“You insisted he train me,” I said.

“I asked him to train you to shift,” Adrian said.

“He was.”

“With a blade?”

“If you do not like his methods, perhaps you should train me,” I said. “It seems right considering the only time I’ve managed to shift was with you.”

Adrian raised a brow, a glimmer of amusement in his gaze, and while it irritated me that it was at my expense, I was glad to see it.

“That can be arranged,” he said, the humor quickly fading from his eyes, and with it, my heart sank. “I do not like to see you hurt.”

“Nor I you,” I said.

He offered a small smile, but his expression had gone dark, distant. I wanted to call him back to me, but I did not know how. Still, he held my gaze as he ran his tongue over my wound, and my fingers tightened around his hand as it tingled, healing from the inside out.

When it was done, he brushed his lips against my knuckles but did not release my hand, though I tried to free myself and return to digging.

“Adrian—”

“It’s all right,” he said, but it wasn’t. Someone had destroyed something Adrian loved, and it felt deeply personal. And yet as if he did not wish me to know how much it affected him, he added, “There will be other fish.”

I frowned at him and he raised a finger, smoothing my frustrated brows.

“There is only one you,” he said and helped me to my feet. “Come with me. I want to take you somewhere.”

I was wary. This seemed too spontaneous.

“Where, exactly?”

“Let it be a surprise.”

I hesitated, not because I did not wish to go with him but because I was anxious at the thought of leaving Cel Ceredi with everything that had happened since Ravena’s attack.

“We will not be gone long,” he said and hooked his arm around me, drawing me close, his hand tangling in my hair. “Please, Isolde. I want to see you happy.”

My brows lowered, confused by his words. “I am happy with you.”

He studied me for a moment, and I watched his lips as he strung his explanation together. “I have never seen you smile at me the way you did with Killian last night in the great hall.”

I could not imagine that was true, but I felt as though he believed what he was saying, which made me sad. Did I scowl at him so much he forgot when I smiled?

“I want to be the reason for that smile,” he said. “Let me try today.”

I did not know what to say because I wanted to say so much.

“Just say yes,” he whispered, reading my thoughts, and with his lips so close to mine, my resistance unraveled, and I relented. “Fine. Surprise me.”