The world vibrated.
Black wrapped up her arm. Her mind blanked. Her body emptied. Darkness pooled her vision. Her skin cracked and an amber hue emitted from beneath the blackened streaks. All she could feel was the beat of his deteriorating pulse beneath her fingertips, the cold wind on her numb skin, cool fire licking her flesh.
She was no longer in control.
Footsteps pricked her ears.
Her other hand shot out behind her.
Another throat caught beneath her fingers. The struggle of their bodies made her own heartbeat slow. Steady. Holding them with this new power consuming her…
The second person’s neck was smaller. Her vision vibrated around her again. Her shaking fingers tightened around the person's throat, and then she turned her head to watch life leave the woman’s eyes.
Light stilled. Fear and panic faded into nothingness.
Nyssa's arm jolted, flamed fingers striking. A crack pulsed beneath her fingertips.
And something struck the back of her head.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"IF YOU WEREN'T a Princess, what would you want to be?" Nadir asked, fingers delicately swirling over the inside of Nyssa's thigh as they laid together on the chaise lounge.
Nyssa wasn’t sure how to answer. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said," he replied with a shrug as he pressed his hand behind his head. "What would you want to be? If you could do anything."
"No one's ever asked me that."
"I figured as much." His gaze traveled over her deliberately, fingers squeezing on her thigh. "What do you want, Princess?"
Her head sighed back on the lounger arm, staring at the ceiling as she contemplated his question. "I don't... I don't know," she admitted. "I've never thought about it."
"I think your sister would travel or go live in the Forest. Be with the creatures she loves so much," he said, obviously trying to spark ideas. "Would you want that?"
"I would love to see more of our world. See the traditions and celebrations of our people that I've read so many stories about. Watch the Eyes rise over your reef. Dance beneath the Deads in the mountains. I've heard grand tales of the Eyes festival in the Village of Dreams. That I would love to see. They say Somniarb's tree is lit up as fireflies against the night sky."
"And how exactly would you be financing such a journey? If you weren't a Princess, I mean. What would you do?"
"What possible occupation needs the skill of reading people besides being in the King's court?"
Nadir smiled. "Perhaps a spy, then," he suggested.
"Are spies needed in Haerland?"
"Of course," he affirmed. "Never know when you need to foil some plot to take the throne," he added with a wink.
"Planning on taking my kingdom, Commander?"
"Maybe not tonight," he bantered. "I'm having far too much fun being seduced by the Princess to worry about working."
She laughed, shaking her head as her chest swelled at his mockery. "What about you? If you weren't the Commander. What would you do?"
His eyes dazed, hands massaging the muscles behind her knee a moment. "Commander is actually all I've ever wanted," he told her. "Ever since I was a boy, I wanted to take care of my people and be the one to lead them to safety if ever they needed it."
"How did you earn the title?" she asked.
"Ah..." He paused, even his hands, and she felt her brows narrow.
