19. Max
MAX
“ I f this is about last night, sir,” I started, “I had to defend myself.”
“I’d expect nothing less,” he said simply, like it was obvious.
I blinked at him.
“I respect your independence, Max.” His voice softened. “But I want you to know you can come to me. Anytime. Anything you need, anything troubling you.” He held my gaze. “You don’t have to fight alone. Not here.”
My heart stuttered. No one had said that to me since my parents died.
“Sir, I do have a request.”
“Yes?”
“Two of my friends are still missing—I told you and the other heirs during the interrogation. I’d like to join the scout patrols. Search for them.”
Sympathy flickered in his blue eyes. I shouldn’ t have looked. If I fell into those depths, I’d never find the surface again.
“The outposts have swept the Scorched Wastes and surrounding areas multiple times.” His voice was gentle, reluctant. “There’s been no trace of them. We don’t believe they reached any of the satellite towns.” He paused. “If they made it at all.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyelids. I fought them down, swallowed the icy knot in my throat until I could force words past it.
“Thank you, sir. But if no bodies were found, they could still be alive. They’re just…somewhere.”
I couldn’t let myself think about how mutants picked bodies clean. Left nothing to find. I had to hold on to hope that Desta and Kaid lived, unlike Rogue. The image of him being torn apart invaded my head without permission. A tremor ran through me.
Aelindor reached out.
I held my breath. For a fraction of a second, his hand hovered near my face, close enough that I felt warmth radiating from his skin. Then it landed on my shoulder instead.
Even through my uniform, heat spread from his palm through my shoulder, down my spine, settling in my belly like an anchor. My trembling stopped, as if his touch had reached into the chaos inside me and commanded it to be still.
Aelindor’s eyes brightened at my reaction.
Shit. He was so beautiful.
His fingers tightened on my shoulder, just slightly, as if he’d felt the same electric current and was fighting the impulse to pull me closer. His cool mask cracked for half a heartbeat. Beneath it: pure male need. Then the mask slid back, and he was the untouchable Fae prince again.
I gazed at him, wanting to turn my head and press my cheek against his hand. The urge was so strong my neck ached from holding still.
He wants you just as badly, the demon crooned. I told you that he wants to fuck you. Bend you over and bury his massive Fae cock in your greedy cunt.
If I could pound this fucking demon into silence, I would. Sacrifice two fingers to achieve it. Unfortunately, no exorcism could get it out of me.
And now its lewd taunting had planted the image in my head. How would it feel to writhe beneath the Fae prince as he thrust deep inside me?
Before I could suppress it, my skin flushed hot from throat to thighs. My legs pressed together on instinct, chasing pressure I hadn’t asked for.
This was so stupid. He wouldn’t want me—not really. Look at him. Then look at me.
Aelindor withdrew his hand. Slowly. Reluctantly—as if each inch of distance cost him something. I bit my tongue before I could tell him he didn’t need to pull away. That I wouldn’t fight him. That he could do more, and I’d let him.
His eyes deepened to the darkest blue, lit from within like Coldiron catching fire.
This whole scene could just be my stupid imagination.
Get a fucking grip, Max!
“We’ll continue to search for your friends, Max.” Aelindor’s voice was soft. Certain. “That I can promise you.”
My heart fluttered at how he said my name. At the tenderness in that rich, cultured voice, as if my name were something worth holding carefully.
Fuck. I had a serious crush on the Fae prince.
This would go nowhere except me making a fool of myself if I acted on it. He was a prince. Immortal. Fighting a war that would decide the fate of a continent. I was a bony ex-miner with a demon in my head and a chest-bind hiding my secret.
Don’t be a fool, Max. Just don’t be a fucking fool.
I was so deep in my own head that whatever Aelindor said next sailed right past me.
“Uh—sir. Pardon.” I blinked hard. “What…what did you say?”
A flicker of amusement crossed his handsome features. “I’ll be leaving for a few days. Caspian and Drakken too.” His eyes sparkled at my awkward attempt to cover my daze. “If you need anything while we’re gone, go to Nikolai.”
Right. One of them always stayed at the base. The vampire prince’s turn this time.
I held my breath. “Where are you going, sir? If you don’t mind me asking.”
He appeared pleased that I’d asked. “We need to reinforce the surrounding outposts. Provide support after the wyvern assault.” His gaze lingered on me, and I hoped I wasn’t imagining it.
“The ward breach suggests the Pallid Court has developed capabilities we haven’t accounted for.
We need to investigate their alpha mutant program.
Determine the flock’s origin point. Assess whether our perimeter defenses need an overhaul.
” He paused. “Drakken’s already airborne, running aerial reconnaissance.
Caspian and I leave within the hour to join him on the ground. ”
My pulse quickened. He was sharing intelligence far above my pay grade. And he’d come to this classroom, amid busy schedule, to say goodbye to me alone.
I wasn’t fucking reading into it.
I gazed at him, stars in my eyes. I wanted his approval more than anything. Wanted him to see me as someone worth his time. I’d rise to the top of this class. I’d become an asset.
Oh, Max, Max. The demon chuckled, half-amused, half-exasperated. Still insecure. Still blind to your own worth. You were never a nobody. Never will be. You’re greater than anyone on this continent—greater than the White Witch herself. And if you knew what she is to you…
I wanted to snap back: What she is to me is an enemy, and I’m no longer her slave!
But I remembered the rules. Don’t engage. Don’t fucking give it purchase. So I brushed aside another of its riddles—the game it loved to play, dangling knowledge just beyond my reach.
Aelindor watched me, waiting for a response.
What was I supposed to say? Be careful? Take care of yourself? Godspeed? Everything sounded flat. Forced. Foolish. So I said nothing and stared back at him—the default mask I’d worn since I was old enough to learn that showing your real face got you hurt.
“In fact,” he said, “I asked you to stay behind because I wanted to propose something. Would you consider private training?”
I blinked. “But who’s willing to train me? I’m not exactly popular here.”
“Nikolai, Caspian, and I will take turns accelerating your training when we return.” He studied my reaction with those impossibly blue eyes.
I almost asked him to slap me and repeat it, because my ears had to be lying. Three of the four most powerful beings on the continent had decided to train me. Personally. A cadet who’d been in their barracks for less than a week.
“We see your potential, Max.” He smiled. “Will you accept?”
“Yes. Yes, sir!” This time my mouth caught up with my brain.
“You won’t have much of a social life like the other soldiers,” he warned.
“Social life?” The words came out strangled. “Are you kidding me, sir? I don’t even know what that is.”
He chuckled. Low and warm, the sound resonating in his chest. The flutter in my stomach sank deeper.
“Cadets and soldiers do have downtime after their duties and training,” he said. “They watch old shows, play cards, drink at the club. Some of them date.”
I licked my lip. His gaze dipped to my mouth for a second before locking back on my eyes, the hunger in them veiling itself behind duty and restraint.
“You won’t have weekends either,” he continued. “The extra training will be intensive. Are you up for that? It’s all right if you’re not ready. Your former life was hard enough. No one would blame you for wanting to take it easy.”
“I’m in, sir.” My voice came out lower, rougher than I’d intended. Fiercer. “I’m all in. It’ll be a date.”
The words hung in the air between us.
“Oh—no. That’s not what I meant. I mean?—”
“Good, Max.” His chuckle deepened. “I’ll see you when we get back.”
He strode toward the exit. I stood rooted to the spot, my face on fire, watching him catch the light one last time before he vanished.
It’ll be a date? What the fuck?
It’ll be a date, the demon mimicked in a breathy falsetto, then dissolved into laughter that echoed through the hollow spaces of my skull. Oh, Max. You didn’t need my help with that one. You’re a natural disaster all on your own. It yawned, contented. I’m glad we got out of that dreadful mine.