Xenia feigned falling again, crashing into Elodie and grasping for the key in the struggle and confusion.
“Getoffof me!” Elodie shouted, pushing Xenia away, but keeping a firm grip on her arm.
Xenia cursed internally and bit back a whimper as Elodie’s claws dug deeper into the cuts. Warm blood soaked Xenia’s sleeve.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, rainbow light flashed and Cael appeared, his abrupt entrance stirring the white and green floral arrangement atop the foyer table.
Relief buckled Xenia’s knees as Elodie stopped short.
“What’s going on?” Cael asked in a low voice, his expression carefully cold. Though Xenia noticed his hands curling into fists.
Elodie’s entire demeanor shifted as she released Xenia, who winced and clapped a hand over her wounded arm. Cael’s eyes flicked to it, and a muscle ticked in his clenched jaw.
Elodie retracted her claws and placed a hand on Cael’s chest, the picture of timid subservience. “I found her in my room. Rifling through mydresses. Who knows how long she’d been in there, touching my things. Ruining them with her humanfilth. I have half a mind to burn it all. I’m taking her to speak to your father. She needs to be reprimanded.”
Cael’s eyes darkened. “I’ll handle it.”
“But—” Elodie protested.
Cael stepped towards his fiancée, lifting her chin. “You needn’t concern yourself with such trivial matters, my darling. Surely you have more important things to worry about than doling out punishment to a measly little human?”
Elodie melted against him, tipping her face up for a kiss, and jealousy, hot and heavy, seared through Xenia’s chest. Elodie’s eyes slid closed, but Cael stepped away, angling his body in front of Xenia instead.
Elodie’s eyes fluttered open. “Yes, well,” she said, flustered, “do make sure to tell your father exactly what I told you. I do not want her or any other servant in my room ever again.”
“Of course,” he demurred.
Elodie’s expression softened, and she dipped her chin, gazing up at Cael through her lashes. “I’ll see you at dinner later?”
“Until then.” Cael offered a slight bow, which Elodie returned before floating up the stairs.
Xenia released a breath and Cael whirled on her, brows furrowed. “Are you alright?” He went preternaturally still at the sight of the small red pool at her feet. “What happened?”
“She wasn’t lying,” Xenia started. “I?—”
Footsteps echoed from the hallway leading to Arran’s office.
“Not here.” He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and bent down to clean the blood from the floor. “Follow me.”
He gently took her uninjured arm and rushed her up the stairs, turning toward the family quarters with a singular focus. He didn’t even notice as they passed the open door to Erik’s room.
Cael’s brother was sprawled in a chair eating orange segments and flipping through a thick book. His eyes caught Xenia’s and he raised a brow, though he didn’t say a word as Cael pulled her further down the carpeted hallway.
At the end of the hall, Cael opened another door, then ushered Xenia into the room.
The door snicked shut behind them, and Xenia’s limbs tingled when she realized where Cael had brought her.
His bedroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Xenia's heart pounded from both the encounter with Elodie and the fact that she was alone with Cael in his bedroom.
It was larger than the guest rooms, with a wide expanse of window that overlooked the stables and paddock, as well as the lush evergreen woods beyond.
There was an unlit fireplace fronted by two low-backed chairs upholstered in a green-and-blue plaid. The two built-in shelves bracketing the fireplace held an array of books, their spines pristine. Cael wasn’t much of a reader.
Occupying the other half of the room was a large bed with a dark wood frame and plaid linens that matched the armchairs.
