Page 62 of Shadows of the Crown

Her breath hitches before her tongue sweeps across her bottom lip. “You’re a fool, prince.” I grin as my lips press to hers; she melts into the touch, her panting chest pushing into mine.

The kiss is soft and far more intimate than either of us is used to. Her free hand latches to my arm when I tilt my head to deepen the contact, my stomach churning as she arches into me. The metallic scent of her envelops me, settling into my head like a traumatic memory. Pure sorrow slams through me, serving as a reminder of what happened in this very spot just hours ago. When I watched the last bit of mercy leave her glassy eyes, the weight of both realms crushing me the moment she turned around.

I pull back, my heart dropping as her features immediately harden when her eyes flick behind me. She reaches for my hip, pushing me to the side as she saunters ahead where my father glares.

“Just the king I wanted to see!” His disappointed gaze slides from me to her. I’m torn with what to do…I’d confidently admitted I would stop her if she attempted an attack on my father, but now that it is only us three in this dark, eerie courtyard, I cannot find it in me to get in her way.

She halts a breath away from my father while tapping the blade on her thigh; her other hand holds her father’s book at her back, but I’ve no doubt she could end him with no hands if she truly wanted.

Duty eclipses emotion, and I move to step between them, though my feet remain glued to the ground. My eyes widen as I glance at my father, who thankfully focuses all his angry attention on the assassin. She’s fucking warded me in place…heat slides through my limbs as I readjust, crossing my arms as if I’m merely waiting for their conversation to end.

Cunning little wraith.

Like she heard my thoughts, she peers over her shoulder to regard me with an amused look. My father’s gaze shifts to me as well, though he is everything but amused. She smiles evilly, saying one last thing to him before she stalks into the castle. The pressure around my feet dissipates, though I remain in place for a few moments more as my father studies me. My father’s fists clench and unclench, the expression he wears telling me that he’s struggling to keep his word.

“You said you would not harm her,” I recount, shuffling around him when he doesn’t respond.

The icy wind does nothing for the sweat building along my neck, which worsens when I enter the castle. I’m uncomfortably warm in these clothes—perhaps a cold shower will help. I look down as I speed through the dimly lit hallways that lead to my room; blood continues to spot through my shirt, and I sigh heavily. Elowen will scold me to the Aether for tearing any of my stitches.

Silver hair clouds my mind with ideas I shouldn’t entertain. I cannot tonight, anyway. She’s going to be pissed when I visit her later.

I nod to Gavriel when he appears next to me, too caught in my thoughts to defend myself when he grabs my neck and shoves me into a room.

“What the fuck, Gavriel?” I whip around to confront him, pausing as he slams the door and closes the distance between us.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I put my hands to his chest and force him back. He groans, swiping a hand over his mouth. “I was against you being near her from the beginning—I even told her to stay the fuck away from you! But clearly you’re both children who do not know how to follow simple directions!”

My brows scrunch together, something acidic shuffling around my stomach. “Gav…where is this coming from? What do you mean you told her to stay away from me? Why would you do that?” He doesn’t need to specify who he’s speaking of; I already know how he feels about the wraith.

He curses and paces the room—I look around to the rows of towels, linens, and cleaning supplies. He’s shoved me in a storage closet. Fucking bastard couldn’t wait one more minute until we reached my room?

“Okay,” he announces, raising his hands as if he’s just relented on an internal argument. His dark eyes meet mine. “You’re going to listen to me, Caspian. She is not good for you…she kills the people you are destined to protect when you take your father’s place on the throne. I don’t know how else to explain that it’s impossible for you to have her, even if I did agree with it. Fucking Aether, prince, shestabbedyou and the first thing you do upon waking is beg for her life to be spared? That should be evidence enough for you to realize she doesn’t fucking care about you!”

He’s wrong. “That’s not true.”

“Not true? She threatens your life each time you’re near her—”

“Shut the fuck up, Gavriel. You have no idea who she is or what she’s like. You only see what you wish to see, and that’s fine, but youwill notlecture me on my decisions.”

He chuckles, though there is no humor in it. “Right…and what about your father?”

I scoff, shaking my head as I lean uncomfortably against a set of shelves. Their wooden edges press into my ribs, and the towels tempt me to use them as a barrier. “What about him?”

“He undeniably also has something against her! He may not have said so much in words, but the attempts on her life are a clear enough sign that you should be running the other way. Why do youinsiston pursuing her still? I thought you were smarter than this…”

I clear my throat, the day’s events quickly catching up to me as my eyes become heavier. “Ouch.”

He sighs loudly, dropping his head back. “I just don’t want you to get hurt—again—or killed because of a woman you barely know.”

I wait until his eyes meet mine. “I know enough,” I whisper, my tense muscles relaxing when he nods. I know he’ll drop the subject, regardless of how he feels. I cannot fault him for his words; he’s like a brother to me and was terrified when he’d found me bleeding and unconscious outside.

“I wandered the halls last night…” he trails off, and I raise my brow expectantly. “I walked past the south entrance that leads under the castle, and there were two sentries stationed in front of the door.”

My face scrunches deeply as my mind whirls through a hundred things that could explain why guards were assigned there. “To the tunnels, right?” He nods, leaning a shoulder against the shelvesnext to me. “Why the fuck would that require protection? Did you check the other entrances?”

“No—and before you ask, I didn’t go down there, either. Do I look fucking stupid to you?” He holds up a hand when I grin. “Don’t answer that.” I laugh, my chest feeling lighter than it has in hours.

“Okay, well I need to sleep before we talk about what to do next. Are we okay?” I gesture between us, narrowing my eyes.

---