32. Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

Eldrick

E ldrick, alone, sat in a booth, wedged into the corner of Lou’s bustling bakery. Leg bent, arm resting on his knee, he waited for Tovi to arrive as they set out to learn more about the fighting rings.

The evening hour reminded Eldrick of the same foot traffic as the morning hour in the Drengr Village, as the days in Drystan were reversed from the Vadon Mountains. Vampyrs, none the wiser he, a werewolf, observed them, grabbed breakfast, breads, and desserts. Some dashed out the door, while others lingered to chat with those they knew, enjoying their steaming cups of coffee over an evening chat.

Warm, inviting, with sugar and yeast bubbling in the air, Lou’s bakery challenged every notion of vampyrs Eldrick had. They dressed differently than werewolves back home, with satin and silks replacing wool and furs. The vampyrs moved differently, too, light on their feet, a slight prowl or slink. Yet, they came and went, laughed, chatted, and ate like a werewolf would before heading to their posts in the early hours.

Robin’s-egg blue tile and maroon painted furniture decorated the space. Behind a counter, Lou’s eyeglasses matched the red leather booth Eldrick sat in. She paid him no mind, running her shop as though a handful of werewolves, a mage, and the rogue princess weren’t staying in the hidden passageways and tunnels of her secret safe house.

A lithe frame glided through the open door. Tovi wore the same emerald cloak, hood up, as she had when she’d left a few hours ago. Where she went, she hadn’t said. An odd trust had settled over the Gray Fenris toward the princess, and yet Eldrick couldn’t help but be curious. Where had she gone, and why had she slipped out like a thief in the night?

She weaved her way through the bustle, her gaze snagging his. It kept happening. Chaos ensued around them, but with a single look, a chanced glance, they’d connect like a thread pulling taut. The bakery fell away. The grating of forks, laughter, and clattering cups muted. A stillness, a constant grounded Eldrick. The sight of her jade eyes calmed his wolf.

Tovi broke the connection as she slid into the booth across from him. She dropped her hood back and—

“Moons, what did you do to your beautiful hair?” Eldrick asked.

Tovi’s eyes went wide, and embarrassment flushed through him. Beautiful. The word burst out him. She did that to him—made him speak without thinking, made him act without looking, made him feel without caution.

He couldn’t let his growing trust of Tovi lead him away from rational decision making and into the burning realm of want. Because he wasn’t sure he could control his desire for Tovi. His wolf growled, a hungry beast pacing to be let loose.

He cleared his throat. “I mean… you dyed it.”

Tovi’s once snowy blonde hair, the color that reminded him of a dove, had an auburn hue. The red undertones heightened the green in her eyes, and Eldrick pushed down his yet again growling wolf.

“The hair is sadly a Verena trait. I’d be spied a mile away. Linx helped me with the color. She suggested a green to match my eyes but,” Tovi shrugged. “I reminded her my goal was to be inconspicuous.”

“I see.” Eldrick relaxed farther into the booth .

There was little Eldrick understood about Linx. Why and when she’d left the mages of the east or who she was amongst them, for example. But what he didn’t understand the most was his friend’s ease with change. How she took pieces of herself and morphed them into something else entirely. And now she’d done it to Tovi too.

“Do you think your brother suspects you’d try and free Evelyn?”

Tovi shrugged. “He considered me a threat enough to bury me in a box while he captured her.”

“He what?” Eldrick whispered, a deadly calm trickling over him.

“He buried me, miles outside of Callum. I’ll always be a threat to Riven, seeing I was the twin born earlier. He also knows I love Evelyn. But Riven—”

“Underestimates you and your influence in Drystan,” Lou said. She placed numerous plates of pastries, sweet and savory, onto the table. “Always has.”

Herbs, custard, lavender, and a sharp cheese filled Eldrick’s nose, eliciting a grumble from his stomach. As interested as he was in the promise of breakfast, he was far more interested in what Lou could reveal about Tovi.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Tovi tucked a stray strand of dyed hair behind her ear. “Lou.” A warning sat in the single word. Was she afraid Lou would reveal secrets?

The baker didn’t falter, pushing her red glasses up her nose and crossing her arms.

“Riven cares about those who fund his pockets and make his court happy. He forgets there are vampyrs in Drystan that aren’t lords and ladies, vampyrs like me who didn’t have a name or centuries to earn a place.” She waved her hand around. “None of this would’ve happened without the efforts of Tovi.”

“Your bakery?”

“No,” Lou said, rolling her eyes. “The village. Along with many others throughout Drystan. Cursed as it is, Tovi made it better, made it bountiful. ”

“ Lou. ” Tovi’s one word this time was a plea. A slight downturn to her pink lips, a pinch between her brows, hands clasped so tightly on the table, her knuckles whitened.

Tovi was embarrassed, but Eldrick couldn’t understand why.

“Hate hearing it all you want, princess, but it’s the truth.” Lou pointed out the door. “You’ll find vampyrs and humans living in harmony here. There’re laws against harming humans.” She pointed back at Tovi. “We have her to thank for that, too.”

With that, Lou sauntered off, leaving an awkwardness twisting in the air with the steam rising from their food.

Eldrick tried to rack his brain. “Why haven’t you mentioned anything before?”

“About?” Tovi stabbed a fork into a golden crisp pastry filled with stewed apple.

Eldrick gestured towards the line at the door. “What you did for your people.”

“Because I didn’t do it to gain favor.” She peered up at him, lips pursed. “Not from my people or potential allies. I did it because it’s what’s right.”

Eldrick stilled. His stomach roiled, but not from the sweetness cloying the air but guilt. He’d misjudged her. An apology sat on his tongue. Perhaps it was pride. Perhaps he was worried feelings pushed him to say it. He couldn’t muster the courage.

The true issue was, Eldrick’s logical side whispered that admitting his desire for a woman like Tovi—brave and smart, loyal and fierce—would be no weakness. How could it be, vampyr or not? And that terrified him. What would he do if his feelings and thoughts mirrored the other when it came to a woman like Tovi Verena?

Perhaps it wasn’t his judgment he didn’t trust, but himself.