After I release him, Jax leaves, and I am truly alone for the first time in ages.
I toss my phone atop the coffee table, flipping on the TV. The sounds of fucking saturate the space. A porno blazes in the dim living room light. I shriek, hastily trying to turn it off, but I somehow turn it up. The last thing I need is for that nosy pink-haired neighbor to knock on my door again.
The last time I was here was with Vane, weeks before I became a vampire. We’d been spending all our time together, and I was so excited to show off my big-girl purchase to my vampire boyfriend. At least, I wanted Vane to be my boyfriend, but he never asked, nor had we had sex yet. I’d wanted to change that to finally close the chapter of my life titledJaxson.
I didn’t have keys to the loft at the time, so we broke in by jimmying a window over the fire escape. I showed him all 1,200 square feet, deciding to turn it into a game by removing an article of clothing each step of the way until I was completely naked in the living room. I didn’t have to beg. We ended up screwing on the hardwood floor. After months of pent-up desire, we hadn’t held back, and the neighbors called the authorities.
With a shake of my head to dislodge the memory, I turn off whatever program Pallas had been enjoying, but it does nothing for the throbbing need surging through me. Personal space was a luxury in the Nest, but here, in this suffocating solitude, the walls pressed in close. It was almost intimate.
I fall back onto the couch. Lifting the edge of my hoodie, I pop the button of my jeans and slip my hand beneath the elastic of my panties, my fingers finding the warm, eager wetness below. A shock of pleasure jolts through me at the first touch.
My back arches, a surprised gasp escaping me, loud in the stillness. I start slow, circling my aching clit, then pick up the pace. Jaxson’s image—his tender expressions and solid, inviting frame—fills my mind, heightening the intensity of each caress.The mounting pressure pushes me toward the edge until the dam bursts.
I cry out, lost in ecstasy, as my body shudders. But as I float back down, it’s not Jaxson’s name that slips from my lips in a breathless whisper. It’s Vane’s.
A pang of something complicated stirs within me. I tell myself it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just lingering memories from being in this place. But the truth is written in my racing pulse’s insistent thrums.
No matter how much I hate him, I’m not over him.
Rolling over, I groan. Vane ruins everything. “Leave me alone!” I scream my shame in the pillows, wishing I could bury my feelings just as quickly, smothering them until they die.
Back at the palace,I rip open Don’s latest letter from prison as I wait for Ravi to return from whatever errand he’s running this late. My fingers tremble as I quickly scan the documents for any mention of Fynn or Stellan. I find a whiny message that reeks of desperation. Don apologizes for trying to steal my throne and for the deaths of his brother and Fynn—his nephew, contrary to Stellan’s claim that Fynn was his son. His words are meaningless until I confront him face-to-face. I crumple the letter and toss it into the overflowing wastebasket with the others.
“Your Highness, Mr. Deyanira is back. He’s in the gym,” my equerry announces from the doorway.
“Thank you.”
Kicking off my high heels, I storm out of my room. I leave behind my phone, which is inundated with hundreds of missed calls and texts from the Council, Gianna, Wilder, and the press. I can’t focus on them right now—not until Ravi shows me how to astral project into the prison.
If I were to request an official visit, there’s a risk that the press could catch wind of it, and I don’t want anyone to know I saw Don until I can wrangle the truth from his lips. I need to know who he has working for him and why he leaked the story about Fynn to Stellan. Is he trying to buy his way out of prison?
When I enter the gym, the scent of sweat and the faint hum of energy greets me. I spot Ravi, clad in loose-fitting sweats and a matching gray shirt. His eyes are closed, and his chest rises and falls with each breath. I sit across from him.
Tread lightly,cautions my father’s ghost. But I push him away. I am not ready to face him after what happened at my mother’s. He’s had twenty years to come clean about Fynn.
“I need your help.” My voice cuts through the silence. Ravi remains unperturbed, as if I were a mere whisper in the wind.
I study him, my mind racing with questions. Did he know about Alden’s proposal? If he did, why didn’t he tell me? Unless . . . that’s what he was trying to tell me that day in the throne room when he advised me not to accept Alden’s request to visit. Perhaps he knew what Alden’s intentions were, and for some reason, he didn’t want me to agree to them.
But Ravi and Alden are close friends, so wouldn’t he want me to marry his friend? It would make many people happy, not to mention secure peace between our nations. So, what would Ravi gain from my saying no to the proposal? There must be something more to this, a missing piece of the pie.
“I know you can hear me,” I persist. I tap my fingers against the cushioned mat. “And I’m not leaving until you show me how to astral project.”
Still, Ravi does not respond. A flush creeps up my neck, amplified by the restless murmurs of my ancestral ghosts stirred by Ravi’s presence. They are as confused by him as I am.
“Ravi!” My voice reverberates off the gym walls.
His shoulders collapse. “Leigh, whatever it is, I am sure you can figure it out yourself, or there’s someone else you trust more than me to help you,” Ravi says, his eyes opening. The concern in them makes my breath stall.
If he had known about Alden’s proposal, he wouldn’t be worried about me. Unless . . . he’s concerned about Stellan’s article, which is none of his business.
“I want to astral project,” I say. He scoffs. “I came damn close to doing it again the other day, so I promise I won’t take too much of your time.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “The last time I tried to help you, it didn’t end well.”
I square my shoulders. If he remains within the palace, he’s obligated to assist me. He also promised. But I am desperate enough to beg. “Please.”
Ravi sighs. “Have you been practicing your meditation like I asked?”
