Daylight

Chapter 8

Elain had been quieter as they walked from the restaurant to the seamstress shop. Granted, the majority of the time he'd known her, she'd been quiet. But compared to the last couple of days, she was more quiet than usual.

"Are you alright?" Lucien asked her tentatively.

She smiled, but it was clear that it was an effort. "Just preoccupied, I suppose."

Lucien began replaying everything they'd talked about since leaving the townhouse through his head, trying to identify what had triggered the change in her mood. If the mating bond had been solidified, he could reach her more easily... but since she hadn't accepted it yet, it was still muted and murky. He wondered if she was thinking about the mortal whose ring she still wore.

That fucking ring...

Lucien suddenly stopped. Elain had gone a few more steps before realizing he was no longer beside her. She turned back and said, "Are you alright?"

The ring. He'd been so agitated when he'd first thought about her ring at lunch. It was shortly after then that she'd begun acting aloof and sullen. Had she heard him through the bond?

No. It wasn't possible. Even though mated pairs could communicate through the bond before it was formally accepted, he would have had to send the thought to her. And he hadn't... had he?

"Lucien?"

Her voice tugged him out of his spiraling thoughts. He was still reeling, still perplexed about this bond that even he didn't fully understand yet. But the sound of his name on her sweet voice... It rocked him to his very core. He could live a thousand lifetimes and not hear anything as intoxicating as the sound of his name on her lips.

"Lucien."

Elain was starting to look worried, which is what finally pulled him back to the present. He both loved and hated seeing her doe-brown eyes clouded with concern.

"I'm sorry," he said with a small shake of his head, expelling those toxic thoughts from his mind. "I let my thoughts run away with me."

"You looked like you'd seen a ghost," she said softly.

It was Lucien's turn to paste on a forced smile, but his was more convincing than Elain's had been. As they neared Deidre's shop, the street grew more crowded. Eventually, the throngs of people were so thick, there was no clear way through the crowd.

"I wonder what's going on," Elain mused.

Lucien could faintly hear a rapid, high-pitched voice calling out lot numbers and bids.

"It sounds like a public auction or something?"

"Oh, you're right," she said. "On the new moon every month, the city auctions off surrendered and foreclosed properties and any other seized assets. Although Rhysand said that there's usually no foreclosures or seizures, just surrenders."

"This place really is some kind of nirvana," he commented.

Elain shrugged her agreement but then grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

"To get to Deidre's, we have to go through that," she pointed at the thick crowd.

"What about one of the other brides?"

"I suppose we could," she said, "but we would have to backtrack nearly eight blocks." She held out her hand.

Lucien stared at it like it was a rattlesnake poised to strike. Elain glanced back and waved her hand impatiently.