Sebastian blinked, and his mask of indifference returned. “Do you want to see your brother?” he asked stiffly, already turning his back on her.
Her heart thundered wildly in her chest, a hundred questions at the tip of her tongue as she scurried after him, but her desire to see Arden won out over her curiosity. They walked only a few yards further before stopping in front of another door. Sebastian swiftly inserted a key into the lock and opened it.
The room was identical to her father’s, down to the cream rug and navy pillows. Isla tiptoed inside and made her way to the bed, smiling at the peaceful form of her brother stretched out under the quilt. Examining his face and arms, she was comforted to see that he didn’t have any new injuries and his wounds from the attack weeks ago had healed.
Sebastian had told the truth. He hadn’t harmed them; he’d even put them in these luscious palace rooms instead of locked away in a dungeon with rats and filth.
After standing next to Arden’s sleeping form for a couple of minutes, she swallowed thickly and walked back into the lit hallway. She nodded once at Sebastian, who silently led her back in the direction they’d come from.
None of this made sense. She found it difficult to reconcile the man she’d met weeks ago, whose words had been full of malice, intent on intimidating and weakening, with the one before her now. He hadn’t even tried to get close to her tonight or make her uncomfortable with his lingering touches, except when stopping her from reading that envelope. It was like after his interaction on the mountain with Jade and Celesine where he’d been injured, something had changed inside of him.
Yes, he’d kidnapped her family, and she vividly remembered the fear and heartache that had wholly consumed her the day she entered her house and found signs of violence. The king was still using her emotions against her, threatening her loved ones to get her to do what he asked.
But why was he takingcareof Papa and Arden? The “dark god” she knew would have shoved them in a cell and thrown away the key, not let them prance around his castle and play games with his servants. And he was almost…gentle with her. Amenable. Answering her questions, taking her to her family without a second thought, letting her see intimate pieces of his life. He put on his cruel facade when he wanted to, but it was beginning to crack.
And what was going on with his eyes changing color? It only happened when—
A thought suddenly glimmered in the back of her mind as they approached the door to his chambers.
He twisted the knob and walked into the room, turning to say something to her. But before he spoke, she let the letter opener drop from her sleeve and into her hand. Darting to him, she pushed him into the wall, the sharp end biting the flesh of his neck.
“What are you playing at, hmm? There’s something you’re not telling me,” she hissed, searching his eyes for any hint of a reaction.
As she expected, his black eyes flashed with shock and heat as they faded into cobalt. He reached for her wrist but didn’t push her away.
“See!” she exclaimed in triumph. “What was that? Why did your eyes change color?” It seemed to happen whenever she got too close or drew a strong emotion from him.
His jaw hardened, and he tried to turn his head, creating a bead of blood where the sharp edge of the letter opener connected with his skin. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled.
She squinted at him. “Of course I do, I just saw it happen. They were black, and now they’re blue. It’s done that before—how are you controlling it?”
Then it hit her. What ifhewasn’t controllingit? What if his powers were tied to this strange phenomenon with his eyes, and he sometimes lost his grip, letting the magic take over? Maybe the power was too strong for him, and he struggled to command it.
Or maybe…hecouldn’tcommand it. Isla knew from rumors that his reclusive, domineering habits had gotten worse recently. Maybe his powers were growing stronger as he aged. Or, if it wasn’t something he was born with but had somehow gained in the past few years…perhaps he hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to control. The magic could be consuming him.
Another possibility struck her, and she inhaled sharply. Jade had questioned how he could have come into his mind abilities, but what they hadn’t considered was the idea that he hadn’t chosen them for himself. That instead, he had beenforcedinto them. What if something had happened to the young man from the portrait, something he hadn’t asked for?
Sensing her distraction, Sebastian pulled the letter opener from her and threw it to the ground, grabbed both of her wrists in his hands, and turned as quick as lightning to shove her against the door. Her wrists were above her head, his knee between her legs, her limbs unable to attack or move away.
“Don’t. Whatever you were thinking, stop. Iamyour enemy. Don’t try and save me, Isla, because there’s nothing left to save.” His eyes, black once again, held a challenge. His chest heaved against hers, their pounding hearts beating as one, suspicion and hatred and temptation hanging in the air between them.
“Send me back,” she whispered, the feel of his body so close to hers overwhelming her senses. She needed time to think through the impossible ideas racing through her mind, turning her world inside out…and she couldn’t breathe with him nearby.
He paused, nodded once, and then did something she never would’ve expected.
The king kissed her.
A single, brief kiss, his lips molding to hers for a heartbeat. Two.
He pulled away when she gasped, shock that surely mirrored her own lining his features, like he couldn’t believe his own actions.
Isla stared at him.
She didn’t know who moved first—perhaps both of them, but suddenly her lips were on his again, a clash of tongue and teeth and darkness. His hands released her wrists and moved to her waist while her fingers went to his blonde hair. It was as soft as it looked, as soft as his lips were against hers. He kissed her like a starved man, desperate to tell her all the secrets he couldn’t say with words. She slid her tongue along his lower lip, a low sound leaving his throat as he gripped her waist tighter. This felt so different than—
Rynn.
It was as if an icy waterfall fell over her, flooding her. She pushed Sebastian away with a shuddering breath as he cursed and clutched his hair in his hands, his eyes again a deep blue.
