13. Kaiya
Agod”s forsaken lovers” suite?
The single bed loomed from the center of the room like some hungry beast.
I stared, the passage of time marked only by my heart beats. There wasn”t even enough room for one of us to sleep on the floor!
”Go find another room.” I bit the words out as I tossed my pack onto the bed, the fluffy duvet swallowing it whole before I turned back, hands on my hips.
”Slow down, Princess. It”s a big bed.” Jaiel motioned behind me. ”Perhaps you”d feel more comfortable if we put some pillows between us?”
”Seriously?” I gestured to the monstrosity. Wait, was that a gods damned mirror above the bed?
”It was bad enough that we were sharing a room,” I snapped. ”But now I”m supposed to sleep next to you on that with a mirror above us?!”
Jaiel winced. ”What if we pretend it”s a new style or something? Mirrors on ceilings make the room feel bigger. And a bigger room means … it is perfectly appropriate for two agents to share.”
I cocked a brow and looked around at the tiny room again. ”Are you crazy? Only a gremlyn would think this was a large space — even with a mirror.”
”How about this?” He let out a soft breath and lifted a hand to his chest. ”I swear on my mother”s life that I will behave in this room.”
”Do you even have a mother?”
His eyes widened. ”Of course! And a sister, and a brother, as a matter of fact.” His hand dropped. ”Though I”m not sure how much good it does to swear on someone you don”t know or like …”
I rolled my eyes. ”Sorry, but no matter what or who you swear on, the answer is still no.”
”Look.” He tugged on his earlobe, face going serious. ”I”ll be honest. I don”t want to bunk with you, either. My charisma is already low, and sharing this room with you would hinder my chances at replenishing it with a human aboard. But you saw how the Fae treated me. Do you honestly think I could even find somewhere else on this ship?”
”Yes!” I said, flinging my hand toward the door. ”With one of those humans you were just saying you”d fuck! Go charm one of them into sharing their room with you.”
His jaw dropped. ”You want me to try to charm … saints. You really are ruthless. And you don”t even get how it works.” He ran his fingers through his hair. ”Just so you know, I do have principles. I may flirt and tease, but I could never and would nevercharm someone into doing something they didn”t already want to do. Ever.”
I gestured toward the bed. ”Yet you”re okay with forcing me to sleep next to you?!”
He put up his hands. ”That”s not what”s happening here. This room is as much mine as it is yours. And as I already stated, I will respect the divide.”
Gods. He seemed sincere … but I could just imagine Lynn winking and gossiping back home. And there”s no way I”d be able to sleep with him snoring beside me! Then we”d be completely fucked on the mission.
I couldn”t do it. Nope. No way.
If only he hadn”t made it past the fucking steward.
The steward!
”Use the letter!” I pointed at his pack. ”The one from the kings. You can use it to force someone to give you their room before the ship leaves port. Then you wouldn”t be using your charisma to manipulate them, they”d get on the next ship, and you”d have a room!”
Jaiel inhaled sharply and his brows lifted.
”Come on, Princess. I”m only supposed to use that in extreme situations. And you know it”s wrong to steal a room from an innocent person just because you want a whole GIANT bed to yourself!”
Crossing my arms, I shook my head. ”It”s more than that. We both know you won”t be much help on the mission. How am I supposed to keep us alive if I can”t sleep?”
”That doesn”t even make any sense!” His jaw pulsed and he let out a frustrated sigh as he looked from me to the door, then grit his teeth. ”You know what? No. I”m done arguing. You”re right. I WILL use the letter.”
He pulled his pack from his shoulders and began rummaging inside.
I let out a relieved sigh. Thank the Gods! He was finally seeing reason —
”Kaiya Maderoth.” He pressed the letter into my chest, eyes steely. ”By order of the Three Kings, I am taking the side of the bed that is rightfully mine. AND you will NOT stop me. And don”t even think about punching, stabbing or otherwise injuring me unless I break my promise and cross into your space, which I hereby swear NOT to do.”
I stood there, mouth agape, as he shook his head, then stuffed the letter back into his pack. ”So fucking stubborn …”
”You know I”m going to ignore that, right?” I hissed.
”I don”t care,” he snapped as he shouldered the bag, then squeezed in next to me at the foot of the bed. ”This is now my half of the bed. I”d appreciate some space.”
I tried to step away, but between Jaiel and that damn bed, there wasn”t anywhere to go.
”Oh,” he continued, turning to look down at me, those blue eyes flashing. ”And while I”m at it … I”ll have you know, I”m a fucking fantastic agent. Something you”d see if you could stop looking down your nose long enough to actually see me.”
I scoffed.
”I hate to break it to you.” I stood on my toes to close the distance between us. ”But you”re about as good an agent as I am a gremlyn, and everyone knows it. What have you even done in the past two years other than fuck and woo those damn aristocrats?”
I leaned forward so our noses almost met. ”Even in Gleyma, where you claim to have saved me, it looked a lot more like your ”curse” did the work instead of you.” I let my gaze rake over him with a sneer. ”No, Prince Kierstall, your ONLY value is fucking whoever the Empire points you at. Meanwhile, I, and the other actual agents out there, are risking our asses every day to stop events like Gleyma and Karemi from happening again.”
His mouth opened, but I put up my hand. ”And don”t even try to spout any of that ”I”m a Rogue, so this is just my cover” shit. I haven”t seen you do anything in opposition to the Empire other than be friends with … with Eli before he died.”
His eyes flashed, and his nose flared. ”Well, Princess, that may be true … but that important work you do is ALSO total gremlyn-shit. You”re nothing but a pet for Lady Frexin, sniffing out relics for her without even pausing to consider who you”re giving them to. What about the collared mages that your beloved Empire enslaves or kills?” He paused. ”Have you even considered helping them instead? When was the last time you went to the mage camps? Have you seen what the collars do to them?” His lips curled into a sneer. ”How in the seven hells can you justify even remotely supporting that by giving the Empire more relics to use?”
”The Empire doesn”t USE the relics, you asshole,” I snapped. ”I kill them, or Frexin puts them in that vault! Besides, collars might not be fun, but at least those people are still alive!”
The same couldn”t be said for the victims of twisted relics.
Those people would never get to take another breath, walk another step, hold another person …
No. I may not be helping those individual people, but I was ridding the world of evil tools, making it safer for people like them.
And that was enough.
It had to be.
I was doing the best I fucking could!
”Are you sure about that?” he asked, voice soft. ”I know you think Frexin —”
”You know nothing!” I snapped, shoving him toward the door with all my might. I needed to get away so I could fucking think!
Except I”d forgotten how close we were, and how much larger he was than me, and how the foot of the bed was at the back of my feet …
The world slowed as I fell.
In desperation, I reached out, grabbing whatever I could to stop my fall.
My fingers gripped the cool fabric of Jaiel”s shirt … and it did not stop me from falling.
I watched in horror as Jaiel”s blue eyes went wide and he tipped toward me —
My breath whooshed out as we landed on the bed in a tangle of limbs — Jaiel”s firm thighs pressed against my own, his heart thudding against my chest … a tangle of heated confusion.
I froze, his handsome face inches from my own, blue gaze pinning me in place as heat unfurled everywhere we touched. Igniting the anger, turning it into something much more dangerous.
I — He — We …