The Secrets of Lore Seymour

45. The Fear of Letting Go

"I vote we play more knights and dragons first," Angel declares when I initially arrive. Grinning, she points her sword at me. "Seren should be the dragon this time. Papa will be the king and I'll be the knight who rescues him!"

Lore claps in exaggerated delight. "That sounds wonderful! Please save me from this terrible beast, Angel. Papa is so scared."

"I'll make sure the dragon never even looks at you again!" Angel shouts and pokes me roughly in the stomach with the tip of her blade. Her expression sours. "This is where you fight me, dragon."

"Oh... I thought we were voting first on what to play," I mumble, glancing awkwardly between the giggling children and Lore's sympathetic smile. I get the feeling he goes through the kids bouncing back and forth between ideas on the daily. This isn't what I'm used to so I don't really know what to do.

"Yeah, you promised we'd play hide and seek next!" Oliver juts out his bottom lip.

He shoots the dangerous expression at Lore, who immediately says, "That's right, we're playing hide and seek now."

I see Lore does have a weakness; his pouting children.

"Let's ask Seren to play knights and dragons another day, okay?" Lore smiles at Angel.

"Fine," Angel huffs, reluctantly slipping her sword into its sheath.

Lore claps to get the kids attention. "Come on, kiddo's, we promised Oliver we'd play hide and seek today."

Darika's concentration wavers. The gusts of wind erupting from her hands dissipate. Isabella howls with laughter when she drops right into Arline's outstretched arms. Darika smiles sheepishly even if her sister continues giggling deliriously after the drop. Once everyone's rounded up, we draw straws to determine who seeks and who hides. Reegan and Arline become the seekers while the rest of us sprint across the estate.

When was the last time I played hide and seek, or any form of childish game? We played at the orphanage, but once I began my training I... well, I trained. There was work to be done. Monsters to slay. Day in and day out I practiced with sword, dagger, bow, then an axe to find what I excelled at, what could keep me alive on the field.

I missed so much, didn't I?

"Ready or not, here we come!" Arline and Reegan call in unison.

Shit! I dive under a bush along the outskirts of the treeline. The vegetation's thick and will provide good cover, but apparently I'm not the only one who thought that.

"Damn it all, what are you doing?" I hiss when Lore comes rolling into my hiding place. "Go find your own spot."

"Come now, sharing is caring," he says, choosing to rest on top of me rather than to the side or even under another bush.

My breath catches when our hips make fast friends. My thighs cradle his waist. I feel his legs brush against mine. Then our chests meet and his long hair that, today of all days, isn't up in a ponytail or braid, drapes over his shoulders to tickle my cheeks. The shadows cut across his porcelain features, eerily perfect, and his eyes shimmer like waves under the blinding sun.

"This--this has nothing to do with sharing," I manage to hiss, though the frustration I attempt to push into my voice disappears by the time the words pass my lips. I sound almost desperate. For what? I'm afraid to learn the answer.

"This is your attempt to irritate me by cutting into my personal space. Again," I add, glowering at his wicked grin.

"How flattering to know that you've been observing me so passionately as to guess my true intentions," he says.