Eyden took the necklace and Lora turned around. The blanket covered her chest, but her bare back was now in front of Eyden. She held her hair up as he fastened the necklace around her neck. She let her hair fall down again. Eyden’s fingers lingered on her shoulder before trailing down her spine. A shiver ran down her body, need building within her.
Turning back around, she pushed Eyden onto his back before lowering herself on top of him. The fire in his eyes rekindled—if it had ever left. She didn’t care that she lost the blanket in the process, pooling at her waist. She wasn’t tired anymore.
Her hands roamed over his bare chest, his brown skin soft yet firm underneath her fingers. When she leaned forward, her necklace brushed against his chest. Eyden’s gaze lingered on the silver chain between her breasts.
“I think you should always only wear this,” he said, grinning, his fingers gently pulling on the chain, drawing her closer so he could capture her mouth.
His tongue intertwined with hers and his hand moved to the back of her head, pulling her in. Fire shot between her legs as she felt him on her lower stomach. Her fingers trailed down his chest—
A loud knock made them freeze. Only their laboured breathing could be heard, then another knock came from the front door. Lora met Eyden’s eyes, and they came to a silent agreement.
Springing up as silently as possible, Lora grabbed her shirt, pulling it over head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eyden pull up his trousers. He glanced in her direction, tilting his head to the bathroom. Lora picked up the rest of her clothes and went there. She saw Eyden drift to the kitchen table, grabbing one of his knives before teleporting to the front door, still shirtless.
Lora hastily locked herself in the bathroom, questions going off in her panicked mind. Who was knocking at Eyden’s door in the middle of the night? Did someone find her gone and track her down?
Whoever it was, if there was trouble, she wouldn’t be hiding in this bathroom for long. Lora shrugged on her clothes and called on the fire building in her veins. She didn’t have her dagger anymore, but she still hadherself.
Chapter51
Rhay
No matter the amount of alcohol he ingested, Rhay couldn’t forget Karwyn’s stone-cold eyes or his grip on Lora. Karwyn’s relationship to his cousin had seemed suspicious from the start. Rhay hadn’t, however, expected such a display of violence between the two. Yet again, Rhay had ignored all the signs.
The princess and her friends had left quite a mess. Rhay had rushed to Karwyn’s side, a mix of disgust and care fighting in his head. Guards had left to pursue Lora and her two friends. Karwyn had asked Rhay to go fetch Saydren and Rhay had obeyed, relieved to leave the domestic battlefield.
When he had gone looking for Lora, he’d found out that she had been injured and her two friends had vanished. The guards were on high alert, searching for them. The princess had been locked in her bedroom, awaiting Saydren’s visit.
Since he hadn’t been attacked with almandine, Karwyn’s injuries were not life threatening, but his face was badly beaten. Saydren had warned him it would take some time to heal completely. Karwyn’s ego was bruised the most by the attack. This one, he hadn’t planned.
A furious tangle of emotions made Rhay reach for the aquamarine flask lying next to him on his unmade bed. The flask soon met his lips, and the momentary forgetfulness eased his suffering. Racking his brain these past two days, Rhay hadn’t made up his mind what he should do with Karwyn’s confession about the Quarnian attack, the experimentation room, or his attack on Lora. Instead of making a precise decision, Rhay had let himself be blindsided yet again.
He needed to do something,anything, to understand what the hell was really happening in the palace. He already had a few pieces of the puzzle, but he didn’t know how to put all of them together. If he finally asked Lora, she could help him understand.
Or you could ask Karwyn directly,a little voice said in his head. But trusting Karwyn’s words had become a foolish thing to do. He had tried that already. In the training room, he had hoped for… What had he really hoped for? An apology? A promise to finally act right?
He had gotten neither, and he never would. Just a desperate kiss that wasn’t meant to be. Seeing Karwyn choke Lora had broken the last thread pulling Rhay towards his childhood friend.
Struggling out of bed, Rhay found a pair of shoes lying on the floor. He put them on before pocketing his flask.
The palace felt haunted. The corridors were empty and eerily silent. Rhay sped up his walk, uneasy about the strange atmosphere. It was the calm before the storm. Karwyn was planning his revenge, Rhay was sure of it. Maybe he should leave now before he had to witness Karwyn’s punishment.
When he reached Lora’s room, he discovered a very sullen Layken. The guard must have been severely reprimanded for not capturing the two who had dared attack the king. Rhay couldn’t help but shudder. Once Karwyn found them, he would order their public execution. He had warned Rio that his friends were going to get themselves killed.
“The princess isn’t allowed visitors,” Layken said, his hand hovering above his sword.
“You want to take out your bruised ego on me? Go ahead. But I need to talk to her.” Rhay took a step towards the door.
Layken squared up. “King’s orders. You know better than to go against him.”
Did he? Listening to the orders of a king losing himself in his search for power felt like a stupid thing to do. And Rhay was done being stupid. He took another step in Layken’s direction.
“What makes you think she’d want to see you anyway?” Layken asked. “It’s the middle of the night. Let her rest.”
Rhay halted his steps. Layken was right, Lora had no reason to trust him. Rhay had merelystoodthere while Karwyn was choking her. He hadn’t run forward, hadn’t tried to rip Karwyn’s hand from her throat. Defeated by this realisation, Rhay moved away from the door.
“Get some rest, you’re good at that,” Layken mocked as Rhay disappeared down the next corridor.
He needed a distraction from his misery—or even better, a companion. Tomorrow, he had to talk to Lora. Maybe tonight he could find Rio in Chrysa. Maybe he could help him somehow to make up for his lack of actions concerning Lora.
