Page 79 of Dark Reign

Her brow twitched and she lowered her gaze. “I’m afraid you don’t understand how this world works. While, yes, being heir to the throne does afford Prince Julian certain luxuries—certain permissions not available to other citizens—no one is above the law,” she pointed out. “No one.”

I didn’t move a muscle as Elle’s expression softened in the mirror’s reflection.

“He’s shown you kindness I didn’t know he was capable of,” she admitted. “And it would be remiss of me not to tell you that I believe it has little to do with some sort of hero complex.”

Startled, I blinked as a question came to mind, one I lacked the courage to ask. However, Elle must have seen straight through me, because the next second, she answered it.

“I believe he’s smitten with you,” she offered with a slight smile. “Despite the misunderstanding at the gala, despite the secrecy surrounding your identity, despite the two of you making little sense in his world … it still holds true.”

My breaths became quicker, and I wished she hadn’t said so much. If what Elle expressed was true, and Julian’s budding feelings were deepening like she seemed to think, then … I might have been in more trouble than I realized.

Trouble a girl like me ought not to find herself in, ever.

“I knew it when you kissed him,” Elle blurted next, bringing my gaze to her immediately.

“What are you talking about?” I asked sharply.

She seemed confused by my reaction, but humored me anyway.

“When he rescued you yesterday, as you were coming to, you …kissedhim,” she clarified.

I couldn’t even comprehend that, searching my mind for an explanation. “I don’t … why would I—”

“You don’t remember?”

Having no words at the moment, I only shook my head.

Elle placed her hand on my shoulder. “It’s said that being bitten brings out strange behavior in a person. Strange buthonestbehavior,” she clarified. “If it’ll help, I could replay the footage if you’d like. I only need to draw the curtains and access my audio/video files to project the images right on the—”

“That won’t be necessary,” I cut in, feeling my breaths coming quicker now. “I must have been delirious, or … something,” was my defense.

A defense Elle promptly struck down.

“You were slightly disoriented, but you most certainly weren’t delirious.”

My lips parted to speak again. Only, I didn’t bother. An image had popped into my thoughts the day before, as Julian and I spoke about the incident. I had a vague memory of being dangerously close to him, feeling his skin at my fingertips. As much as I wanted to deny Elle’s accusations, my gut told me she wasn’t wrong.

I’d seen him differently in these last twenty-four hours. It pained me to admit that, but I did. Whereas I used to dread being in his presence, I found myself thinking about him last night—in the hours between my nightmares. More than once, thoughts of him had been what lulled me back into sleep. If Elle’s explanation were true, this feeling wouldn’t fade anytime soon.

Heck, for all I knew, it might only grow stronger.

It dawned on me that I hadn’t been myself atallthis morning. For instance, had this press conference been a day ago, they would have had to drag me there by my teeth. And yet, I sat willingly letting Elle dress me. So, was I not putting up a fight because of Julian? Because of my awareness that his wellbeing was tied to our ability to fly under the radar for a bit?

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about something else,” I blurted. There was already enough to think about, without adding some empty kiss to the pile.

“Okay,” Elle agreed. “We’ll need to pick up the pace anyway. We’re expected downstairs in a few.”

She moved to the garment bag she had entered with, and I followed. Adjusting Felix’s bracelet on my wrist while waiting, I thought of how I managed to get my hands on the spare Liv tucked inside my purse. Julian had returned my things to me despite not getting an explanation as to who I was, or where I’d come from. Those were his conditions, and yet, he bent his own rules. An act of faith I knew would only lead to further disappointment for him.

Because … I could never give him the answers he sought.

Ever.

Becoming silent, I began to dress, switching out the earrings Elle brought in with her, for Liv’s. Wearing them made home feel a little less far away, made it feel like I had her with me.

My eyes roamed over my form, and my gaze fixated on the image plainly visible on my arm—the barcode that, both, kept me alive and killed me. However, it mattered little how I felt about it.

“You look exquisite,” Elle beamed.

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