I lifted my hand uncertainly. I was nervous I’d find something other than his hand. Instead, his fingers brushed mine, and something jolted. His grip was electric, just like when he’d taken my hand my first night here. Energy thrummed between us, making my pulse quicken. He paused, his breathing halted for a moment, before he tugged ever so slightly to guide me.
I could hardly breathe from the exchange, but I did as he urged. I searched for a root or leaves that were too deep before firmly placing my foot in front of me. The second I moved myother foot, though, I found a tree root and stumbled forward, right into Blake. Startled, I yelped as he caught me, grasping onto his muscled forearms.
“I have you,” he murmured, gripping me tightly.
I swallowed as his hands lingered until I was firmly stable. I laughed nervously, desperate to cut the tension. “Nothing like being blinded to make you feel helpless.”
The stillness between us unnerved me. I was seconds away from ripping off the blindfold when he said, “Feeling helpless is what motivates us to be strong.”
Was that what I was? Helpless? Is it what drove me to this place?
“Have you ever felt helpless?” I asked, taking another step, this time, gripping his hand to ensure I didn’t fall.
The air shifted. His silence wasn’t dismissive—it was heavy.
“I have,” he said, his voice further as he spoke, like he’d turned away from me. “And I have trained to avoid feeling that way again.”
I wanted to squeeze his hand, to say something, but I didn’t. I didn’t know him well enough to be consoling him on such things, but I wanted to—it was strange, like the reflex to reach for him was instinctive. I shook the sensation, feeling him urging me forward, and took a step.
Finally, I felt a smooth path beneath my feet. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Blake,” I said, my tone firm.
“Yes?”
“Have you ever been lost in unfamiliar woods and blindfolded, then expected to find your way out?” I asked.
A long silence passed before he released a breath that sounded amused.
“No,” he said, drawing it out. “No, I have not.”
I jerked my head in the direction I thought he’d be and pursed my lips, then let a wide grin spread across my lips.
“Alright, alright,” he said, laughing. “I see your point.”
The grin slipped as I felt his hands on either side of my head, his hands in my hair, untying the blindfold. When it slipped off my face, he was in front of me, watching me with his silver-flecked gray eyes. My breath hitched at his proximity. I watched him in stunned silence, trying to piece together how I ended up alone in the woods with this man whose very presence felt like a lightning storm in my soul.
His gaze lingered on mine longer than I expected, something there, buried deep in his eyes that only he could see.
“Challenge accepted,” he said softly. “But you have to make sure I do not walk into a tree.”
My nerves eased, and the noise of the trees rustling in the wind surrounded me once again as I muttered, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I intentionally led him into a tree twice before we made it out of the forest. The second time, he ripped the blindfold off, tossed it over his shoulder, and gave me a look that set my nerves on fire. I screamed, laughing as I ran from him to the forest’s edge, emerging from the thicket to the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Adept Corinya was standing before us, expression cross.
I stopped laughing. Blake emerged beside me, not a hair out of place, and her expression shifted to shock. Glancing back at me with a scrutinizing expression, she said, “I see you found your way out of the woods.”
I nodded, smiling nervously before glancing at Blake.
He inclined his head, said nothing to Corinya, and strolled off toward the castle. As he passed Isabella, she glanced over her shoulder skeptically.
“What was that about?” Isabella whispered as we headed to the next course.
I recalled the way he’d looked at me earlier—how his gaze lingered far longer than it should have.
“I have no idea.”
