Page 14 of Flame and Starlight

parlor tricks.”

“Is that so, little duck?” he asked as his shadows crept closer, that scent of jasmine and cedar

heady in the air as they came closer. My breath hitched as they touched my cheeks and then wound

their way through my hair.

Fuck.

They were cold but soft as feathers. I breathed in for the first time with them being so close, and

they brought fresh mountain air into my lungs. They spread down my neck and over my shoulders.

Before I knew it, I had closed my eyes and leaned into them. They were the cold side of a pillow in

the dead heat of summer, comforting and refreshing.

And then gone.

I stumbled back a step and met his gaze. He cleared his throat and adjusted the front of his suit as

the night crept back around his entire body like an onyx halo.

“You’ve finished your dinner. I have something to take care of tonight, so you are dismissed. Go

rest.” With that he left, walking through the door to the right of one of the fireplaces, leaving me alone. I scoffed at the dismissal and gathered the heavy velvet in my hands, running over to where he’d

disappeared through the door. Behind it was a small servants’ stairway, dimly lit with torches and

steps that were carved out of stone. I could just barely hear his footsteps down below. I took off after

him.

“You know,” I said as I grabbed a torch off the wall. “I’m not so easily dismissed.” My words

echoed and vibrated off the stone. The stairs twisted and twisted down around sharp corners. Holding

the swaths of my dress in one hand and the torch in the other, I focused on the steps, praying I didn’t

fall. I was never known to be graceful. Every few corners I made, there was a landing with a door

that led off somewhere else in the castle. “Asher, hold on!” I yelled as I rounded another corner. And as soon as I had, I ran directly into him face-first, one of my legs sliding between his and

down a couple of steps. My dress fell from my hand, ready to catch myself from falling. It circled in

the air and connected with his bicep. His free hand wrapped around the wrist of my arm holding the

fire. He held my hand up and away from his face, keeping the fire far enough away from anything that

could be set alight. Because my left foot had slid down to the step behind him, my entire body was

pressed against his. He was still as stone, and my nose still hurt from the harsh contact it made with

his chest. His arm I was holding slid slowly around my back.

“If this is what you wanted, little duck, you only had to ask.” His voice was gravel and heat, and

my breath stopped at the sound of it. Only for a moment before I caught myself, but long enough for

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