She could not stand it a moment longer. She ran to him. He had time only to look up in surprise and drop the axe before she had thrown her arms around his neck.
He caught her against him, gripping her tight, fingers digging into the soft fabric of her dress.
He was alive. The force of it had never hit her so hard before. She had never seen him like this—never seen the wind lift his black hair, or seen the flush of exertion on his cheeks.
The night was hushed, enchanted. They danced, with only the sound of the softly falling snow as music. It dusted Lucie’s cheeks, her eyelashes. She couldn’t stop looking at Jesse.
“For these past months, I have been able to see the moonlight reflected on the river, feel the wind and rain against my skin. I remember what it is to be hot or cold. To want things. To need things.”
“See?” She caught hold of his hand; it was neither warm nor cold, but seemed to catch warmth from her own skin, his fingers curling over hers. “We have a future. I promise you we do—”
“If you make Livvy laugh, you get double points,” Ty added, from the hallway.
“Well, in that case . . .” Kit started after them. What was it Jace had said, after all? Herondales couldn’t resist a challenge.
If Ty was someone else, Kit would have tried to catch his eye, but he knew Ty wouldn’t look at him directly. It was kind of restful not to worry about it.
Ty was resting his forearms on the crossbar. He flicked his storm-cloud-gray eyes in Kit’s direction. “Tomorrow,” he said quietly, “we follow them to see where they go.”
Kit was surprised to find he was looking forward to it.
“A ghost falling in love with a living girl and pining away in a dusty attic while she lives her life. But I could survive that, Lucie. It would just be a tragedy for me.”
A ghost falling in love.
“See?” She caught hold of his hand; it was neither warm nor cold, but seemed to catch warmth from her own skin, his fingers curling over hers. “We have a future. I promise you we do—”
Ty joined them, his pale oval face unreadable. Kit couldn’t tell anything from his expression—whether he’d seen Kit and Livvy kiss or not. Though what reason would he have to care if he had?