Chapter 54 Nikolai
Nikolai
Iplanned to return to my chambers with Taera after our little show, planned to start deciphering the shards with her newly recharged magic. Instead I’m on edge, striding in the opposite direction from my chambers, pulse ragged.
“It was just a kiss.” My image appears beside me, scoffing. “Get control of yourself.”
I planned the kiss. Every second of it—the angle, the timing, the perfect vantage point where the entire school would see.
I didn’t plan for her.
The way her magic roared through my veins like wildfire.
The feel of her soft mouth under mine, her body arching against me, the breathtaking, devastating hunger that hit me so hard I almost forgot we were performing.
I didn’t plan for the feeling of her under my hands, to want to devour her, to worship her eager little body atop that ice tower in front of everyone watching.
“I need to cool off…” Before I return to my rooms where I know she’s waiting.
If Taera were any other source, I would take her straight to bed to ravish her, sate the burning under my skin after a kiss like that, show her exactly what my magic can do.
I don’t want anyone else. I want her, damn it.
Taera’s dark eyes and flushed, freckled cheeks are burned into my brain.
Her scowling determination. My pain-in-the-ass sidekick has become a full-on celibate girlfriend and is going to be the death of me.
It’s hard enough controlling my own body’s responses before our magic collides.
I can feel hers, too. It’s like she’s never ached for anybody before. And I’m not acting much better.
“You’re the one who’s supposed to teach her control,” my image mutters.
I snort.
How reckless would it be—how deliciously reckless—to take what I want, what we both want?
To have her under me and feel that wild, electric magic shatter the rest of my restraint.
To get her out of my system and consume her until we both go down in flames.
I know she wants to, even if she won’t admit it out loud.
I remember her laughable attempts, after the labyrinth, to deny her shy attraction.
I could feel her embarrassment through our joined hands—and even that was exceeding the limits of how much proximity she could handle.
I grin, delighted to affect her just as headily as she affects me.
I have to clear my mind and get the memory of Taera’s soft, inexperienced lips out of my head. I have to focus.
I find myself standing beneath the arched entrance of the labyrinth.
I glamour myself before entering the maze, careful to wipe away any sound of my passage.
In case a master is patrolling, I slide another face over my own for good measure.
Taera’s aversion to illusions makes me smirk.
I want to laugh at the black-and-white world she lives in.
She has no idea what I’ve done—what I’m willing to do—to see this through.
If only I didn’t.
“Which way?” my image asks, like a shadow slinking behind me.
Every additional shard is easier to find than the last. I suspect there are seven in total. I have the first six. The slices of mirror don’t yield any secrets of the lost language; however, each shard shows me a path to the next—which I discovered by accident the first time.
Holding up the sixth shard, I rotate its reflection until I find the path dancing with invisible lights.
“Left,” I murmur.
I find myself relaxing within the cold blue-white glow of the walls around me. After all, I’ve spent more time in this labyrinth over the past years than anywhere else. The familiar sequences twist and weave, always showing up in new places. But the larger pattern is always the same.
A face appears in front of me, and I lurch to a stop. I need to run, need to evade before it’s too late—but I recognize him.
I flinch and twist away. I have the sudden urge to slam my fist into the reflection and destroy the mirror. Why did the labyrinth lead me here again? No relic should have the power to throw in my face everything I’ve worked and sweated and shed blood to forget.
I’m already on my way out, not looking back.
“Fuck,” my image mutters, as unsettled as I am. I banish the shadow, grounding myself in reality. Still, the walls around me reflect the sickly sheen on my brow.
I’ll come back for the last shard later. Right now, my emotions threaten blood glass. I have to get myself under control. Then, I have to see if Taera is capable of what I think she is.