“Um…” I glanced at Callista again. She gave me the slightest indication that I should turn around and go back the way I’d come. I wasn’t certain why I trusted her, but I did. She seemed like the most normal of them all, and she’d been nothing but kind to me so far. Granted, she hoped I’d be the answer to her prayers. Her escape route out of here. I’d be nice to me, too. “I suppose I should wait until daylight for more wandering.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Good.” Yuto’s lips stretched into a dangerous smile. “I’ll escort you back. Wouldn’t want you getting lost, now would we?”
Dammit.
With a sigh, I spun on my heels and stumbled forward into darkness. Chuckling, Yuto grabbed my elbow to keep me from splatting onto the stone floor. I jerked my arm out of his grip. He still had those damn steel gloves on that always felt so hard and rough against my skin.
“Do you ever accept help?” he murmured as he shifted into step beside me, guiding me toward my room.
“Not from enemies, no.”
He chuckled. “Good. You should keep it that way.”
Narrowing my eyes, I risked a glance up at his face, but his expression was hidden in shadows. “That’s a strange piece of advice, coming from you.”
“You’re safe as long as you’re inside this castle, but one day, you’ll step outside these stone walls. I’ve told you, time and time again, I have no wish to see you die.”
“You are a very confusing dragonlord, Yuto,” I muttered.
We reached my door. It was still hanging wide open from where I’d rushed out into the corridor, thinking I’d never have to return. Sighing, I trailed inside, at least grateful for the bit of light from the flickering hearth. Yuto edged in behind me and glanced around. His eyes lingered just a second too long on the bed.
“You should get some rest,” he murmured.
“So you’ve said.Insisted, really. Repeatedly.” I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those mythical monsters who attacks women in their sleep.”
“An incubus?” He grinned. “Perhaps you should go to sleep and find out.”
For a moment, I couldn’t tell whether or not he was joking. It didn’t help that he refused to clarify. So, I decided I’d go with the joking option. The alternative was too horrific to contemplate.
“Well, I’m in here now.” I gestured at the room. “Just like you wanted. Can you go now?”
“If I leave, will you merely wait until you can’t hear my footsteps anymore, and then attempt another escape?” he asked.
Damn him. It was almost like he could read my mind…
Can he?!He was the Lord of Dragons. His strength rivalled the fiercest creatures I’d ever seen, and he moved with a speed and grace that was unnatural. Maybe he could read my mind. It wouldn’t surprise me at this point.
“No, I’ll stay inside like the good little prisoner I am,” I said with faux-sweetness.
He snorted. “Just get some sleep, Aradia. If you insist on attempting your futile mission, at least get some rest first and try again in the morning.”
“Fine. Just tell me one thing, and then I’ll get some sleep,” I said.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Go on.”
“How long are you going to keep me here? The truth, Yuto. Not some half-answer. The full weight of it.”
“That isn’t up to me, Aradia. It’s up to the portal. And, in some sense, you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“The magic reads your soul,” he said. “It knows of your crimes and how you feel about them. At the moment, if I’m right, you don’t feel sorry for them at all. You’ll have to face them if you want to be free.”
“That is just utter bullshit.” I threw out the words before I thought them through. Itwasbullshit, the lot of it. I hadn’t stolen the damn necklaces! How could I be paying for a crime I hadn’t committed? How could the portal read that in my soul? And how could I ever face my crimes if they weren’t even mine?
None of it made any sense.
