Chapter 20 #2
And part of me really, really wants to. No.
Not just wants—needs. Because how else can I know—really know—that I’m not the mousy daughter anymore?
A little girl hungry for those moments when her mother didn’t have her nose in some book on dreams, desperate to spend time with the cool mom who made jewelry and told bedtime stories about mythical kings and castles in the sky.
And I’m damn sure not the girl who got shoved into some prison of a boarding school because the uncle she loved couldn’t deal.
“Cora?” I hear the edge in Chase’s voice. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine,” I say quickly, easily pushing down all my anger and regret. After all, I had years of high school to practice that. “It’s just that this is all so incredible.”
As if to demonstrate, I picture a garden—rows of flowers in every color imaginable, trees heavy with fruit, a small fountain sparkling in the center. The images ripple outward from where I stand, transforming the barren plain into a paradise of growth and color.
“Holy shit.” His voice is soft, almost inaudible. But I hear the pride in it, along with confusion and, strangely, something that might be the tiniest hint of fear.
“Cora, what you’re doing…”
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” I draw in a breath, marveling at what I’ve created. And, yes, I even clap my hands and giggle like a little girl. “I can feel the life in everything. It’s like I’m connected to every blade of grass, every flower petal.”
“Be careful,” I hear the edge of warning in his voice. “You’ve already accomplished more than we anticipated. Maintain your control. We don’t want your energy radiating out of the Neutral Zone. It might attract attention.”
I think of sand monsters and shiver, then look to the sky, fearing I’ll see Kali on her dragon racing toward me.
Or perhaps the Nightmare King himself, come to see that I have power too. The thought disturbs me, but whether because I fear him or want him, I truly don’t know.
I close my eyes, pushing thoughts of Adric out of my head and desperately hoping that the connection between Chase and me while I’m in this state doesn’t include picking up on lusty feelings.
“Dial it back,” Chase says, making me startle guiltily. “You need to work on control. Power is nothing if you can’t control it.”
I nod, thinking of Adric and Chase and the tight control both those men must have. That’s what I want too. That most fundamental state of being—control over myself. My choices.
“Okay, that’s great,” Chase says, and I blink, realizing that even while my mind had been wandering, I’d been drawing flowers up out of the ground without even realizing it. “Just work on focusing. You were drifting a bit.”
Was I ever! But how freaking cool is it that I could do that with so little concentration?
“Control is key, Cora. The deeper you go, the more seductive the power becomes. Remember, this is just practice. Stick with card tricks. No need to saw the lady in half today.”
I roll my eyes, and when he laughs, I realize he can see me. I’m his dream now. Me and this place.
“Just the basics,” I agree, though even as I make that promise, I know I’m not going to stick to it. Why should I when I know I can do this?
Yes, I feel an incredible amount of power pulling at me, but where’s the danger?
I’m strong, after all. And haven’t they all been telling me I’m special?
That I’m here in this safe, neutral space because I need to understand this world.
So there’s no way I’m going to just raise my hands and back away slowly.
I can do this, I think, as I bring a bubbling spring to the surface.
I am doing this.
And that’s when it hits me. This is the first time in my entire life that I have real, tangible control over something that matters.
It’s as if I’ve spent my life locked in a tiny box, and now I’m free. Free to explore. To be.
A wave of pure joy cuts through me. I’ve got this. I have so totally got this.
And it’s easy. So very easy to just reach out with my mind and expand the garden a bit more. Then a bit more after that.
“Good work,” Chase says, an edge to his voice. “But pull it back.”
“I will,” I say, even as I add streams and waterfalls, not willing to stop until this tiny corner of the universe fits my vision exactly. “I’m learning,” I say. “It feels so natural,” I add as I bring forth colorful birds singing in the trees I’ve drawn up out of the ground.
“Cora, listen to me.”
I look up at the flock, then throw my arms out at my sides and spin, laughing at the joy of creation. Because how can I be scared in a world where I can do this? A world of my own making?
“You need to pull back.” Chase’s voice is sharper now. “You’re going too deep. You’re putting down roots you may not be able to escape.”
Some part of me knows I should listen to him, should trust him.
But at the same time, I know that I’m stronger than the others who’ve tried this. One or two roses compared to this incredible garden I’ve created out of nothing? There’s no contest. No contest at all.
And isn’t that why they need me? Because the Imperial blood flows in my veins. The blood that makes me special. Surely that’s what gives me the power to do all of this. And I’m strong enough to step away when I need to.
But I don’t need to yet. My garden isn’t finished.
I turn to consider the placement of an apple tree—and that’s when I notice I’m not alone.
Adric sits on a stone bench beside the fountain. I tremble, but not from fear. And when he turns to look at me, it feels as if those silver eyes are seeing my deepest secrets.
He stands, the coat of shadows now billowing behind him, those devastating eyes focused on me.
“You can’t be here,” I say, forcing myself not to take a step back. “You’re bound to the castle.”
“The castle and its grounds,” he says. “And the Neutral Zone is a liminal space that is part and parcel of my castle’s grounds. Your Hunter should know that.” He smiles. “Perhaps the millennia are catching up with him, and he’s becoming forgetful in his old age.”
He strides toward me, and my heart skips—and not just from fear. But because of the complicated truth that I’m actually glad to see him.
“My beautiful Bride,” he says, his voice like velvet over steel.
“I’m not your Bride.”
He lifts his hands. “One of us is right, and one of us is wrong.” He takes another step toward me, then gently strokes my cheek. “I want you, Cora. In my arms. In my bed.”
His hand slips down to take mine, and though I know I should yank it back, I don’t. “I won’t ever be in your bed.”
“Should we place a wager?”
Mischief dances in his eyes, and I have to force myself not to smile. For that matter, I have to force myself not to sigh. And though I don’t want to, I can’t help but be awed by this moment. A king—a powerful, sexy king—wants me. And that’s intoxicating.
But at the same time, I remind myself that he wants me so that he can wed and bed me and make the prophecy come true.
I’m the last Bride. Of course he’s charming—a willing Bride is worth more than a reluctant one. And no matter how much some traitorous part of me wants to believe the daisies and that intoxicating mischief in his eyes are real, I can’t afford to be wrong about that.
He moves even closer. He’s devastatingly beautiful in this realm. His silver eyes seem to hold starlight. And the scar on his left cheek only enhances his otherworldly perfection. The way he speaks, low and intimate, sends heat unfurling through my core.
I hate that my body responds to him, hate the way my breath catches when he takes another step closer. The way I feel pulled toward him, like a magnet to steel.
The pull I can explain away—prophecy, magic, ancient runes, whatever. But the rest of it—the heat, the longing, the ache in my chest when he looks at me…
Perhaps I’m being foolish, but that part feels grounded. Real.
As if he knows the battle I’m fighting, one hand goes around my waist as he draws me tight against him. “Your talents are wasted building gardens, my Queen.”
My heart flutters, and a wave of pure, hot desire—both awesome and terrifying—crests over me as he holds me firmly, as if I’m something cherished that he’d lost.
I close my eyes and I think of Chase, the man who’s protected and taught me. Whose kisses have warmed me. And who I wish was here beside me instead of this man. This king who’s making my blood sing when every cell inside me is screaming for me to run.
“You’re afraid.” He tilts his head, his lips curving into a smile as his narrowed eyes skim over me. “But not of me. Of yourself. Of what you feel when you look at me.”
“I don’t feel anything,” I lie, backing up until my shoulders hit something solid—a wall that wasn’t there moments before.
His smile is knowing. “Your heartbeat says otherwise.”
The space between us shrinks with each word, and I’m drowning in the scent of cedar and winter nights that seems to emanate from his skin.
When he reaches up to trace one finger along my cheek, my whole body betrays me. My eyes close. Just for a second — an involuntary flutter, but. can’t take it back, and now he’s watching me with an expression that says he just learned everything he needed to know.
“You’ve put a spell on me,” I murmur.
“No. I haven’t.”
He’s lying, of course. Because if he’s not, then what I’m feeling for him is just…mine.
I suck in air, then cry out in my mind for Chase, desperate to break whatever spell Adric is weaving around me.
But there’s no reply. Or none that I can hear. Just the barest hint of a whisper, so distant it might be imagination.
“You’ve gone too deep,” Adric says, his hand tucking a strand of hair behind my ear with devastating gentleness.
“That’s the risk of playing in the Neutral Zone.
You’ve slipped too far away from your anchor.
” His lips curve into a sweet smile, and he runs a strand of my hair through his fingers.
“Tell me you don’t regret getting lost here with me. ”
I have to force my lips to stay firmly closed.