AllFreeNovel
Share Us
19
If Erik’s heart could still race it would. Pacing around the castle, he could barely piece his thoughts together. She’d fallen asleep in the quarry tree at the same time he had that vision, and now she wanted to talk? What would she want to know?
He’d give her all the answers he could. She deserved them. No matter who she really was or wasn’t. He’d upended her life completely. She deserved the truth.
“You really do love her, don’t you?” A faint voice asked from the shadows of the hall and he froze, turning to see one of Andrea’s acolytes, his first choice from Distova. The redhead he’d fed from during the spell.
“What are you doing out of your cage?” he hissed, his lip curling back.
“Contrary to what you might think,” she said, stepping into the light. “We are not bound to that room. We walk freely, just as you. We merely serve magic, instead of the vampires.”
Erik glared at her, taking in the sight of her black skirts, her tight corset, pressing her breasts up, as was the alluring fashion of his noblewomen.
“While you reside on my land, in my court, you are my subject, as is Andrea. Remember that,” he said.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” she said, bowing to him respectfully. “But may I ask you a question?”
Erik tensed. “What?”
She smiled and walked closer. She put a hand on his chest and sighed. “What will you do when she returns?”
“Who?” He frowns.
Her smile grew. “Why, the great Evangeline, of course.”
His hand shot out and grabbed her by the chin. He pushed off on his toes, and she was thrown back into the wall hard. “Do not say her name. You don’t get to say her name.”
The girl laughed. “Careful, Your Majesty. Your new bride may get jealous.”
He growled, his nails digging into her chin. “Return to your cage.”
He threw her away from him and stormed off in the direction of his private library. At least there he could be sure no one would disturb him.
Climbing to the steps of the tower that lead to his sanctuary, he stopped just outside the door, catching a familiar scent on the air. Someone had been in the hall. Two people, in fact. Lucy and Mina. He could tell from the path of the scent and how much it had faded, that Lucy had come and gone, but Mina’s scent still lingered, clinging to the wood. She was inside his library.
His body throbbed with want, and he pushed slowly through the door. The library was spread out on two levels. Books lined the walls to his right and left, framing the grand fireplace that warmed the space. A window, lined with Everlight, sat on the far side, opposite the door and a set of chairs made a relaxing sitting space for him to read in the middle of the room.
He heard no movement above him on the second-floor balcony, so he moved further into the room and frowned. Mina’s scent was strong but where—
His preternatural ears caught the faint sound of breathing by the window. He followed the source and there at the foot of the curtains he saw a stack of books and a pair of slippers.
Stepping up to the white curtains that hid the bench seat from view, he slowly opened them and looked down, unable to keep the smile from his lips.
Mina lay across the cushions, her hands limply sitting on top of a book she had on her chest. Her head was propped up by a pillow from one of the chairs closest to the fire and her feet were bare. She’d made herself at home and fallen asleep.
Squinting down at the book she’d chosen. He recognized one of the old histories he’d purchased from Genaro’s cart during the last Solstice celebration. He made a mental note to take Mina to the man’s shop if she’d let him.
As he watched her sleep, she turned her head, and a strand of her hair fell into her face. Her features twitched registering it, and then on instinct reached down to carefully push it back into place.
His fingers brushed her temple and her mouth opened as she exhaled.“Erik.”
“I’m here,” he whispered, kneeling at her side. “I’m here, Starlight.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and her lips lifted in a soft smile. “We can’t seem to escape each other, can we?”
“I’m sorry.” He frowned, moving to rise.
Mina’s hand lifted and stopped him, pulling him gently back down as she pushed up off the cushions. Her fingers slipped into the hair at the back of her neck, and she kissed him. Trembling, she slid her other arm around his neck. Her soft lips crushed against his, and she opened to him, letting him taste her mouth.
