Renewed anger at how she walked away those months ago resurfaced, and he continued when she didn’t say anything. “After you sent me away—” venom dripped from his words, and the tiniest tick on her cheek let him know it hit his mark. “I went home and confronted my father. I barged into his office and told him I wouldn’t marry Davina.”
Auraelia shifted her gaze higher but still not to his face.
Progress, we’re making progress.
“Little did I know, she was also in his office and, needless to say, she wasn’t happy with my conclusion. So, when I told her that ‘over my dead body would she ever be a queen in this realm,’ she decided to show me that it was, in fact, a possibility.”
That got her attention. Her eyes flew toward his, wide and full of worry and anger.
There she is.
“What do youmean?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“What I mean is that she made my blood run cold. It felt like ice was in my veins, and the frigid temperatureburned. I couldn’t access my shadows through the pain. Hell, I could barely breathe through it.”
Auraelia’s eyes grew wider with every detail, and the air in the room began to stir.
“Auraelia, breathe.” He made sure to keep his voice low and steady. He’d seen how powerful she was when she reached into her well of magic, but he had no idea how deep that well ran.
She stood abruptly and began pacing in front of the desk. Mumbling something to herself, she rubbed at the darkened green tips of her fingers.
“One, two, three–”
Is she counting?
Daemon slowly crossed the room and gripped her shoulders when she made it back to her starting point.
The sudden contact jarred her out of her trance, and she jumped out of his grasp.
“Don’t—” She closed her eyes briefly and took a quick breath. “Don’t touch me.”
The air around them was stirring the papers on the desk, and the hairs on the back of his neck were beginning to stand on end. “Auraelia, you need to breathe.”
He could see the panic rising as her breathing became heavier, and the look in her eyes turned frantic.
Daemon began to stalk toward her, but she took one in the opposite direction for every step he took.
“Daemon—” There was a warning in her voice, but it was one that told him she wasn’t in control. He didn’t care if she fried him to pieces; he just wanted to try and calm her down.
When her back collided with the wall, he placed his hands next to her shoulders. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was still muttering numbers.
“Auraelia, my star, you need to breathe.”
Her eyes popped open, and she focused on him.
The blue calcite of her irises was completely gone, replaced by a bright peridot green with streaks of champagne lightning coursing through them.
“Don’t call me that.” Anger burned in her tone, and every word was clipped. But anger was something that he would work with.
Anger was but a breath away from lust. And lust was but a step away from love.
He knew she loved him. She hadn’t outright said it, and it may have taken two months apart for him to realize it, but he knew in his heart it was why she sent him away.
And if he could anger her, maybe he could get her to admit that she loved him.
Thenmaybethey could solve this problem together.
Daemon let a sly grin creep across his face and leaned in until their breaths mingled. “You think you scare me, Princess? Do you think that a little wind and some lightning are going to deter me? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it won’t.”
