What. An. Idiot.
Birdy had just handed me an absolute weapon—my freedom—and she didn’t even realize what she’d done. Which was totally okay with me.
“Your secret is safe with me,” I said, genuinely happy.
We headed upstairs after that, and when we hit the second floor, the space opened dramatically. “This is where the guests stay,” Birdy told me, stopping at a blank wall.
I looked around, my eyes taking in the full expanse of the area I could see. “You’ve lost me.”
A tweeting sort of huff escaped her beaked mouth. “Place your hand on the wall.”
I did that, and beneath my palm lit up like it had for Birdy.
“Say, ‘Room.’”
“Room.” See, I could do as I was told.
The light exploded, and I stepped back, wrenching my hand free on instinct. The doorway formed a moment later, and I was shoved from behind and sent stumbling inside. Disregarding the fact that Birdy had touched me without my permission—someone was in trouble—I attempted to figure out what the heck I was staring at.
It was an… igloo. Basically the only thing I could compare it to. Curved icy walls, with white floors, and a ton of thick pelts in the middle of the area. It was not as cold as I’d expected as I walked farther inside to examine the space. Looking back once, I realized that the door behind me had closed without a sound, and Birdy was nowhere to be seen.
I was finally alone with my messy thoughts. Great.
The pelts were amazingly soft and warm when I dug my hands into them, and I was super tempted to bury deep and have a nap. But I wanted to check out the rest of my room before I relaxed.
What if there were threats in here I wasn’t aware of?
The main area in this round room held only those thick pelts, at least five in total, so I wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold ground thankfully. At first, it appeared to just be the one round room until I ran my hands across the wall and found another opening. Should have guessed there’d be more optical illusions.Queen of Illusionswas Ixana’s middle name.
The second room held thebathroom? It had a huge hole in the icy floor, and the water in there was hot and inviting. On the other side of this room was another hole, and I couldn’t be sure, but I had a feeling that was the toilet… maybe? That was what I’d be using it for, so hopefully it wasn’t actually a laundry chute.
Awkward.
I had no other clothing to change into, so I decided to wait on the bath situation, in lieu of having a nap first. It had been exhausting dealing with my emotions since they’d decided to explode inside of me and drip acid through my soul in painful dribbles.
Yeah, I was being super dramatic, but there was real hurt inside of me that I wasn’t mentally or emotionally able to deal with today. It was just too much. The last ten years had been bad enough, but now there was this, and maybe… just maybe, I’d finally learned what it was like to truly be broken by someone I trusted.
I could still feel the zap of Shadow’s power, the cold burn in his eyes, and the way his name for me had turned from ‘Sunshine’ into ‘Mera.’
It all hurt, and if a nap helped me escape, I was taking it. Hopefully by the time I woke up, Midnight would be here, and I could figure out my next move. Without a beast by my side.
32
Despite how comfortable and warm the pelts were, I was somehow still cold. And I slept like shit.
At one point, I woke, tears on my cheeks, and that just made me even angrier with myself because I wasn’t supposed to let my emotions get in the way. Yeah, Shadow had given me my first kiss… had been my first lover… and he was the first male I’d let myself be vulnerable with in a very long time. But I’d known all along it wasn’t going to last. I mean, that had been the one constant in our relationship, so why was I taking this so hard?
Was it just how perfect his mate was? Was it the thought that while I was sleeping my day away here, mourning what could have been, he was probably fucking her against an ice wall right now?
I mean, maybe not fucking—she really didn’t look like the type to enjoy a royal fuck. Gentle lovemaking in the moonlight?
Ugh, whatever. Screw him and her, and not in the fun way they were probably enjoying.
Mera.
I jumped at the sound of Midnight’s voice in my head, and there was a strange flutter in my chest that followed. The flutter felt cool and calm… Angel was close too. I wondered if maybe there had been a new evolution of my bond with her.
Either way, I was beyond ecstatic to feel both of them closing in.
