“No,” he hesitantly says, looking over his shoulder towards me. “She was never the Queen of Nilak.”
I hold my breath as he glares at me. His emerald eyes are bold against his hair and skin. The scars along his lip and neck create a fear deep inside me that I have never felt before. He is the oppositeof Florian. It's written all over him that he is different. Koen is tense, unafraid to look me dead in the eyes while speaking to me, and most importantly, my body trembles when I am near him.
And it’s because I seek revenge on him. My body is being fueled with rage to throw him into the dungeon and lock him with dragons. I doubt he’d like that.
But I fear,I worry, I’m trapped in a room with someone who can kill me with their bare hands.
A feeling etches inside me that I should fear him, more than the dragons that tried to kill me.
“Your mother wasn’t the Queen?”
“The Queen of Azure is the ruler of all the Realms, which is where you are headed.” He shakes his head. “The King of the Ice Realm was never married tomymother. I’m Florian’s half brother.” His shoulders arch backwards, turning to face me as he casually sits on the ledge of the framing. “No one has been in here since she passed.”
My heart drops and I fumble out the words. “I can leave.”
“No.” His words cut sharply. “I put these in here for you.”
My head tilts to the side before scanning the suite once again. “Why?”
He shifts backwards, his body pressing closer to the glass, and crosses his arms once more. The fabric of his baggy shirt stretches slightly, hinting at the defined muscles of his chest beneath with the scars slashed across his skin. I quickly avert my gaze, not wanting him to catch the flicker of curiosity in my eyes.
He’s infuriating, yet there's no denying he's incredibly attractive. But with all the beautiful details this man possesses, my hatred for him is a seething,relentless firethat burns deep within my soul, and I will never, ever forget it.
He is the reason I am in this mess. If he would have left me alone in the field, I might have found my way back to Alice.
“Well…” he scuffs.
His lips rub between his teeth in a moment of contemplation before he rises from the window sill. As if he noticed my eyes beginning to trace the lines of his chest, his lip tugs into a smirk. I do my best to avoid his gaze.
The dim light from outside casts a soft glow on his figure as he moves towards the bed with a fluid grace. With a playful leap, he lands on the mattress and leans over it, his eyes locking onto mine with an intense glare that seems to pierce through me.
I suck in a deep breath, my body tensing. “Well…what?” My brows lift.
“I was aware that Father and Florian would be occupied in the east wing, so I brought you to the west wing,” he casually says, raising his brown eyebrows. “I need to talk to you in a place where no one would think to find us. This room is off-limits. The King never permits anyone to enter this area.Not even me.”
I go to explode, my lips parting to speak, but Koen holds his hand up.
“Are you one of them?” he whispers, his eyes flickering from mine to the door.
I lean into the bed frame, my palms pressing firmly against the wood. “One of…who?”
“Did you shift that night?”
You have got to be kidding me. He truly believes I am a shifter?
“Koen…” My brows narrow. “When I say this, I fully say this and mean it with every ounce of my being… I amnot a shapeshifter.”
“You can tell me.” His voice drops lower while his chest rises and falls faster.
“I am not a shapeshifter!” I let out a raging scream. I heavily breathe afterwards, exhaling slowly to stabilize my beating heart. “You have me all wrong.”
He rolls on his back, sighing deeply. “Damn. I was so sure.” He cocks his head over, his dark brown curls framing his defined chin.
“This is why you took me to that awful place?” My jaw clenches, eyes widening with rage.
“Then why were you in the field of ash?” He ignores my question, egging me on for more answers he seeks.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” I shrug, my veins still burning with anger as I glare at him. “I touched the stones back in Alaska and…”
