I’ll be back by the time you’ve decided you don’t really miss me at all.”
He didn’t even smile.
She choked back a feeling of dread that insisted she stay. It screamed at her that leaving would end up breaking her heart, but she ignored it. She had to do this.
“Then this is goodbye,” she managed.
“Yes.”
She couldn’t take it anymore. She whirled to face the road and took a step towards it. Then another step. Three steps later, she was running, and she didn’t stop until her feet were firmly planted on the hard-packed dirt.
Finally, she turned back, but he was already gone. And she wouldn’t see him again until she finished her mission.
With an effort that left tears running down her cheeks once more, Leisa wrenched her heart and mind back to her true purpose—saving Farhall. If she failed, these past few weeks would have been for nothing. Zander’s life would have been thrown away in vain. Maybe even Kip’s, Terek’s, and Nyssa’s. She couldn’t let their sacrifices be wasted.
Her own feelings, her own future, would have to wait.
Shouldering her pack, Leisa set her face towards home and jogged off down the road into the gathering dusk.
Click here to continue the story with THE UNSEEN HEIR!
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Books by Kenley Davidson
Fantasy Romance
LEGENDS OF ABREIA
The Faceless Mage
The Unseen Heir
Fairy Tale Retellings
THE ANDARI CHRONICLES
Traitor’s Masque
Goldheart
Pirouette
Shadow & Thorn
Daughter of Lies
Path of Secrets
Romantic Science Fiction
CONCLAVE WORLDS
The Daragh Deception
The Concord Coalition
The Linden Legacy
About the Author
Kenley Davidson is an incurable introvert who took up writing to make space for all the untold stories in her head.
She loves rain, roller-coasters, coffee and happy endings, and is somewhat addicted to researching random facts and reading the dictionary (which she promises is way more fun than it sounds). A majority of her time is spent being mom to two kids and two dogs while inventing reasons not to do laundry (most of which seem to involve books).
Kenley is the author of The Andari Chronicles, an interconnected series of fairy tale retellings, and Conclave Worlds, a romantic science fiction series.
She also writes sweet contemporary romance under the pseudonym Kacey Linden.
kenleydavidson.com
Acknowledgments
With every book, these acknowledgments get harder to write, not because I have fewer people to thank, but because there is so much in my mind and heart when I think back over the process of bringing a book to life.
Even more so now. It’s been over a year since my last book, and that time has been full of obstacles and challenges that have changed me as a person as well as a writer.
I couldn’t bring myself to write the books I’d intended to write. Nothing went the way anyone expected. And yet, every book has its time, and the seeds of this one have been with me for far longer than I’ve been an author.
So to my team, thank you—for pulling me along with coffee, encouragement, and late-night pep talks. For believing in a book I wasn’t sure I could write.
I’m grateful to my beta readers—Tiffany, Chloe, Theresa, Railey, Shari and Brittany—for loving this new series and making me keep going.
I owe endless thanks to Theresa—my extraordinary editor and map geek—for finding my typos, fixing my subjunctive (if subjunctivitis were a thing, I would totally have it), and pointing out where my characters indulged in geographical impossibilities.
Thank you to MoorBooks Design for the incredible cover—I couldn’t be happier with how well it turned out, and how wonderful everyone has been to work with.
As with every book, I’m thankful to Jeff for all the everything. From layout to marketing to handholding, he’s the ultimate author sidekick and my favorite fan.
And to all my readers: thank you for sticking with me through this long and crazy year. I hope these characters find their way into your hearts as they have mine.