The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter FORTY-SIX: Zan

Liss kicked him in the head. She was thrashing in her sleep, and Zan had made the mistake of curling up at the foot of the bed. He would have slept on the floor, but Liss was nothing if not stubborn when she made a request.

Now he had a headache. At least it was quiet, save for Liss' whimpering and the breeze rattling the rain chute. Periodically, she'd murmur things he tried not to hear. His name. Dev's. Names he'd never heard.

He didn't realize she was awake until her eyes flashed in the dark. "I won't let her win."

A belly-flop and meow wasn't a proper response, but it usually made Ayer smile. He hoped it would give Liss a small amount of comfort, too.

"I'm serious, Zan." Or not. She wiped a hand across her eyes. "I'll defeat her. I'll save you."

Why had this become about him?

Zan crawled to her knees, pressing his furred cheek against her hand. She dragged him to her chest, curling around him like a shell. Instinct urged him to claw free—or maybe that was his own embarrassment—but she held fast.

"Please, stay." She nuzzled into his thick ruff, drying her tears. "You're so warm."

He went limp in her arms. Her pulse slowed, but one wrong turn or a misplaced paw would break the spell.

"I know it isn't fair, but it's easier like this for me. As long as you don't mind."

He meowed, twisting his muzzle into the crook of her arm. It had been a long day and a trying evening, but he wasn't about to complain. Some people never got the chance to be close to anyone, covered in fur or otherwise. He was lucky, wasn't he?

That's what he told himself, anyway.

She rested her chin on his head, her voice fuzzy with sleep. "I'll be braver tomorrow. You'll see."

That's what he was afraid of.

Zan forced his eyes shut until sunlight crept into the cottage through the vent in the ceiling, shifting reality back into place. Liss was asleep facing the wall, so he Changed behind his open cabinet door. His shirt went on backwards, and his foot got stuck in his trouser leg twice, but he managed record time.

He left a handful of nuts and a jar of pickled plums on the stove and sneaked away to the river with a bundle tucked under his arm. It had been weeks since he'd properly bathed. He'd thought nothing of it before Nightfair, but Liss' comments stuck in his head. He rubbed his skin raw and scraped the grease and dirt from his hair with both hands, only emerging from the water once he was sure he'd rid himself of the stink.

By the time he returned to the cottage, dry and dressed, Liss was awake. She sat cross-legged on his bed with Mina Fex's journal open on her lap, glancing up when he opened the door. The plum she'd been lifting to her mouth fell onto the yellowed journal pages, leaving a wet trail as it rolled off into the wrinkled blankets.

"How do I look?" He held out his arms.

The suit from Nolene was comfortable and well tailored, the dark green fabric catching the morning sun with a silver sheen. The seams were exquisite, threaded so tightly they might have been enchanted. The jacket alone would probably buy a year of suppers in town.

"You look... different."

Zan chuckled, running a hand through his damp hair. "Thanks, I think?"

"Oh!" Liss dove toward the blankets, fishing out the plum. She popped it into her mouth and chewed. And chewed. "I found something while you were gone. A promising spell. But I don't understand it all." She clutched the locket through her tunic. "The stone isn't helping this time. I was hoping you might be able to."