Grayson growls and pushes harder.
Elwyn shakes his head in disapproval, a slow movement against the force of Grayson’s power. “I warned you not to let her touch you.”
“You told me nobody could. You told me that even the most powerful gargoyle Queen this world has ever known couldn’t touch me and remain alive. Well, she can!” His voice lowers. “What other lies have you told me?”
“Noth-nothing,” Elwyn stammers, shaken for the first time. He raises a placating hand, pushing through what must be a suffocating force. “Grayson, don’t lose sight of what we want. What weallwant. She is a distraction you don’t need.”
Grayson releases Elwyn and the older elf coughs and hunches, shaking out his shoulders and rubbing his neck.
Grayson says, “She’s more than that.”
“What are you talking about?”
Grayson grinds his teeth. “She’s the only female I can ever…”
Elwyn’s eyes shoot so wide it looks like they’re going to pop out of his head. “Wake up to yourself. She belongs to Baelen Rath. If you want a female then cloak yourself and go get one. Get three for all I care. That female in there…” He points his bony finger in an accusation. “She will never bed you willingly.”
Grayson folds his arms across his chest. The golden runes that decorate his muscles gleam in the dim light. He doesn’t respond to Elwyn’s assertion, changing the subject instead. He’s good at doing that when he doesn’t like where the conversation is going. “I’ve sent a messenger to the border to tell the gargoyles they have a month to surrender or we go to war. I’ve told them that we have their Queen and we aren’t giving her back.” He takes a step toward Elwyn who maintains a healthy distance between them. “Now get out.”
Elwyn shakes his fist at Grayson before whirling to the door. “You’d better know what you’re doing, Grayson. We need access to the deep springs and we need it soon. Erador must fall within a month.”
“It will. Don’t worry.”
As soon as Elwyn leaves, Grayson spins on his heel and strides toward the bedroom, heading straight for me. “Don’t pretend to be asleep. Nobody could sleep through that.” I can’t see his expression very well in the dark, but his voice softens. “No matter how tired they are.”
I make sure the dressing gown is closed before I sit up. “If you need access to the deep springs, then why don’t you ask permission to use it? If somebody’s sick—”
He laughs. “We don’t want to use it, Marbella. We want to destroy it.”
I scoot away from him. “What? Why?”
He doesn’t respond. He’s a master at not responding. Instead he leans across me, forcing me to press myself flat against the wall to avoid his chest brushing up against mine. He takes the pillow from the other side of the bed along with the spare blanket, pausing to drop a kiss on my cheek, far too close to the corner of my mouth, before he straightens.
I jerk backward but he has already relocated himself across the floor, choosing a spot between the bed and the bathroom to lay down on his blanket. That way I’ll have to step over him in the morning if I want to use the facilities. He’ll know if I wake up before him. Every move he makes is calculated. So is the seemingly random kiss on my cheek—a brand of ownership. He pummels his pillow and lies facing me, closing his eyes.
I squeeze my hands into fists. “I need you to stop taking liberties.”
His eyes remain closed. “Why?”
“Because my heart is not yours.”
A chill enters the room. “I’m well aware of that.”
He says nothing more and I skate back under the covers. Just as I’m about to drop back to sleep, his whisper reaches me. “Be warned, Marbella. I’m determined to get what I want.”
