35. Chapter Thirty-Five
35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
KAIUS
A s Elodie disappeared, I went back in, the door sealing shut behind me as I sank into one of the leather chairs that had been brought in. Bastian was already at the cabinet that held the good liquor, pouring us both a generous glass. He handed me mine before taking the seat opposite. My eyes wandered to the carvings of flame that adorned the chair he had vacated; I knew he hated sitting in it just as much as I would have. Draining my glass in one gulp, tiredness tugged at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t aware I needed to inform you on everything she did, or is your infatuation with her that deep? Perhaps you would like a list of her meals to inspect? You had more important things to deal with.”
“Don’t be a dick, Bas,” I said, scraping a hand through my beard and letting my eyes fall shut, exhaling deeply. He had kept me really fucking busy these past few days, and I got the feeling that was partly to keep me from Elodie. As desperate for sleep as I was, I knew it wouldn’t be in any way restful.
Not unless I was next to her.
“I would never dream of it,” he retorted, and a reluctant smile tugged at my lips.
Bastian may be a bastard, but he was also the only person I had ever been able to rely on. Even my own parents—though they hadn’t known it at the time—had let me down. Which is how I ended up in his company in the first place.
The only interruption to the silence was the crackle of flames which was a constant in this palace. I peeled heavy lids open to look at him, focused on the glass clutched in his hands. So much was on our shoulders, but at least I wasn’t the face of a kingdom.
“Who was he?” I asked, anger feeding my magik at the image of his hands over Elodie, of him chasing her through the halls of the palace. I ground my jaw together, squeezing the glass in my hand as I fought the need to go to her. Desperate to soothe every inch of her body and mind until I had fixed it all, chased away all thoughts and every touch he dared to lay upon her. I knew it would never be that easy.
I couldn’t begin to comprehend the barrage of emotions that overcame me when I’d answered the call that told me my Goldie had been in danger, and I hadn’t been there. No, I’d agreed to go on a stupid fucking mission just to stop Bas’ whining.
Marcellus had been there, though.
He looked up, and I could swear I also saw the same anger coursing through his own eyes before he reined it in. Bastian had plenty of practice keeping his emotions in check, which was why seeing Goldie affect him was so entertaining.
Until they were both trying to murder each other.
Although I couldn’t deny she looked sexy as hell wielding all that power.
How Bastian couldn’t see she was the answer to our problems was beyond me. I could easily see she was the answer to mine.
Frowning, he answered. “No idea. He was wearing a guards uniform, even had a golden two flame signet on, but he wasn’t part of the Palace Guards.”
“You didn’t recognise him at all?” Guilt was thick under my skin, why hadn’t I tried to find him once Elodie told me about him? I should have done more. I should never have left.
But I would make it up to her.
“There wasn’t really much left to recognise if I’m honest. Didn’t have much of a face by the time I got there.”
I knew first-hand the damage Marcellus was capable of, but Goldie had done her part, too.
Fuck, I wished I could have seen her in action, though if I had been there, there was no chance he would have even touched a single hair on her perfect head.
Bastian took his phone from his pocket before pulling up the photos from the scene and handing it to me. He was right, there was no longer anything left to recognise, a few tufts of hair and the red stitched signet sticking out from under gods know what.
Could be a chunk of scalp for all I knew — probably was.
Pride radiated through me at what she had done. I couldn’t deny the thought of her pulsing with angry magik and covered in blood didn’t get me hard. I pulled a dagger from my hip, flicking it around my fingers out of habit as I lost myself in that image.
“How much of this was her and how much was Marcellus?” I asked, handing the phone back over.
Bastian’s voice was tense as he answered, “Enough.”
My dick twitched at the memory of her power filling me the other night, and I wondered if I could justify slipping into her bed tonight. No, there would be no more nightmares for Goldie anymore, and I wouldn’t be welcome tonight. I only had myself to blame. I would still be in that room next to her praying to Tieralla she would need me.
“And you still won’t accept she is what we’ve been looking for?”
He leaned forward, fisting a hand through his hair, untouched drink still in the other. If it took another trip to Nova for him to get his head out of his arse about this, then I would do it, even if the seer did give me the creeps.
“Did you find anything when you were away?”
Change of subject, standard Bastian tactic.
“Obviously not, considering what we’re looking for is in this fucking castle!” I lurched from my chair hearing the legs scuff backward across the rugs. “And if I had been here, not off on some stupid search, maybe she would have been safe!” The glass I had been holding shattered into tiny pieces as it hit the wall, fractured in the same way my mind was from thoughts of Elodie’s fear.
Fuck cleaning it up. Bastian could sort that.
“She should have been safe, Bas! This is all kinds of fucked up. We kidnapped her. Took her from her fucking bed. What are we even doing?” His head stayed down, eyes fixed on a point on the floor in front of him, and I wanted something else to throw.
That wasn’t who I was.
I worked every fucking day to release this kingdom from the flesh traders who had their grimy fingers wrapped around it. And here I was, complicit in holding Goldie captive. I couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand myself .
“What do we know about him?” I demanded, feeling the dark urges rising up within me and knowing I didn’t want to hold them back.
“Only this.” Bastian tossed a small clear packet at me, remnants of white crystalised dust lined the bottom and a sunflower was stamped on the front, its petals ablaze.
Flaming sun.
“Marcellus is looking into it.” His voice was distant.
“I’ll be in the dungeons.”