Page 4 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

Perhaps that was why I struggled to practice.

I’d managed to stop trembling with terror every time I thought about my power, but thus-far hadn’t had any luck conjuring anything more than red-faced frustration. I certainly hadn’t mastered the ability to disappear and reappear at will, and I was starting to wonder if I ever would again.

“Go stand over there.” I pointed aimlessly across the room, even as I took a large step forward, putting some much-needed distance between us. “It’s a bit difficult to think of nothing with you breathing in my ear.”

The prince chuckled. “A likely excuse.”

“Excuse or not, I can’t do this with you hovering over me.”

With an over-dramatic sigh, Bael stepped out from behind me and sauntered across the room to lean against the wall by the window. To my dismay, my eyes followed him without my permission and my heart fluttered.

It was no wonder I was struggling to focus.

There had always been something slightly unnerving and dangerous about Bael, but his joking demeanor and too-pretty face camouflaged his darker nature. In the palace, the prince invariably appeared as if he had just stumbled out of a wild party or overslept by several hours. His red-gold curls were always too long, and he hardly ever wore shirts underneath his brightly colored waistcoats revealing both his well-defined muscles and intricate swirling tattoos.

Now, his hair was cropped short, having been burned in the fire, and the dimly lit room glinted with the reflection of his black, obsidian-plated armor. He carried no sword or knives in his belt, practically screaming that he could kill just as easily without them. It was as if, without the layers of silk and smiles, it was evident that there was nothing golden about this prince—and there never had been.

As if he could read my thoughts, the corners of Bael’s lips twitched upward, revealing a mischievous gleam in his yellow irises. “You’re still thinking.”

“How can you tell?”

“Just your expression. If you let yourself get too distracted you’ll end up traveling somewhere you didn’t intend. We can only hope it’s just downstairs and not halfway across the city.”

I made a frustrated noise in the back of my throat and opened one eye. “I doubt there’s much danger of that. I’d have to actually move first.”

He grinned, but only waved a hand for me to hurry up. “Get on with it. I have other things I want to do with you before the meeting.”

If he’d intended to motivate me, his mention of the meeting had the opposite effect. I glanced out the window, where the sun seemed far brighter than it had been when we began practicing. “How long have we been doing this? Should we not be downstairs already?”

We were due down in the thieves’ den an hour before noon, to meet with the rest of the displaced royal family and Cross’s crew. There had been many meetings since we’d been here, most regarding the ongoing rebel conflict, but none that I wanted to attend so much as this one.

I’d decided days ago that I would not be going to Nevermore for the next event of the Wilde Hunts, or even to Overcast with the rest of the Everlasts. No, I wanted desperately to travel across the country to the far northern province of Aftermath where I’d been born and had once lived with my mother and sister before relocating to the capital. Now, for the first time, we’d be meeting about when I might be able to leave on my journey and, equally important, who would be accompanying me.

Bael didn’t bother to look out the window as he answered. “I’m not worried about time, little monster. Stop stalling, or I’ll find another way to motivate you to try again.”

An anticipatory tingle traveled down my spine, but I ignored it. Instead, I shook my hands out, and rolled my neck, before standing straight. “Fine. One more time.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried desperately to think of nothing. Darkness. Anything but the thousands of other thoughts that threatened to overtake me.

Frustrated, I tried to recreate the sensation of plunging sideways into an endless void, but even without looking at the too-gorgeous male in front of me, it was nearly impossible to clear my mind. How could I, with everything going on in the country? With all the mysteries still left to solve, and battles still looming?

I groaned. “I give up. Perhaps I simply can’t shadow walk again.”

“You’ll manage it, eventually,” Bael said, pushing off the wall to stand in front of me.

I hung my head, defeated. “Your confidence in me is likely displaced. I’m starting to think I used up what little abilities I had back in the capital. There’s simply nothing left.”

The prince moved forward another step. He was so tall I had to crane my neck back as he placed his hands on my waist, turning me toward him, before bending to drag his tongue over the column of my neck. “No,” he said against my skin. “You still taste of magic, little monster. It’s still inside you, you simply haven’t found the right motivation to use it.”

I let out a slightly incredulous laugh, even as my pulse throbbed to life beneath his lips. “What are you doing? I thought you were trying not to distract me?”

He skated his lips over my collarbone. “And I thought you said you were giving up, so I can be as distracting as I want.”

My pulse pounded between my legs, and the laughter fled from me as I tilted my head back, giving him better access. My voice was breathy, my protest half-hearted. “But did you hear me? I’m sure we’ve been practicing too long already. We’re likely late to the meeting as it is.”

“I do not think they can start without us,” he countered as he dragged his tongue over the scarred shell of my ear. “Do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to look at you for hours and know I can’t bedistracting? I’ve been planning how I would fuck you against that wall since the moment we walked into the room.”

My breath caught, and I felt my cheeks heat, and the blush seemed to cover my entire body.Shit.

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