7: Promises

Leneah walked through the quiet streets, so much more somber with the midsummer decorations gone for the year. Knowing what evil lurked in the dark corners of her world cast a pall over everything.

She shuddered away thoughts of Harbingers, Kraah, and Brother Night. Tonight’s mission was about hope for the future. She wouldn’t spend another evening hunched at the far end of the bar at the Duskcat, drowning her longing for a certain Valiant Captain in summer ale and berry tarts. Stomach filled with butterflies, Leneah picked up her pace, the soft leather of her slippers silent on the cobblestones.

The Garrison District was especially businesslike. The row-houses stood in orderly lines, and even the market stalls in the green, all closed down for the night, were ship-shape. She dodged into the clumps of apple trees that marked Garrison Park and wandered toward a side street where the homes were not so uniform.

Painted in a wild array of colors, with festoons of ribbons or magelights strung from balconies, this nook housed soldiers and civilians alike, and the view of the park nearby made it the perfect place to call home.

Now, to see if he was here like he’d been the past nights.

Leneah peered from the shadows, up at the top balcony of a pale blue home. A figure leaned on the railings, gazing out over the sleepy streets. Reliable, right on time. Brennan Hawke was a quiet man of routine and simple pleasures. She’d gotten to know him in the last few days, walking with him on his patrols when it was safe to do so, meeting him after his shifts. And of course, watching him from afar.

Tonight’s the night if you’re going to tell him. And then it’s on to the next assignment…

She watched him for one more delicious moment, taking in the ease and peace of his posture. Leneah drew in a deep breath, pulling from the leylines around her. Magic suffused her, effervescent and pure. As she exhaled, she sketched a sigil in the air and broke into a run. One, two, three mighty leaps as breezy leymagic shivered in gold arcs under her feet, carrying her to the balcony.

“What the–” Brennan cried out, fists raised, his lithe body primed for a fight.

“It’s just me, Leneah,” she replied, her voice small and breathless as she held up her hands in mock-surrender.

“Sweet Source, woman. You’ll get yourself hurt that way,” he chided.

She shrugged off his brusqueness, taking in every detail she could. His jaw was fixed in a stern frown, warm hazel eyes burnished gold by the string of magelamps over his head. His honey-brown hair had grown a bit in the fortnight that had passed, and a dusting of stubble covered his face, making him look rougher around the edges than usual. How in the world could he have become even more handsome than before?

“Are you alright?” he asked, brow crinkling in confusion.

“Yes. Um. I’m okay. I just—” she started, face heating as the butterflies in her stomach turned to bees. “I have to go soon. Tomorrow soon. A new mission in Canrish.”

“Canrish? That’s a month’s worth of travel.” Brennan frowned. “How long will you be gone?”

Did he care she would not be around? Or was he simply marking her movements, as any expert hunter would with his prey, even when caught? The way he shifted his weight closer, the crease in his brow deepening, gave her the answer she hoped for. She blinked, a wave of warmth suffusing her from her head to the tips of her toes.

“As long as I have to,” she said. “I have important good-thief things to do,” she added with a weak chuckle.

“I don’t doubt it,” he replied, serious as ever. “How can I find you?”

Leneah ignored the question, toying with her cloak pocket. “I have a gift.”

“You didn’t steal it from the Premier’s Palace, did you?” Brennan gazed at her, still unsmiling but with a flash of humor in his eyes.

“Ha, ha. As a matter of fact, I paid Quinnley a visit at her parents’ store. Consider it my way of saying thanks for saving my life, Brennan the Valiant.” She drew out her hand, which to her dismay was shaking, offering him a small parcel wrapped in white cotton and tied with blue string.

“I didn’t get you anything–”

“Just open it,” she cut in, nerves making her words sharp.

He studied her for a moment, brow raised, then opened the little packet. He froze in place, not speaking.

“It’s a hawk because, well, your name. It’s also a protective amulet. I figured you needed some kind of reward for being the best thief-hunter I’ve ever met,” she said, voice trailing away in panic.

“I…I love it. I’ve never gotten a gift like this,” he murmured. With slow, careful hands, he looped the chain over his head so that the etched-stone, stylized hawk rested on his chest.

Before Leneah realized what she was doing, she reached out and feathered her fingers over the pendant, pressing her palm against the soft fabric of his doublet. He grinned crookedly and covered her hand with his.

“I’ll ask again,” he started, voice lower than before. “How can I find you after tonight?”

Leneah gazed up into those earnest eyes, heart threatening to fling itself from behind her ribcage. “I can never be around in the normal sense. But if you want, I’ll never be entirely away, either.” The words warbled, her body trembling so much he’d have to notice.

“I’m a patient man who enjoys his own routines. I’ll be here,” he said, the promise rumbling low in his chest.

“Oh. That’s very good. Fantastic.” Leneah broke into a smile. “But Brennan? It’s not safe out there. Please be careful and watch out for things like what happened in the mausoleum. I know it’s your duty to protect others, but… Your safety is important to me.”

“As is yours to me.” His fingers tightened over hers, and he bowed his head close. “I can tell you are part of something bigger. I want to help.”

Leneah was quiet for a moment, stunned. Did he know about the Order? He was a clever man. Surely he understood on some level what she was.

“You can support me best by doing what I just asked. And as the days pass, there may be more ways. Will you promise to keep Easthaven safe, Brennan?”

“I would anyway, but for you, well, I pity anyone who gets in my way,” he said, deadly assurance in his words.

Leneah shivered. He truly was a hunter, this Valiant of hers. She dove in before she could change her mind, fluttering a hesitant kiss to his lips. He answered by circling her in his arms and yanking her closer.

There was no hesitation in how he kissed her back. Only sureness and heat. Shimmers of joy dazzled over her skin, arced like lightning in her veins. Who cared if she was sweating in the humid summer night, or if his stubble scraped her cheek. Or if his arms tightened around her so tightly that it was hard to breathe.

This was the best kind of magic.

Clanging clock-bells echoed through the air, dragging her down from paradise and back to Ahra. It was getting late. Leneah drew away from the warmth of Brennan’s embrace, smiling sadly.

“I have to go,” she whispered, blinking so no pesky tears could escape.

“I know,” he said, but dove in for one last sweet, lingering kiss. He stepped away, expression intense. She had to leave now before she did something stupid like offer to stay in Easthaven for the rest of her life, instead of doing what had to be done.

“I’ll be back for you, Captain Hawke,” she whispered, then sketched a sigil in the air between them and leaped up and over the railing, landing softly on the paving stones far beneath Brennan’s balcony.

She threw a glance over her shoulder. He was still there, his sharp gaze following her as she faded into the night. The world may be full of peril and darkness, but after these last days, Leneah had hope that the light was stronger, and that for each Ahran who intended harm, there were legions of others ready to protect all that was good.

And maybe, just maybe, she would finally have one of those protectors walking with her into untold danger as she set off to save the world.