Page 85 of Veil of Shadows

I shrugged. “For getting me to eat.”

“You clearly needed it.”

I snickered. “Something like that.”

But when another yawn unhinged my jaw, a rush of air whooshed beside me before Jacob hovered over me with his hand outstretched.

“I’ll take you to your room. You should get some rest,” he offered.

Without thinking, I slid my hand into his, and the icy coldness of his skin shivered me to my core. I did my best not to think about it as he linked my arm with his and moved me away from the table, but dear God, it was like a popsicle.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he patted my arm, almost in comfort, “you’ll get used to it.”

I looked up at Jacob curiously. The hell did that statement mean? I’d get used to it? Used to what? Him being that cold, ormebeing that cold?

I didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out, which meant I had to get to work.

“Oh, God.”

I whipped my head around at the moan echoing down the hallway Jacob led me into. Those same warm white candlelight sconces illuminated as we came closer to them, but I stopped in my tracks at the sound.

“Oooooh, yeah,” the same voice groaned.

“Uuuuh, Jacob?” I asked.

He chuckled darkly before he continued escorting me down the hallway. “Don’t ask questions you’re not ready for yet.”

“Oh, shit,” the bodiless voice whimpered.

I cleared my throat and giggled. “Well, at least she’s having fun.”

“Something like that.”

I didn’t know what the fuck Jacob meant by that, and it didn’t leave me with a warm, rosy feeling in my gut. Still, I moved away from the moaning and groaning and followed him down the hall until we came to a sleek black door with a crystal doorknob. He didn’t say anything as he relinquished my arm and opened the door for me, and I realized why the second the door eased open.

Because behind that door was the most beautiful room I’d ever seen in my life.

“Holy shit,” I said breathlessly as I walked through the threshold.

The massive king-size bed in the middle of the room was held up by a black four poster wooden bed frame. The sleek black sheets seemed to shimmer with starlight, almost as if they hada life of their own. A fireplace off to the side ignited without a second thought, seemingly from out of nowhere. It filled the room with a warm glow and a juicy warmth that immediately pulled me to its side. And as I eased myself down into a luxurious, high-backed chair next to the fire, Jacob perched on the edge of the bed.

“You can activate the fire just by clapping your hands. Try it,” he urged.

I furrowed my brow at him before I looked over at the fire. I clapped my hands together, and immediately, the flame seemed to suck itself back down into the wood that hadn’t yet been charred.

“Now, clap again,” Jacob said.

I did as he asked, giving him the illusion that I trusted him, and I clapped my hands. And just like magic, the fire returned.

“Why isn’t the wood burning?” I asked as I looked over at him.

Jacob chuckled. “That’s the impressive part about this place. It’s laced with latent magic. It makes things easier on us that way.”

“Right…” I said, nodding my head as I turned my attention back to the fire.

Jacob stood and came to my side. “By your bed, you have both a wine decanter and a carafe of ice water. They’re always chilled, and they never run dry.”

I had to admit, the idea tugged a soft smile across my cheeks. I gazed at the wood in the fireplace that wasn’t burning. It was… amazing to watch.

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