Witch Born(91)
She ignored the last bit and explored further. The link between them was more like a leak—like a bit of his emotions and thoughts spilled into the crescent moon on her arm, into her blood, where they mixed with hers.
By the Creators, what would Joshen think? Senna pressed the heels of her palms into her swollen eyes. For the first time in her life, she felt like she knew who she was, what she was capable of. She and Joshen could rebuild their relationship now. But he was gone—captured or…
No! She refused to believe he was dead. He had to be alive. She remembered the way he gently cupped the back of her head, the way his lips felt on hers—hungry and yet somehow gentle. There would be no beauty in the world if Joshen no longer lived in it.
Cord sucked in a breath.
She blushed scarlet. “You dung-licking son of a weasel, stay out of my head!”
He cleared his throat. “You and Joshen…I didn’t know.”
She cast him a searing look. “What do you mean you didn’t know? How could you not know?”
He clambered to his feet and moved as if to go back to the city. He was hoping distance would hide the horror he was doggedly trying to suppress. After a few dozen steps, he remembered he couldn’t leave her and stopped with his fists clenched at his side. “I didn’t know it had gone that far.”
Senna was on her feet before she realized it. Jealousy and confusion and denial poured into her blood in dizzying waves. She stumbled back.
Cord tensed—he must be feeling her dawning understanding. He took a deep breath and then his shoulders sagged. “All I ever saw was you arguing with him. I didn’t even know you liked each other anymore. I had no idea you were to be married. I’m sorry.”
Shock and disbelief crowded her mind. She stepped back but her foot only found open air. She’d moved to the rim of the drop-off without realizing it. She started tipping back, her arms windmilling to stop her fall.
Before she could cry out, Cord was there pulling her away from danger and spinning her so he stood between her and the edge.
His touch burned—in a very good way. Like she had reconnected with a part of herself she’d lost without realizing it. The link flooded open and information poured through.
He released her a second before she jerked away. But she’d seen what he had in his pocket. Moving by impulse, she reached into his trousers and grasped something soft. She pulled out a square of soft leather and opened it. Inside were golden strands of her hair. Cord had tied a knot in the center.
He jerked it back from her, his face coloring. When he’d cut her gag and accidentally snipped her hair, he’d taken the strands and saved them in his pocket.
Her breaths came in short gasps. “You don’t love me. You love my song.”
She felt his emotions as he looked at her. Her hair and eyes reminded him of dark honey. The center line in her bottom lip—he wanted to touch it, rub it with his thumb. Her small frame—he wanted to press his body against her. But it was the sound of her voice that drove him.
All these thoughts were his. She pressed her hands against her temples. “Stop it! You don’t love me!”
The thoughts kept coming. While Cord had recovered from being stabbed, Mistin had hid him shockingly close to Senna’s tree house so he could spy on her. He’d listened to her sing, had watched her from afar for days.
She hadn’t thought it was possible to feel more violated. “You’re attracted to my body, my song—not me!”
His brow furrowed as he reached for her. “Isn’t that how love begins?”
“No!” She shied away from his touch as if it would burn her. “Love is so much more than that. It is a choice you make every day.” Inside, she felt dirty, as if she’d somehow betrayed Joshen. She closed her eyes and thought of him again. His dogged concern, the way he swore when he was angry, the way he inhaled his food. He’d left everything to follow her long before he’d ever heard her voice. Their love had blossomed from their friendship.
Not like this. Not based on looks and her voice as golden as her hair and eyes. Her delicate hands. She tried to block out Cord’s thoughts. “That’s attraction. Not love.” She backed away from him.
It was true things with Joshen had been off kilter in the last few weeks, but her feelings for him hadn’t changed. She glanced again at the cliff, wondering if she had time to push Cord off it.
“I’ve trained in combat since I was old enough to hold a stick.” He wanted to reach for her, but he knew better this time.
Steeling herself, she held her clenched fists tight to her sides. “You will control your thoughts. I am your Keeper. You will obey my orders and keep your distance. And you will not touch me again.”