His gold-touched suit flickered in the dim lighting as he disappeared from sight.
I was still watching the now empty hallway when Jessiah cleared his throat.
Heart thumping, I spun to face him, looking him in the eye for the first time all night. “What?” I asked, batting my eyes innocently.
“Are you done eye fucking the king, or should we stand here a little longer?”
Xavier coughed on a laugh.
I simply tilted my head to the side and smiled. “Why? Jealous?”
With a roll of his eyes, he started up the stairs, leaving Xavier and me to follow behind him.
Halfway up, Xavier bumped my shoulder playfully. “Did I tell you how sexy you look in that dress?” he whispered.
I shoved his shoulder. “No, but you didn’t have to. My eyes are up here, by the way.”
He smiled warmly. Though Cornelius continued to avoid political conversations, I actually had fun tonight. We ate. Wedrank. We laughed. At the beginning of the night, the smiles and laughter might have been forced, but toward the end?
It felt pretty damn real.
We followed Jessiah down the hall, and as we approached my door, I said a quick good night.
Which Xavier kindly returned.
And Jessiah did not.
Instead, his white wing brushed gently against my shoulder. “I need to talk to you,” he said.
Thoughsaidwas a strong word for the way the words escaped him. They were forced out in a muffled growl just above my ear.
I rolled my eyes at his overbearing ways, but I pushed my door open and led him inside.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked, kicking aside a few of the stray dresses that littered the floor.
He closed the door behind him, then turned and scanned the disaster of a room, his brows drawn together.
I mentally braced myself for the absurd comment he was bound to make.
But none came.
He looked different tonight. I couldn’t quite place why, though. The grand white wings that stole my attention before dinner were now much duller, hanging from his shoulders like he was exhausted.
Maybe he was.
But he’d barely said a word at dinner.
“Jessiah,” I pushed, stepping closer.
His eyes snapped from the messy room to me.
I tipped my head up and locked eyes with him. “What do you want?”
In an instant, he morphed into the old Jessiah. The arrogant, rude Jessiah. As if I’d imagined the change in him tonight. “You can’t be serious, Rummy.”
I stilled. “I’m going to need you to explain a little more.”
“You were all but hanging on him all damn night. You really think flirting with King Cornelius is going to help us?”
