Dark Blood(100)
She was right. The cool of the snowcapped mountains felt amazing against the heat of his skin. The ground was a hot bed of petals, but it was cooling rapidly. “The night’s fading, Branka. Let’s just stay right here. We can open the ground and rest here.”
She pressed kisses along his neck. “I like the idea. It’s so beautiful up here.” She glanced toward the tree. “And look at that, we didn’t even burn down the tree.”
He brushed a kiss on top of her head. “It does look a little scorched. Look at the base and the leaves.”
She laughed softly. “I don’t think so. You’re making that up.”
“Maybe.” He wasn’t so sure. The ground had definitely heated up around the base of the tree, probably affecting the roots underground.
“You make life fun when everything around us is a little crazy, Zev,” she confided. “Thank you. This is the perfect place, far from everything and everyone.”
“It’s the two of us, Branka,” he pointed out. “We’re good together. We belong.”
She nuzzled him again, inhaling his scent. “You always seem to know what I need.”
He laughed softly. “Of course I know what you need. I take my vows to you seriously. You’ll always be first.”
There was a stirring in Zev’s mind. Faint laughter. Do you want to tell me why the lake has risen three inches? I think half the glacier melted. Down here, everyone thinks there’s a possibility that the volcano is becoming active. I told them you two were setting the night on fire, Fen taunted him.
I don’t believe you.
How did I know you two were up there? The entire top of the mountain glowed right through the mist. You can bet it caused quite a stir down below with farmers rushing out to make certain the volcano wasn’t about to blow and kill them all.
Ha. Ha. You’re so funny. Zev was beginning to grow just a little uneasy. Fen sounded amused, but not necessarily as if he was making it up.
Not three inches. We didn’t melt the entire glacier. Although they could have. Branislava had burned hot enough to melt the ice cap.
Don’t bet on it, bro. And go to ground. Both of you are exhausted.
Zev gave him the mental equivalent of rolling his eyes. Dimitri had warned him about Fen’s penchant for being the older brother and how he’d forget that Zev and Dimitri were not only entirely grown-up but had been around for centuries.
Zev wrapped his arms around Branislava, holding her close. “I thought we’d be safe up here, mon chaton féroce, but already, Fen is asking why the lake below has risen three inches. He claims we melted the glacier.”
“He’s such an exaggerator,” Branislava countered, content to bury her face in his neck. She lay quietly for a moment. “He is joking, right? We didn’t really melt the glacier, did we?”
“Hell if I know,” Zev said, too content to move and go check. “We could have.”
“What else did he say?”
“The mountain glowed red through the mist, and the farmers all thought the volcano was active again. But you know he likes to tease.”
She started laughing. “You have to admit it would be kind of funny if it was the truth. Can you imagine the prince asking everyone for reports? Worse, what if he told Gregori to do a flyby to make certain the mountain was safe?”
“He’d get an eyeful with the two of us lying here naked,” Zev said. He glanced up to the sky. Dawn was breaking, light penetrating through the clouds of mist. “We do need to go to ground and heal a bit, Branka. Your spirit and my body. We’re both a bit battered.”
“I suppose so. This feels like such freedom to me, Zev. Thank you again for finding this place for us. I really love it.”
He tipped her chin up with his thumb and kissed her thoroughly. “Open the ground, mon chaton féroce, and let’s get some sleep.”
Branislava waved her hand and opened the ground close to them. “If we did melt part of the glacier, you know we’ll never hear the end of it. My sister and Fen and Skyler and Dimitri will never stop giving us a bad time.”
He floated them into the deep hole. “Let me just say, Branislava, if we did melt the glacier and the lake has risen three inches and we’re teased for the next ten centuries, it was so worth it.”
Her soft laughter told him she agreed with him.
15
Branislava stared down at the deep blue lake shimmering below her. She studied the water lapping at the shore very closely. I don’t think there’s more water in it than there was last night, she told Zev, but her voice indicated she wasn’t certain.
Zev moved up beside her. They hovered together over the body of water, two trails of vapor, looking a little like comets in the night sky. Laughter welled up. Take a look at the reeds and the trees. They’re in the water, Branka, and they weren’t like that last night.