Page 125 of The Powers of Nyx

“You don’t want to show me down here?” I asked instead, cocking my head. I was definitely curious about what was on the main floor.

Adrian pressed a button. “It’s boring. Just formal spaces.”

“I’m guessing you have plans for them,” I teased.

His eyes shone with mischief, and when the doors opened, he pulled me into the elevator. “You have no idea. We don’t need formal dining rooms and sitting rooms. I was thinking we could convert one into a library.”

I hummed under my breath, leaning into his side. “You know that’ll happen regardless. But I do like that you’ve already considered my needs.”

“Of course I have, Sweetheart. Anything for you.” His eyes darkened. The bond brightened with a different kind of tension.

“You know, looking at me like that is a bad idea,” he murmured, brushing a hand over my cheek. “This is still my mother’s wing.”

I smacked him lightly and pulled back. “Shut up. You’re the one saying sweet things.”

It was hard to ignore the flutter in my stomach, but he was right. The idea of being caught by his parents—hell, any one of them—ruined the mood.

The elevator pinged, and the doors opened to reveal a different floor. “This is the third level of the wing,” Adrian explained. “The one below us has some additional rooms for visitors, back when my mother’s mates had other family members stay. There are also some offices down there for Lazarus and my father for their work. A personal gym. That kind of thing.”

I nodded quietly as he motioned towards the different hallways. “In that direction, is my mother’s chamber. It’s like a little apartment on its own, and it sits between the Bond Hall, as we called it, and the Kid Hall.”

“I take it you aren’t taking me into your mother’s chamber,” I murmured.

He tugged me in the direction of Kid Hall, offering me a sly smile. “Of course not. They probably know we’re here, but they won’t disturb us—unless Hugo decides it’s fair to mess with us.”

“Hugo?” I wracked my brain to put a face to the name, but I shook my head. “You keep promising to fill me in on your family, and yet, you never do.”

Adrian’s cheeks flushed and he ducked his head, pausing outside a door. “Hugo is my mother’s mate. He’s a bear shifter. You met my sister, Falena—she’s his daughter.”

I hadn’t thought she liked me, but then again, I knew little about the dynamics of the family. “She was interesting.”

A half-smile played at his lips. “She’s one of the twins.”

I nodded. “And based on what you’ve told me, they like to mess around.”

“Exactly.” He gripped the door handle in his free hand, but he hesitated. “This is—was—my room.”

I cocked my head and pressed into his side. “Why bring me to your childhood bedroom, Adrian?”

He closed his eyes, releasing a shuddering breath. Tension rolled off him in waves. I didn’t care about the different halls or the wing itself. There was something wrong with my mate, and he was blocking me from finding out what.

I slid in between him and the door, tugging my hand free so I could cup his cheeks. “Look at me, Adrian.”

His eyes flickered open, and he sighed. “I need to say goodbye. To all of this. The past. So that I can focus on our future. And…I need you here, with me.”

I swallowed thickly, swiping my thumb over his cheek. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

We stood like that for a long moment; Adrian watching me with darkening eyes, me holding him, letting him lean on me. My heart thumped loudly in my ears, but all I knew was him.

After a long moment, he finally let the door open. He wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me to his chest, but his eyes lifted from mine to take in the room behind me.

“It’s definitely empty,” he said, allowing me to turn in his embrace.

Neither of us made a move to step inside. There was no urgency, just a moment to process.

The room had been emptied of everything but the bare necessities. There was a double bed in the middle of the room, framed by two nightstands, a chest of drawers on the wall beside us, as well as a desk. Two doors to the left led to what I assumed had to be a bathroom and walk-in closet, and across from that, the wall had a large, beautiful window revealing the darkened landscape beyond the palace.

“I expected a much grander space,” I said, half-jokingly. “All those shows I watched as a kid made me think princes would have massive rooms with lofts and all sorts of things.”

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