CARDIGAN, acotar ¹

chapter twelve

₊˚ˑ༄ؘ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏

CHAPTER TWELVE

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ERIS'S FINGERTIPS TRAILED down the column of her throat, while an amused chuckle echoed through the woodland as he felt the rush of her pulse beneath his skin.

stopping dangerously at the neckline of her gown, he toyed with the little flowers weaved into the sleeves, which mere mere lines of lilac and silver.

even though he couldn't see it, carson scowled, right before she stepped back and stepped on his toes. his first warning.

the next was the figure brushing through the trailing vines of a willow tree. she nearly sighed in relief when cecelia lyre stepped out of the shadows covering her — protecting her, even. but carson could have sworn a pair of violet eyes, glowing like newborn stars, met hers before disappearing.

her brows narrowed, but she brushed it off as cecelia halted. her gaze landed on eris, then to carson, then lastly, to the blade at her throat.

she had always thought cecelia to be a sweet, welcoming faerie. the type of girl who would do anything for the people she loved. from what carson had heard from lucien, she could have easily been the sun incarnate — a faerie of hope and all things good.

but when she realized eris had no intention of releasing carson, the very earth beneath them could feel the warmth fading from her.

however, she approached with caution — perhaps for more carson's sake than her own, for eris could take her life as easily as he could spare it.

carson had once been the archer but against eris, she was the prey.

"eris," cecelia said, her voice still bright as usual — but the warning in her voice was impossible to ignore. yet eris did so anyway.

"cecelia lyre — or should i say starborn? it's been a while." confusion filled carson's thoughts at eris's amused drawl.

starborn —what did that mean; was it a title — or a name?

whatever it was seemed to anger cecelia, for those golden wisps circled the horizon, observing every hollow pathway, every curve and surface of the earth, until there was nowhere left to go where she wouldn't be able to follow.

eris tilted his head. "well that's just adorable." he studied the faint, bright wisps that carson could have sworn were whispering. without any regard for the danger he was in, he asked, "do they just follow your every command?" when cecelia said nothing, he continued: "if i didn't know any better, i'd say you were a — "

"let," cecelia interrupted smoothly, "her go."

carson had a feeling that eris was smiling as he tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, drawing even more attention to the blade tipping her head up. unwillingly, she rested her head just below his shoulder, near the crook of his neck. he smelt like vanilla and rain-pressed wood, like golden rich ambers.

like autumn — her favorite season.

breaking free of her trance, she tried to speak — only to find that she couldn't form words. her eyes would have widened in alarm, had she not had the gut feeling that the faerie holding a dagger to her throat had something to do with it.