Child. You should keep far away from me.” I spun on my heel and headed for the stairs.
Arik seized my arm before I took the first step. “Who told you that?”
I whirled around to face him, yanking my arm from his grasp. My foot caught on a raised part of the floor. I fell forward, and he caught me with one strong arm.
“Easy there,” he said, keeping the light balanced on his palm.
I stared into his dark eyes, shrugging out of his hold. “Carrig. My nana. They both told me.”
His face fell serious. “Shite.” He paced in mad circles, glancing at me a few times before he stopped. “Oh, Gia,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I pulled back. His fingers gripped mine tighter, and my hand sparked under his touch. I bit my lip to stop its tremble. “That compelled man showed you something about me,” I said. “Didn’t he?”
“No. It was all about me… Some tragedy of my own. The compelled can only see their captive’s past and fears. No need to worry. You’re safe here. Trust me.”
“What did he show you?”
“I…I can’t…”
“You ask me to trust you, but you won’t trust me.”
He lowered his head and studied our linked hands. “I was fourteen and in training. A hound had attacked my group in the library. My parent faery, Oren, was with me. The hound sunk its teeth into Oren’s leg, and the beast pulled him through the gateway book. I froze. By the time the older Sentinels reached Oren, he was dead. That’s what the compelled showed me. He also revealed that I would face the same choice again in the future. And I will fail again—” His voice cracked. “I miss Oren very much. He was a loving father. It’s like the hound tore a piece of my heart away when he took him.”
I squeezed his hand. “You were just a boy. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Many have said the same, but I’m still haunted by it.” His voice was gravelly with emotion. “In the throes of sleepless nights, I still see the horror in Oren’s eyes as the beast dragged him away.”
My thoughts caught up with me. I’m going to a place where these creatures live. If they find out who I am, they’ll kill me. I’m going to die.
My mouth went dry. “I’m scared,” I croaked, swallowing back the gumball-sized lump in my throat.
Time stalled as he stared at me, his dark eyes so intense and full of compassion. “Gia,” he said finally, voice soft. His face was mere inches from my own. He smelled like sweaty leather and soap. His jaw was tight, causing only hollows in his cheeks where his dimples came out when he smiled.
I focused on his lips, staring at the cleft just below the bottom one. My heart raced as his arm came around me and I leaned into his embrace, feeling the warmth of his body. My heart felt like it would fly out of my chest. He rested his cheek against my head, and his warm breaths whispered against my hair.
Something scurried over my Converse, startling me. I yanked away from him, teetering on the edge of the stairwell. He caught me before I fell backwards, losing the light globe he held in his palm. It burst, and little flashes zapped the air.
He laughed. “You’re dangerous.”
“Oww,” I snapped, grabbing onto my injured leg.
“Are you all right?”
“It’s just the cut in my leg,” I said. “My stitches pulled. Something ran over my feet. It was way too big to be a rat.”
“The rats down here are rather huge. They’ve lived here for centuries. They won’t harm you.”
“Says you.” I glanced around my feet, my skin crawling.
He chuckled. “We should catch the others.” He seized my hand in his and turned my palm up. “There’s a charm that releases one’s light globe.”
“Yeah, I heard you say it. Luce, right?”
“That’s correct. Clear your mind and think only of light.”
“Wait. What? I can’t—”
He placed a finger on my lips to stop me. His crooked grin made tiny flutters rise in my stomach. “We won’t know until you try,” he said.
Thinking of anything other than Arik at that point was tough. But Nana’s lamp with the three stained-glass parrots perched on a base of bronzed twigs came to mind. It was the lamp I had stared at during one of my many attempts to ignite the light and had managed to create a flicker of gold on my