Page 14 of Fading Sun

“Actually,” he says with an annoyingly smug smirk. “I can.”

Really?

He can’t be serious.

But I have a sinking feeling he is.

“What are you going to do?” I step forward, not backing down. “Lock me in my room?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Is that a suggestion?”

“No.” I tilt my head and reach for my magic, clenching my fists when I’m barely able to find a spark.

If I can’t burn him with sunlight, I can always punch him instead.

“Locking me in my room didn’t go well for you the first—and final—time you tried,” I remind him.

“As if I’d ever forget the night you almost ruined my elevator,” he replies. “And, as I’m sure you also recall, I never locked you in. I simply placed a guard outside your door to keep you safe.”

“You weren’t expecting that it was your guard you needed to keep safe from me,” I say, and he looks me over in what might almost be silent approval.

“No. I wasn’t expecting it,” he agrees. “But I was hoping for it.”

My sun magic finally sparks within me. Not a lot, but it’s there.

“Then hopefully you’re hoping that I wake up and get myself to training tomorrow,” I say. “Because that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

“You’re not setting a foot inside that gym tomorrow,” he says, and the air stirs around him, his already mussed up hair moving in the breeze. “You’re going to take a day off. Use the time to heal. Not just physically, but here.” He taps his temple, then drops his hand back to his side, his eyes like daggers piercing into my soul. “It’s time you learned how to use your brain more than your heart.”

His words make my heart race faster. It’s like it’s telling me it won’t be quieted, no matter what Damien, Cassandra, or anyone else in this kingdom thinks I should do.

“I don’t regret what I did tonight,” I say, keeping my gaze level with his.

“And I don’t imagine you’d be saying that if you ended up bonded to Lucas or captured by the Shadow Lord,” he replies coolly.

The token hums in my pocket at the mention of the Shadow Lord—as if it’s offended that Damien said his name.

I don’t want to talk about Astrophel. I can’t.

So, I change the subject.

“What about you?” I ask. “Are you going to take a day off as well?”

“Leaders don’t have that luxury,” he says without a second thought.

“Exactly,” I say, the word slicing through the air. “Which is why I won’t be taking the day off tomorrow, either.”

I expect him to fight back. To make a snide remark that I don’t have what it takes to be a queen.

Instead, he removes his finger from the doors open button and steps back.

“Real leaders don’t just train their bodies.” He glances over mine before meeting my eyes again. “They also train their minds.”

With those final cold words, the elevator doors close.

His dismissal echoes in my ears, and anger flares inside me, burning away the last of my basically non-existent magic. Not just at his arrogance, but at the part of me that wonders if there’s truth in what he said.

With nowhere else to go—and feeling more exhausted than ever—I make my way to my room.

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