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echo my thoughts. Sometimes I hear theirs. Usually they say, ‘Save us’ or ‘We die,’ because of the blight.” She shivered.
    Trevin wished he could put his arm around her, but with Khareet and Dano following, he didn’t want to try.
    “I’ve heard one voice,” he said as they headed up the stairs, “but I’ve heard it three times.”
    “From the trees?”
    “I think not. I heard it twice in the aerie.”
    “What does it say?”
    “Seeker,” he whispered.
    Melaia pursed her lips. “Tomorrow we’ll go to the aerie,” she said. “We’ll watch for Peron and listen for your voice.”
    As they neared the top of the stairs, Trevin rubbed his right hand. Now was the time. “You surprised me tonight with your vow,” he said softly.
    “I meant to keep it a secret, but after hearing my father’s news, I couldn’t stay quiet. I hope you’re not offended.”
    He laughed. “Just surprised. I didn’t know you had such feelings. Lately we’ve spent only snatches of time together.” He glanced over his shoulder at the bodyguards. “And never alone.”
    “So you’re not offended?” She looked sideways at him. “I’m relieved. I was an awful shrew last fall, terribly angry with you. It’s a wonder you’re still willing to abide my presence.”
    He started to reach for her but stopped himself. “Melaia, you’re all I could want.”
    She grinned. “You
are
a thief. You stole the very words I was going to say.” She dashed up the last two steps and across the landing to her door, where she paused. “I can sense you, Trevin. I couldn’t before, because I couldn’t still my mind when you were near. But I’ve begun to sense you. You’re the most tantalizing shade of gold.”
    She swept into her room, calling, “Serai, did you find the ointment?”
    Trevin stared after her. Angels couldn’t sense him, but Melaia could. That must mean he was Nephili, half-angel as she was. Livia had suspected as much, but neither of his parents had claimed to be an angel. Then again, both had died before he knew to ask.
    Melaia sensed him. Proof enough.
    He stood taller. Gold. He was tantalizing gold.
    Melaia appeared with a lidded jar and handed it to him. “Don’t slather it on.” Her soft fingers gently stroked his bruised cheek. “Just rub in a small amount until the ointment disappears.”
    “Won’t you show me how?” he asked. “I have a bruise on my upper arm too. One on my chest. My thigh—”
    She swatted his arm. “Begone before I give you another one.”

   CHAPTER 4   
    revin sat on his pallet, smearing menthia ointment on his bruised cheek. The sharp scent took him back to a night by a hearth fire in a cottage near Stillwater when the priestess Melaia had spread salve over his bruised belly. That night she had asked him who he was, and he had told her he didn’t know. He had acted the part of a confident kingsman, but his deeds had shown him a coward, a thief, an informant. Even now he didn’t dare tell Melaia the extent of his guilt for fear she would reject him.
    He inspected his arms for bruises and wished there was a salve for his conscience. Even knowing he was Nephili didn’t assuage his guilt. Perhaps after the king officially proclaimed him a comain, he could finally put aside his past and start anew.
    Jarrod, in his priestly blue robe, leaned his lanky frame against the doorjamb. “So you were feasting in Redcliff while I dredged a reeking well for your body.”
    Trevin chided himself for being too preoccupied to sense Jarrod’s presence. He usually felt angels before he saw them. He tugged off his tunic. “You would prefer to have found a body?”
    “I’m relieved to see the body alive.” Jarrod retied his long hair. “Though how you kept yourself from drowning, I’ll never know. I guess your scratches tell the story.”
    Trevin dipped into the ointment again, grateful that Jarrod was not upset with him. As Dreia’s son and Melaia’s half brother, Jarrod had a