His hand rose to touch the area, and his smile turned predatory. “Jealous? If you ask nicely, I might let you leave your own mark. Though you’ll have to wait in line.”
The world tilted sideways. I pressed my back against the stone wall, my legs unsteady.
My magic stirred, responding to the jealousy I couldn’t contain. The torches along the corridor flickered, and the air around us shifted, charged and ready to go feral.
I shoved my magic down so hard it made my chest ache.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said coolly, though my pulse betrayed me.
“I rarely do.” His gaze dropped to my mouth again before returning to my eyes. “But we’re getting distracted.” Turning, he nudged the dead man with his boot, studying the placement of the wound. “Clean kill. Efficient.” His tone held the same detachment he might use to discuss the weather. “Take care when you walk the halls, minxpip. Not everyone here plays as nicely as I do.”
I met his stare. “My name isIsi.”
“Is that so?” He stepped closer, near enough that I could smell cedar and something darker underneath. “Well then,Isi. It appears my minxpip does have claws.”
“I’m notyours,” I spat.
He stepped close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. Close enough that when he spoke, his breath ghosted across my lips.
“We’ll see,” he whispered, his voice dropping to a rough murmur that made liquid heat pool low in my belly. Something dark and possessive flickered in his eyes.
I thought he might press me against this stone wall and claim my mouth the way Kira had claimed his throat.
He was too close, all heat and danger and command.My pulse still hammered from the fight, and my body didn’t know the difference between fear and want.
Ignore him,I told myself.He’s your enemy.
But enemies had never looked at me like I was something worth conquering.
Fury saved me. Blessed, cleansing fury that burned away whatever spell he’d tried to weave.
“You watched while someone attacked me,” I snarled. “You didn’t help me at all.”
His expression went cold. “Why would I step in? You’ve made it clear you don’t need saving.”
He delivered the words with such complete disdain that I felt exactly as small and insignificant as he clearly thought me to be.
Pivoting, he stalked away, his booted footsteps echoing off the stone walls until the darkness swallowed him completely.
I stood in the hall for a long moment, staring at the dead man at my feet and the blood on my arm.
Until the door to my dormitory room opened and Lexie stepped out, her braids twisted together from sleep. She took in the body, the blood, and my arm, and whistled low. “What happened?”
“They thought I was someone else,” I said. “They were wrong.”
She looked down again, then back at me. A slow grin spread across her face. “Thisis why I knew we should be friends.”
She bustled me into the bathroom and after running into a stall to go, came back to tend to my wound, tutting all the while. Then she took my hand and started to lead me back to our room like I was a child who’d fallen and scraped her knees.
I came to a full stop at our door and nudged my head toward the body. “I need to remove?—”
“Leave it. Deny involvement if someone asks you about it in the morning.”
It was already too late for that. It appeared I’d given the King of Syllavar Court a weapon he could use against me at any time.
Inside, I slumped on my bed, Lexie tucking my blanket up around my chin like my mother used to do when I was small.
I fell asleep with her grin echoing in my mind, my own answering. Despite telling myself I needed to be forgettable, I’d made a friend.
