The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter THIRTY-SIX: Liss

Liss hadn't been sure a rune written in her mind instead of on paper would work. Zan said only humans used runes, along with a blood sacrifice. Perhaps that was true. After all, he knew more about these things than she did. But the glamor spell she'd cast on him was working. The evidence was staring her in the face. Although Zan had changed his eyes back to their original vibrant gold on his own, the brown eyes he'd shown the Fexes were there too. If Liss concentrated she could see the glamored mask, like a veil hiding his secret from the rest of the world.

Mixing magic seemed like a big deal. If she could use her luniya this way, what else could she do with it?

"Thank you," she murmured, fighting the desire to raise her hands back up to his face.

Would the spell break if she touched him? Would her hands pass through the veil?

Satisfying her curiosity would be a step too far. Dev would say she was getting carried away, that she was being overfamiliar. But she was comfortable around Zan, despite their brief acquaintance. Probably too comfortable. Probably because his Yansu ability worked magic on her overwhelming anxiety anytime they held hands.

Who wouldn't want to be close to a person like that?

"You're welcome." The words were simple and unencumbered, yet the night's shadows clung to Zan, darkening their meaning. The fire in his eyes dimmed. "In the meadow, when your eyes were closed... Why did you ask if I'd changed?"

"Because..."

Couldn't he guess? Did he think she wouldn't wonder what else he'd inherited from his queen mother?

Silence stretched out between them. Liss wished he would laugh and say he was only joking, that he knew why she'd asked, that he found her wild imagination amusing. But he said nothing.

Eventually, she found her voice. "I asked because I thought you might have a dragon form."

"I don't." His chin dropped to his chest. Curls spilled over his head, hooking around his horns and obscuring his face. "If I did, though... If I had another form, would it bother you?"

Liss studied the whorls on his short, curved horns. The intricate designs reminded her of runes or embossments, like the ones she'd admired on the leather covers of her favorite books in the Children's Cottage.

She opened her mouth to respond–

"How sweet. Am I interrupting a love confession?" Noa manifested from the darkness, his eyes twinkling with mirth as he pulled back the hood of his enchanted cloak.

Liss' shock was twofold. Noa's hair was lighter and longer than Dev's, but his resemblance to her oldest friend was remarkable enough to elicit an unwelcome and undeserved reaction. Again. Her ears flattened in protest. Tingles of embarrassment and fury raced through her. In the past, such feelings had only been a nuisance. But now there was organization to the chaos. The prickly heat coalesced in her chest, expanding into an approximation of the ball of luniya light she'd conjured in the quarry, if somewhat less vibrant.

It had happened once earlier, before supper. Noa had been the cause then too, claiming she was no Lightkeeper. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed, and she'd calmed down before losing control.

She glanced at her hands. The glamor spell still glowed on her palms, so maybe her weakness would remain hidden a while longer. The thought of Zan knowing how much Noa's presence affected her made her uneasy.

"You followed us?" Zan said disdainfully.

Noa snorted. "That's your comeback? I expected better from one of the mighty Yansu."