Chapter 16 #2
The closer he moved, the farther I backpedaled, until my boots felt the soft surface of the mat. I was assaulted by juniper and mint, once again wishing I didn’t recognize those scents as his.
“I think,” he said, stepping directly in front of me, “that you don’t want to admit that you like what you see.”
I scoffed and shook my head. Arrogant prick. But I could admire a beautiful sight when it was right in front of me. He was perfect. Too perfect.
Honestly, fuck this. If he wanted a fight, I’d give him one.
Elias grinned in victory while I drew the blade and shifted my stance to wield it, then stepped forward to rejoin him on the mat. My strength had about doubled, but this sword was heavier and longer than my usual short sword, which I’d lent Mina.
I lifted my sword and pointed it at him. “I’m not interested in whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.”
He circled me on the mat. “Denial is a stubborn thing, isn’t it?”
“You know,” I laughed, “I’ve been in denial before. This… isn’t it.”
I lunged forward with a short, controlled jab, nicking him lightly across the chest. He sucked in a hiss while a trickle of blood dripped down his expertly carved chest. He could kill me for that alone.
I could dare him to try. With the way he pissed me off, I had the impulsive desire to sacrifice my deception and show him a piece of his sacred queen .
“That was unnecessary.” He stared down at the tiny wound.
“You’re the one who said, ‘sword up.’ ” I made a show of appearing unimpressed as I looked up and down his half-naked form. “Besides… you could use a few scars.”
He chuckled, then lunged at me. Damn, he was fast, and I should have guessed he would be.
Elias may have been destined since birth to become the commander and consort to the queen, but he’d still had to earn the former.
There was only one person I knew was quicker, and it wasn’t me.
I tried to block and dodge, but my usual advantage of being quick wasn’t an advantage, and he overpowered me.
He seized my wrist, knocking the sword from my grip with a clang beside his, and I was spun into a headlock.
I dug my nails into his forearm while trying to recall what failed evasive maneuver got me in this position, but it happened so fast that I couldn’t.
He was too skilled, too experienced, and he’d put me off balance the moment he sauntered in.
“Yield,” he muttered against the shell of my ear, the heat of his bare torso against my thinly clothed back making me shudder. His body was tall, rigid, and powerful against me. I squirmed to loosen his grip but I couldn’t.
“I didn’t realize you made a habit of challenging cadets half your size to spar after hours.” I squirmed again. “I was just minding my own business when you crept up on me.”
“You’re in my fortress,” he reminded me.
“Still a bit predatory, don’t you think?”
His smooth laugh vibrated into my back. “Yield, Fera.”
“Why do you want me to yield so badly?” I shot back. “Why do you care ?”
There was a heavy pause before he growled, “I. Don’t. Know .”
My thoughts stumbled. Not what I was expecting. “Well… I won’t yield to you .”
“That’s idiotic.” His fingers tightened on my rib cage. I tensed, eager to retreat from his touch, even though I had nowhere to go besides further into his chest.
“I’d rather be idiotic than so bored that I have to cycle a dozen new people into my bed each week,” I bit out in a sour voice.
“ That’s an exaggeration.” He flexed his biceps in a silent threat to cut off my air. “Now yield .”
Digging my nails deeper into his forearm, I prepared for an opening. If I couldn’t overpower him, I would use words sharp enough to hurt.
“Is it?” I spat. “What would your queen think of the number of places your cock has been?”
Surprise loosened his hold, and I took the opportunity to jam my elbow into his ribs. He let out a low grunt, and for a moment, I thought I’d escape, until he seized my forearm and twisted my elbow above my head. I was too distracted by that threat to anticipate the fist he sent into my stomach.
He released me, and I keeled over, wheezing from pain and shock of breathlessness. This time, I wasn’t exaggerating to make my opponent think he’d won. No, he’d definitely won this round.
“Gods!” I coughed out. “You really enjoy striking women, don’t you?”
He slammed me to the mat, stealing my breath before I could catch it again.
“Only when they talk back.” He pinned me with his hips, the feel of him accelerating my pulse. “Which you are prone to do.”
“You’ll have to get used to it if you keep sneaking up on me!”
He scowled back. “It was you that showed up at my door the other night.”
“And yet here you are, sparring with the Brinnean snake you kept locked in a cage for five days when you could be in your quarters bedding multiple women at once!”
His chuckle rumbled into me from the place our bodies connected against my will.
I squirmed, and he pressed me tighter against the mat.
“Maybe I enjoy the challenge more than the reward.” Nausea battled with heat in my core at the suggestion that there could ever be a reward with me.
“It’s called a threesome, by the way.” He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear.
“Let me know if you’d like to try one sometime. I might be able to make room.”
My face contorted with disgust. “I can barely stand the sound of your voice.”
“ I think you can, actually.” He lazily admired my neck and chest. “I think you’re just jealous you haven’t had a taste.”
I laughed at him. “You wish I was jealous, and you hate it, don’t you?
” A wave of unexpected heat flooded his gaze.
I didn’t want him looking at me that way.
He had no right looking at me that way or touching me or having me in any type of position like this.
I squirmed again, but he wouldn’t budge.
Fear begged me to escape from what wasn’t safe.
Get away, get away, run the hell away ? —
“You’re delusional if you think I’d come anywhere near your bed!” I spat, sharpening my words. “You’re not even my friend .”
Surprise altered his smooth, arrogant facade. He lifted himself off me with grace, and for a moment, I thought he might lend a hand to help me up. But he regained his audacity, smirked down at me, and uttered, “Who said we had to be friends to fuck, Fera?”
Elias turned and walked away, leaving me laid out alone on the sparring mat, skin flushed, body confused, and stomach wracked by nausea. I stared up at the ceiling while trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
“ What’s going on down there? ” Shera asked down the pathway, her tone a mix of suspicion and caution.
“Why?”
“Your thoughts are… loud again.”
I groaned, hating the effect Elias had on my body. It was there, but it felt wrong, cheap, invasive, and I didn’t want it.
I stood and massaged the tender muscles of my abdomen. What I should have done was sleep. Instead, I tried to shudder the feeling of Elias Winterton off me and tiptoed through the courtyard to the library.
After another two hours of searching and finding nothing, I slumped forward and rubbed my eyes, feeling like I’d skimmed through each book in this library twice with no progress.
I was better than I used to be at not berating myself for failing or feeling weak and useless, but I wasn’t perfect.
Gavin subjected himself to four hundred years of hell to ensure I had a chance to choose my own life, but I’d sent him away and proved useless to him now.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the poised, knowledgeable princess he’d once fallen in love with would’ve known exactly what to do.
“ You should rest ,” Shera gently reminded me. “ You need your strength for tomorrow just like everyone else. ”
“There has to be at least one book about magic in this library.”
“Unless your uncle took them all out long ago.”
She was probably right. Resigned to that reality, at least for tonight, I was halfway out the door before realizing I hadn’t returned the last book to its proper place. I turned back, only to pause in front of the gap between books, focusing on what looked like a crack in the wall behind the shelf.
I leaned closer and saw a subtle lip in the wood, like trim around a doorway.
I snatched the few books directly below it and saw that the crack wasn’t a crack but a seam running floor to ceiling.
Frantically, I scattered books across the library floor until the empty shelves revealed that the entire bookshelf was part of a hidden door.
For the first time since entering this dusty library, hope bloomed in my chest. Another room with restricted books? What else would be behind a library’s hidden door?
“I’ll find a way,” I whispered to myself.
To him , wherever he was. I reached through the shelves to twist the rickety wooden knob, but it was locked, of course.
“Shit.” I jiggled it to be sure, with no luck.
But a few inches above the knob was an oddly shaped keyhole.
Square in the center with two notches, as if the matching key was cross-shaped.
My stomach dropped, because I needed that key, and I knew exactly where it would be.
Inside Elias Winterton’s living quarters.