Page 34 of The Rose in the Shadows

“Perhaps it would be best for Theadora and I to take our leave for the evening.”

“Sit down, boy!” The Dragon bellowed. “You leave when I command it!”

Clay sighed, his fingers flexing once on the back of my chair, but he did not sit. For a moment, we were all frozen in our spots. Not even the servants, balancing food on trays or beginning to pour drinks, dared to move or even breathe. We were all waiting for the Dragon to declare what would happen next.

“Am I understood, Miss Moore?” He growled. His chest heaved as he worked to contain the beast struggling to take form.

Clay grasped my shoulder, giving a tight squeeze, a silent push toward the only answer I could give.

“Yes,” I breathed, tucking my shaking hands under my bottom so he couldn’t see them.

“Yes, what?”

I bit down on my lip with the rush of a sudden tingling through my arms and fingers. The feeling of it flooded over me, trickling down my arms and legs and dancing across the back of my neck. The shock nearly made me forget about my current situation entirely, but the increasing pressure of Clay’s hand on my shoulder shook through me, pulling me back into the room.

“Yes, your majesty.” I breathed.

He smirked, his eyes narrowing triumphantly. Then, too slowly, the scales settled back into his skin, and he straightened his jacket.

“Get out, both of you.”

Clay pulled out my chair without hesitation, but I was already on my feet. I didn’t need him to show me out of the room, but I knew he followed me as I hiked up the skirts of my gown and ran down the hallway, fleeing the Dragons’ suites while my skin stillburned from the sensation of each and every one of my nerves bursting.

Chapter Ten

Clay wasn’t far behind me as I sped through the palace in a discomforting haze. Even though I ran as fast as I could, my legs strong after my many trips over the mountain with Ryla, he caught me in no time, grabbing my hand and pulling me into an unknown room with enough force to leave my arm stinging from the uncomfortable pull.

I didn’t have the strength to fight him, though. All I could think about, all I couldfeel,was the movement under my skin. The feeling of sparks traveling from the center of my stomach out through my arms and legs into my fingers and toes.

Something was very, very wrong with me.

Had I been poisoned? Had the Dragon lied about wanting to keep me alive and invite me to dinner only to do away with me?

Surely, I was dying.

That’s what this felt like.

Every nerve in my body was screaming for release. I was going to explode.

The cold air on my skin was sudden as Clay pulled us onto a dark terrace. I lurched forward, leaning over the railing, desperate to have more cool air wash over me. My breath came in a rush, short heaves in and out as the electric feeling continued pooling inside of me. The garden trees shook, and the stone veranda under my feet vibrated. I hardly felt Clay as he pulled me up over the ledge and grabbed my face, pulling me to look at him.

“Breathe, Thea,” he commanded. “You need to try and breathe. Putting on a display of how uncontrollable your powers are right now will help no one.”

He took my hand and pressed it against his chest so that I could feel his heart beating and his chest rising with his own deep breaths in and out. My eyes never broke away from his as I followed his lead, breathing in his cinnamon and oak scent until the discomfort and pressure in me began to ease and the world around us began to still.

We stood like that, pressed too closely, my hand on his chest and his on my face, for too long. Until, finally, he nodded, let go of my hand, and took a step back.

On my own, a deep shudder escaped from the deepest part of me.

“Thatwas my powers?” I whispered, incredulous.

He laughed darkly. “Congratulations, you’ve finally been able to summon them.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold.

“It was… overwhelming,” I tried to explain. “It felt like my skin was crawling. I didn’t expect it to be sopainful.”

Clay turned to look at me slowly, and his face was free of his regular mask of arrogant confidence and command. He no longer looked like the angry, commanding prince I’d interacted with so far. He just looked… tired.

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