Chapter 14
Taera
My face flames.
Nikolai doesn’t speak, his arm dropping from my back as his gaze takes in my black silken apparel. Another moment of stunned silence passes before he recovers. A wide smirk spreads across his face.
“I like the look.” He grins.
I wish the desert would swallow me.
“His bedsheets?” Charlotte whispers, exchanging a look with the other two magicians. Jezebel’s eyes flash with anger.
“You didn’t even bathe, did you?” Nikolai drawls, and I nearly die of mortification. Jezebel glances between us, her thin brows peeling up incredulously.
My mouth flaps open. “We’re not—we didn’t—”
“—didn’t have to leave my bed, if you weren’t ready,” Nikolai murmurs.
I choke on air.
“She’s so modest.” Jezebel’s voice is cold. “Where’d you find her, a nunnery?”
“Taera, I see you’ve met Jezebel, Charlotte, Jess.” Nikolai keeps his eyes trained on me.
“Why the dirty face?” Charlotte asks.
“The face is quaint.” Jezebel shoots the orange-furred girl a hard look. “Rustic.”
A scorpion in my pants would be preferable to letting Nikolai lay a single illusion on my face. I open my mouth to say exactly that, but he speaks first.
“Reminded me of a little creature I saw at the edge of the desert.” He smiles at me. “A rabbit, perhaps?”
“I—” My thoughts shatter as his hand ghosts my back. I leap out of his reach. “He didn’t, we didn’t—”
“You don’t have to be shy,” Charlotte coos. “We all know what it’s like to be with Niko.”
I gawk at them. She can’t really be saying this sort of thing out loud. It must be a joke. But Nikolai winks at me, making me redden all over again.
Charlotte babbles on. “It’s cute how you let him dress you, though!”
“Want to warn her?” Jess says.
“Nikolai and I, we’re really not—” It’s embarrassing to even think about saying it out loud. “We’re not together.”
“You’re so sweet.” Nikolai grins down at me. “But you don’t have to hide it.”
The girls laugh, and I redden further.
“I’ll see you later, then?” Jezebel purrs, drawing his attention back to her fluttering lashes.
“Of course,” he replies, giving me chills.
“Good.” Jezebel glances at me, smiling wryly.
My face is hot. I want to murder him. “I’m telling the truth; we’re not—”
“You still need to bathe,” Nikolai interrupts easily. “Unless you were waiting for me to join you?”
“No!” I exclaim. Or rather, I try to exclaim. Nothing comes out. I open and close my mouth. The air I expel doesn’t make a sound. I whip a glare at Nikolai, who winks at me. Fear rises, prickling my arms.
“I’ll join you, Niko.” Charlotte giggles.
“I’m flattered”—Nikolai smirks—“but right now I want Taera. She’s been quite dirty, after all.”
Laughter ripples around me.
“In no world would I ever bathe with you,” I try to scream. My hands tighten into fists.
“Either way, I’m taking my sheets with me.” Nikolai winks again. The bastard. “You coming?”
I will not take them off. But I don’t know the extent of his power and am not about to let him magic them off me. My eyes flit between the greedy faces of the girls and the smirking magician, whom I hate most. He gestures grandly down the corridor behind me, where the wall is gone.
Gritting my teeth, I storm down the hall. Nikolai’s chuckle follows close behind.