Roman is quiet, standing a little to the side since my wolves are pressed against my legs.
The doors open into a long hallway with golden walls and marble flooring that is also garishly gold with streaks of black through it.
The hall is quiet. If the afterparty has already started, I can’t hear it, and I’m grateful for that, because my anger rises that the elites are reveling in the bloodbath they just witnessed.
Each of the rooms on the left and right has a large, black number above their doors, and since Tyrus said I’m in room number seven, I can only guess that our room numbers are allocated in order of our birth.
For that reason, I stride quickly past the first room. I have no wish to encounter Arga again until I’m forced to. But I pause outside room number six—the one that must be Koda’s, judging by the bloody smears on the door handle and floor outside it.
Roman steps up beside me as I hesitate.
“His mother will make sure he receives healing before the party,” Roman says, keeping his voice low.
“I wasn’t…” I shake my head with a sigh. I’d like to deny feeling any sort of worry, but tonight’s trial was brutal. “You’ve seen other Eliminations. Are they always this vicious?”
Roman exhales quietly. “Always.”
“Is it true that my father would have chosen his successor instead of putting us through this?”
Roman gives me a nod. “Obviously, I didn’t know all of your father’s secrets, but I believe that’s what he would have done.”
When we reach my room, Roman stops me with a hand on my arm. “Let me check the room first,” he says. “If Crone has placed any curses on it, I can deal with them.”
He casts a sky-blue rune that separates into a multitude of waves and sends it through the door without touching the surface.
The door glows for a moment, Roman waits a beat, and then the door swings open.
“All clear,” he says.
Inside, the color scheme is also gold and black. My boots sink into the thick, lush carpet as we move down a short hallway and into a huge sitting room. Windows span the entire wall, giving me a sparkling view of the city. Now that night has fallen, everything is lit up with lights, and Zilron looks massive. Even bigger than it looks during the day—a vast sea of twinkling lights—and to think this is just one of the cities my father ruled over…
Once my wolves and I are safely inside, they take up position in each corner of the lounge room, acting as sentinels for me.
I turn into Roman’s arms. His thumb grazes my shoulder, but I can’t feel his touch through the armor he gave me.
“Seeing you hold my wolf meant more to me than you could ever know, Nova,” he says, a deep growl in his voice that almost makes me believe his wolf’s energy is still alive.
His thumb grazes my cheek again. “Thank you for giving me closure.”
Somehow, he seems to have found healing in what could have been a deeply traumatic experience. An experience that had the potential to tear us apart—no doubt Crone’s intention. It could have broken us, but it’s made us stronger.
His kiss is slow, an exploration of my lips.
When he breaks the contact, I murmur, “How does this armor come off?”
The corner of his lip twitches. “I put it on you with a rune. It takes a rune to remove it.”
Hmm.That could mean the rune on my wrist will work, but that’s not how I want my clothing to come off right now.
“I guess I need a rune then,” I say, calculating the time we have left before the afterparty—long enough. “And a shower.”
So that he doesn’t miss my intentions, I reach out and take his hand. “Can you help with that as well?”
He wraps his strong arms around me, lifting me up against him, guiding my legs around his waist before he strides into the next room—a palatial bedroom with a huge bathroom, into which he carries me.
His lips land on mine as his power brushes against my armor, a rune briefly glimmering around us both before the barrier between us is gone.
Then we’re naked—gloriously naked—a beat before a steady stream of water washes down on us.
