Chapter 25 #2
“If I recall correctly, I also saved you from a water dragon.” He tapped his fingers on his thigh as if considering something before continuing. “Why are you here, Miss Onyx? Here at Nightsbridge.”
My pulse skipped, and his eyes narrowed as if he’d sensed it, and who knows, maybe he had. He was a naga, and they had abilities, abilities I hadn’t read up on yet. Dammit, I had to do some reading and soon.
“Are you here to pick unnecessary fights or to become a part of something bigger?” he asked.
Neither, but he didn’t need to know that. “To learn, of course.”
“Then make better choices. Save your aggression for the hunt, where we can all benefit from it. If you get hurt out there, at least it will be for a worthy cause.”
Annoyance flashed through me, and I sat up straighter. “Are you saying Ruspin isn’t worthy?”
He exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly exasperated with me. I didn’t like how that made my stomach hollow. Didn’t like how much it bothered me that I’d disappointed him in some way.
It was time to make an exit.
I set down my mug, and he stilled, sniffing the air.
“You’re bleeding,” he said.
“I’m fine. It’s not too bad.” I peered down my top to check if it had gotten worse. “I’ll sort it out when I get to my room.” When I looked up, he was gone.
When had he moved?
He returned a moment later carrying a roll of bandages and tape.
How had he moved so fast? “Are you sure you’re not a vampire?”
“Take off the sweater and shirt.”
The command in his tone had me reaching for the hem of my sweater before I could check myself. “I’m not wearing a bra.”
For a moment, I thought he’d insist I strip anyway—and Trinity help me, I might have done so—but instead he held out the bandages. “Go back into the bedroom and fix yourself up before you leave.”
I stepped closer, fingers brushing his as I grasped the roll.
The contact was slight but inexplicably intimate.
He didn’t release the bundle. Instead, he moved nearer, mere inches away now.
His sandalwood scent spiked, saturating the air, leaving me no choice but to breathe it in.
To breathe him in. A soft haze filled my mind, and the tension drained out of my limbs.
I swayed toward him, suddenly lightheaded—like I’d had too much of the good stuff.
He grabbed my arms to steady me, and my skin came alive with awareness from his touch. The sensation was new and intense, and Trinity, I wanted more. I tipped my head back, failing to suppress a moan, because this man was a fucking aphrodisiac.
His gaze darkened, settling on my mouth with such focused intensity it made my chest ache with longing.
I needed his lips on mine. Wanted him to kiss me.
But all I got was his measured breath and his fingers digging into my arms, as if he, too, wanted more but was fighting it.
I could break his resolve. Bridge the space between us and offer him my mouth. I could take what I wanted.
“You won’t believe the weather out there,” Selethis said as she entered the room.
Shit! I tore myself out of Vitra’s grip, putting distance between us.
She froze, taking in the scene before fixing her gaze calmly on Vitra. “It’s a little late for a conference, don’t you think?”
My cheeks burned, and I was sure she could read the guilt on my face. This did not feel good.
“Miss Onyx sleepwalked onto the portway,” Vitra said evenly. “She was drenched and shaken, but she’s fine now. She was just leaving.”
I clutched the bandages to my chest, my insides quaking. “Thanks for the help.” I couldn’t meet Mistress Selethis’s eyes because even though I hadn’t done anything, I’d wanted to, and that was bad enough.
I ducked past her, mumbling thanks again, and hurried out into the short hall, feeling like a dirty creeper for the thoughts that had just scrolled through my mind.
“Is it that time already?” Selethis asked him.
“No,” Vitra said. “Not yet, and not her.”
I paused, hand on the doorknob, interest piqued.
“It didn’t look that way,” Selethis countered.
“Drink?”
“Always.”
Glass clinked on glass.
I should go now. I twisted the doorknob and cracked it open, but didn’t step outside straight away.
“What are you playing at, Vitra?” Selethis said. “You know the rules.”
“I don’t play, Constance, you know that.”
“But just now…” She trailed off. “Did she leave? I didn’t hear the—”
Fuck. I quickly slipped out the door, closed it softly behind me, and hurried away from his quarters.
I had no idea what Vitra and Selethis’s little exchange meant, but I was certain of one thing.
Vitra was off-limits. I was not that woman. Never the other woman, even if those two did have some kind of arrangement. No, this attraction would have to be buried. Deep. And the fact that he could make me feel couldn’t matter.
I made it to the end of the corridor before realizing that I had no clue where in the tower I was.
Great. Fucking great.
* * *
I was shivering by the time I got back to the Unwoven quarters, but the fire in the hearth was nothing but embers. I fed it wood and then sat on the rug to change my bandages, sighing as my body warmed up.
The old bandage was dotted with more blood than before. I carefully peeled it off and threw it into the flames. They ate at it eagerly, flaring purple then blue, and as it turned to ash, a voice spoke from within. “Your offering is accepted.”
What in the Trinity?
The flames settled into their usual hues of red and orange.
“Solaris?”
Silence and the cheery crackle of kindling and wood were my only response. I hadn’t imagined that, right? “Hello?”
The flames danced merrily, innocuously.
I was too tired for this shit.
I finished rebandaging my wound and headed to bed. If only I’d convinced Vitra to excuse me from class. Surely sleepwalking counted as a good excuse. It was too late now.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.