Chapter 58
Belle
We wound through a long hall, then up a spiral stairwell. The dank air crept under my skin, and I shivered. “There’s always hope,” I said.
Valen stopped by a stone door and raised the torch to my face. Darkness still pooled in his gaze. “And how would you break the curse, princess? By making a wardrobe dance around? What power do you think your magic will have over it if Locke and I have failed after all these years?”
The biting sarcasm in his words masked the desperate question in his eyes. He was asking, hoping I had an answer.
But I didn’t.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know.”
Valen grunted, then opened the door and ushered me through into a large room with ornately carved bookshelves: his personal chambers. The subterranean passages must be how he moved back and forth without letting on that he was the dragon.
“If you told me more,” I said hopefully, “maybe I could help.”
He studied me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of hope in his eyes.
“Maybe, but not tonight.” He extinguished the torch and placed it in an empty sconce, then closed the secret door.
“I transformed without feeding, and I don’t have the strength nor the patience to endure your relentless questions. ”
I glanced nervously at the exits—one led to the castle, the other to his bedchamber. “What are you intending to do with me?”
The corner of his mouth twitched, heat blazing in his eyes. “I can think of several things, but I doubt you’d be interested in any of them.”
My lips parted in shock, even as a treacherous sliver of my heart was desperate to know what those things were.
“Relax, princess, you’re safe,” Valen said, his smoldering gaze telling me I was anything but safe. “Promise me three things, and everything can go back to the way it was before.”
“The way it was before.” The words were bitter in my mouth. I would still be his hostage, begging for every freedom.
To be fair, it was far better than being locked in the dungeon tower, the obvious alternative. Perhaps he’d allow me to use the library. I could search for a way to break the curse, or to repel the beasts—something that he and Locke missed.
“What promises do you want from me?” I asked hesitantly. “Not to kill you?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I doubt you’d last a day.”
He wasn’t wrong. Maybe a few days at most.
“Then what?”
He leaned against the large mahogany desk and folded his arms across his chest, the movement snatching my attention to the way his biceps flexed. “Never conspire against me again. Never try to escape. And never tell anyone the truth of what I am.”
I raised my brows. “And you’d take me at my word?”
“Despite what a relentless pain in the ass you are, I want to.”
My neck flushed with annoyance. I was the pain in the ass? The king desperately needed to do a little self-reflection.
“And you’ll keep your promise to leave Cassius and Ella alone?”
An echo of old anger flashed across his face, but it faded quickly. “Yes.”
“Grant me freedom in the castle as well. I want to go where I like without minders. I’m tired of being your hostage.”
A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “You mean my guest.”
“I’m not sure you know the meaning of that word, Your Highness.”
“You’re probably right.” He thrust himself away from the desk and approached until we were only a hand apart. The heat of his body bridged the distance between us. It had always taken me by surprise, but now, I understood what it was—the dragon inside him.
“You keep my secrets, and I’ll grant you all that you’ve asked,” he said. “Protection of the Bloodvale. Of Cassius and Ella. And your freedom within these halls—so long as it’s safe. You have my oath.”
Emotions rose inside. I would’ve given up everything to gain this much. A triumphant exhaustion settled over me, and I nodded. “Then we’re agreed.”
The king brushed a strand of hair from my face, sending a shiver down my spine. “I’m glad to have you here a little longer. I’m curious to see how you’ll test my limits next.”
There was heat in his gaze, and desire in the way his mouth slowly pulled into a smile.
My lips pursed as I looked up at him. “I’m sure you’ll give me an excuse soon enough.”
“Careful what you do with that fire of yours, princess,” he muttered. “You need some rest, and I can guarantee that if you linger any longer, you’ll get none.”
There was no doubt what he wanted, what he was offering.
What was I to make of him? He was an arrogant, domineering bastard most of the time, a master of half-truths. A dragon for gods’ sake. And yet, beneath the monster, there was a man who cared for his duty. He’d acquiesced to my demands, knowing it would damn him.
So many of the reasons he’d given me to hate him were crumbling away. What did that leave in its place?
Valen raised an eyebrow in that infuriating way that always made me melt. “Perhaps I’m mistaken, and it’s not rest that you need.”
What I needed was a clear head.
I gathered the tattered remains of my good sense, and then I let myself out the door. “Goodnight, Your Highness.”