Page 111 of The Rose in the Shadows

“Areyouokay?” He asked, reaching for my hand again.

I laughed darkly, entwining my fingers with his. “I’m not the one in the hospital bed.”

I swear my heart stopped when he raised an eyebrow at me. I’d never been so happy to see him looking disapprovingly at me.

“Physically, I’m fine. Otherwise, I’m not sure. We have a lot to catch up on.”

His eyes grazed over the bare skin of my chest, and even in his weakened state, I could see the wheels in his head turning to understand what that unmarked flesh meant.

“I can see that.” He nodded, then winced as if the movement caused a rush of pain.

“Sit still!” I chastised, reaching up to smooth down his unkempt hair and adjust the pillow under his head.

“You’ve been here the whole time?” he asked, glancing at the chair I had made into my temporary bed. “Why?”

I tried not to flinch from the harshness in his voice. I didn’t know why I was there, in truth. Nothing had changed, not really. We were still from conflicting houses; we each had a duty to produce heirs and couldn’t do that with each other. There was no future for the Crown Prince and the Council member of House Hyrax.

But in these days at his bedside, I hadn’t felt like the future Council member. I felt like nothing more than a girl who could do nothing but pray to the Gods that he would be okay.

And when I saw him fall on the battlefield, the emotion I had felt for him was too great to put into words. It was the emotion that superseded Houses and responsibilities.

But that kind of emotion was confusing.

I didn’t know how to handle it.

I did, however, know why I was there. I may not want to admit that, because I had a habit of lying to myself when the truth seemed too difficult to face. But I knew why I was there.

Everyone knew why I was there.

It’s why Iris had been so harsh with me. It’s why Rankor had reminded me that my heart was more important than my duty to the Council. It’s why Dimitri had known I would sleep in this room until he woke up.

I was in love with Clayton Vail, Crown Prince of House Zion.

“How did you know where to find me?” I whispered, changing the topic.

He rolled his eyes at my choice to ignore his question, but a smile danced on his lips, regardless. “You called to me. I heard your voice in my head as clearly as if you were right next to me. You called my name, and I knew you needed me. I followed the pull of your magic right to you.”

I frowned. That moment. There had been that moment, right before the shadows had started the torturous assault that had brought me in and out of consciousness, that I had thought of him. Had I called to him then?

That had been before I broke through to my powers, though. If I had called to him then, that meant that the mortal blood hadn’t temporarily dulled them, as we suspected. That meant that I’d never truly been separated from my magic at all. The mortal blood had not affected me.

And that… that wasn’t possible.

“She power-stripped you after that?” He mused, fingers brushing over my unmarked collarbone.

I took his hand and squeezed. “She tried. But you, of all people, know I don’t like to back down that easily.”

He laughed and finally let me call a nurse to look over him. Everyone was ecstatic to see he was awake, and the nurses proudly announced that he officially seemed to be on the mend. It would take some time for him to return to normal, but she was pleased. Which meant I was thrilled.

I stayed with him the rest of the day, talking about all manner of things. I filled him in on what had happened to Camilla, how I’d reignited my powers, and how the army had come at just the right time. We tried to brainstorm what it meant that my mark was gone, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

When the sun set and we’d exhausted all topics of conversation, we sat quietly, and I watched as he dozed in and out of sleep, his hand locked in mine.

“Clay?” I whispered during a brief moment when I couldn’t tell if he was awake or not.

“Mmm?”

“I think I know how I called out to you.”

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