Bonus chapter #2
As soon as he said it, Leo realized he was projecting. He was the furious one. He was the lamb to the slaughter. Tem possessed privilege he did not; she could walk out of this room right now if she so chose. There was no leaving the castle for Leo.
She raised her chin in defiance. “I am no lamb.”
Leo looked at her determined expression, the way she set her jaw.
“No,” he whispered. “You certainly aren’t.”
In the silence that followed, Leo simply breathed her in.
He imagined what it would be like to touch the end of one of her curls—to pull it down gently before letting it go.
A moment ago he hadn’t wanted to talk to any of the girls at the castle.
Now Leo found he only wanted to talk to Tem.
If he was being truthful, he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than just talk.
He wondered how her skin might feel against his fingertips, how her lips might feel against his.
He allowed his gaze to travel down her body again, memorizing every curve.
He’d been staring too long—he could tell by the way Tem was beginning to frown at him. So Leo said:
“Can I offer you a drink?”
For one terrifying moment he thought she might decline. Then, to his complete joy, she nodded. Leo turned to the bar cart before she could change her mind, brushing his fingers over the glass bottles of liquor before realizing he hadn’t asked her what she liked to drink.
“Do you like whiskey?”
“I . . . don’t know.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You’ve never had it?”
She looked as if she were remembering something. Leo wondered what it was. “Once.”
“Whiskey it is then.”
He poured them each an inch of liquor, taking care to linger when he passed Tem’s glass to her. Her skin was warm.
“Shall we do it together?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“Very well. To Kora.”
They clinked their glasses together.
“To Kora.”
Leo downed his glass in one gulp. Tem took a tentative sip before making an incredulous face. Her nose crinkled. Leo wanted to kiss it.
“Well?” he asked once she’d swallowed. “What do you think?”
“It tastes like fire.”
Leo smiled. A perfect description.
“That it does.”
She looked as if she were holding in a cough. “How can you drink it so easily?”
Now Leo laughed. Finally, a simple question from her.
“Lots and lots of practice.”
Leo poured another glass and drank it slowly.
Tem was right; it tasted like fire. But to him, it was a fire that soothed—a fire that quelled the worsening storm within his chest. Up until now, the entire evening had been a thankless charade.
Yet for some reason, here with Tem, he felt peace.
She was studying him in much the same way he was studying her, although he had a feeling her thoughts were far less favorable than his.
What did she think of the competition? She didn’t seem particularly thrilled to be here, although she might just be nervous.
She was in the presence of a prince, after all.
Although these days Leo hardly felt worthy of his title.
There was nothing princely about him—not lately, at least. He’d been in a fog ever since Evelyn left—a fog that until mere minutes ago had seemed endless.
Now, in the presence of this exceptional girl, it had lifted.
“So,” he said eventually. “How’s it going so far?”
“How’s what going so far?”
“You know, the training, or whatever it is they’re calling it.”
Leo knew very little about what happened in the caves with the basilisks, although he could guess. The snakes were meant to train the girls to compete for his hand in marriage, after all. As if Leo was something worth competing for. A prize to be won.
The moment he asked it, blush rose on Tem’s cheeks. It was beautiful.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your concern,” she said quietly.
It would appear this was a sore subject for her. How intriguing.
“On the contrary, I believe I’m the only person it concerns.”
Her blush spread.
Leo knew he shouldn’t be saying any of this—shouldn’t be pushing her.
Especially when his words were clearly getting under her skin.
But Leo couldn’t help it. He liked the blush on her cheeks too much to stop.
He wanted to know Tem—in every possible way he could—and that included knowing what made her angry.
“Sex is best with someone who knows what they’re doing. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Silence.
Slow realization seeped into him. Was she a .
. . virgin? That seemed inconceivable. Surely someone as beautiful as she never went without company.
Leo needed to know more. He tried another tactic: “Then again, experiencing something for the first time can be . . . rewarding. If that’s your situation. ”
That last sentence slipped out before he could stop it. But he had to know. It was eating him alive, the mystery of this girl.
“You don’t know my situation.”
Leo couldn’t help it. He leaned in. “I’d like to.”
Tem glared up at him. Now that they were closer, he caught her scent: sharp and fresh. Like the sea.
“Am I to take that as a compliment?” she snapped.
Disbelief coiled within him, followed swiftly by a fierce attraction he had no idea how to contend with. She’d defied him, and he’d liked it.
“Certainly not. That dress looks beautiful on you. That’s a compliment.”
Her glare only intensified. “I hardly consider it one.”
“What could possibly be wrong with it?”
“You complimented the dress. Not me.”
Leo considered her response, finding that she was right. “Perhaps. But the implication is that the dress is only beautiful because you’re the one wearing it.”
“Implications aren’t compliments.”
Leo nearly rolled his eyes. There was only so long he could stand here without trying to rip her dress—beautiful or not—right off her. He stepped closer.
“You already know you’re beautiful, don’t you?”
Another defiant tilt of her chin. “Yes.”
“In that case, would you even care to hear it from me?”
“No.”
Anger tightened his chest. Tem was being impossible. She wouldn’t even let him compliment her. Other girls would kill to be standing here with him. Other girls would die to be the object of his affection. But not Tem.
“Then I won’t burden you with it.”
“How considerate of you.”
It was impossible to miss the ice in her voice.
Anger turned to fury. How dare she speak to him that way?
Even if it was warranted, it was both highly unorthodox and wildly inappropriate.
Leo couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard such venom in someone’s words.
There was clearly no more headway to be made here.
Any chance he’d had with her was already shot.
“Shall we rejoin the party?” He said finally. “You’re the guest of honor after all.”
Without waiting for her answer, he turned and strode from the study. Tem followed him wordlessly.
They parted ways at the ballroom, Tem disappearing into the crowd and Leo doing the same.
At some point, someone handed him another whiskey.
His head was buzzing, and it wasn’t from the alcohol.
Who was this girl? Nobody had ever spoken to him like that before.
He almost found that he liked it. But another part of him was indignant at being addressed in such a callous manner.
Tem didn’t seem to be interested in him whatsoever.
Indifferent, even. It was the exact opposite of what she was supposed to be.
Leo was certainly not indifferent towards her.
Before he could process this properly, his father was before him.
“Thelonius.” Maximus leaned in close, his fingers wrapped around a glass of red wine. “You will eliminate two girls tonight.”
Leo frowned. “Two? Why?”
“To demonstrate your power,” his father said simply.
The crowd in the ballroom had already begun to move, forming a semicircle around eleven podiums arranged in ascending order of height.
“Two girls,” Maximus repeated. “Do it, son.”
Then he swept away.
Leo rolled his shoulders. This process had already begun to grate on him. Through the haze of his anger, he heard: “If the ladies could please form a line, we can begin.”