Page 6 of Luca

Thankfully, Orian hadn’t ‘guarded’ me for long. Not that I was opposed to having his sunny aura hovering around me, but having him act as my shadow in the nook felt awkward and unnecessary. Still, I would have let him hang around if it relieved him of the alternative. Almost as soon as we’d crossed the threshold of the palace’s side door, he’d been cornered by his father’s flustered steward, who’d told him of the king’s impatience and the demand for his presence. It was either a matter of great importance, or the steward was working on commission, as Orian barely had the chance to express his apologies before he was herded away. He’d scowled coldly at the goblin, earning himself a second longer to dip his head toward me before turning on his heel to leave, though he’d seemed reluctant to do so. I couldn’t exactly blame him.

His father was a dick.

I sank further into my seat, picking up from the chapter I’d left off yesterday. Apparently, a minotaur’s cum was some of the most potent among supernatural creatures. So potent, in fact, that even swallowing it could result in pregnancy. How is that possible,you ask? I didn’t have a clue because I hadn’t reached that part yet, but it was this sort of information that made me eternally grateful for the hoard of knowledge at my fingertips.

Anyone who said they’d never been curious about the mechanics of minotaur spunk was a liar.

The hours ticked by too quickly. The tome was pretty hefty, I had to admit. How one species could have so many customs was beyond me, and it wasn’t until I was near the end of the book, on the section outlining the physical characteristics of a full-grown minotaur bull in rut, that I sensed a familiar presence approaching. There was a woodsy scent growing stronger in my nose, and the patter of footsteps, faster than their typical gait, echoed in my ears. I couldn’t help but grin.

Someone was eager to see me today, it seemed.

Slowly, I looked up at the doorway, a witty remark ready on my tongue, but the sight of him made the words evaporate. My mate strode into the room, his breathing slightly elevated and a smile on his face that suggested he had exciting news.

My heart thudded in my chest.

“What is it?” I lowered my book, slipping a bookmark between the pages without taking my eyes from his.

“My heart,” he said, extending his hand for mine, noticeably satisfied when I took it without hesitation. I already had a hunch about what he was going to say.

I still held my breath.

“I found something.”

CAIR

“This wasn’t here before.” My mate’s brow furrowed as he stared at the sealed door now visible in the back of the restricted area in the library.

I hummed in agreement.

We had gained access to a classified area of the library months ago. It had been sealed with an enchantment that I had asked Rathe to investigate, and thankfully, he’d known a creature who could unlock it. It had taken several tries, and once we’d broken the charm, we’d expected to be met with even a hint to the whereabouts of Luca’s father, butnothing.

After spending so long sifting through every ledger and scroll, I could tell my mate was losing hope. His usual endearingly human enthusiasm for research was dwindling like a dying flame, and I felt hopeless. I wanted nothing more in this life than to always see him happy. To please him, to give him the answers to every question in the universe should he ask it, but I couldn’t even fulfill the simple task of locating his own flesh and blood. With the plentiful resources at my fingertips, I had expected results before now, but it was as if the Fae had disappeared without a single trace. It had the stench of my father’s scheming all over it, but I wasn’t yet sure why.

It had felt like a miracle cast down by the Creators when Rathe had approached me earlier that evening—just as my duties had begun to test my will to live—telling me of this new door that had seemingly appeared overnight. I had no way of knowing what lay behind it, or why it had decided to reveal itself now, but there was a feeling deep inside my gut telling me it was too important to ignore. That if records of Luca’s father were anywhere in the palace, they would be beyond that door.

I would have staked the entire kingdom on it.

“Where did it come from? Thin air?” Luca huffed a laugh. “Do you not find it suss that we’re only noticing this door now, aftereight months?”

“I learned at a young age not to question the appearance or disappearance of anything or anyone around the palace, but yes, I do.”

Luca chewed on his bottom lip, uncertainty coming off him in waves, but he seemed to dismiss it with a sigh. “How do we get inside?” he asked, twisting the handle for the third time to be sure it was still locked. “Don’t suppose a key has abracadabra’d its way into your pocket, has it?”

I rested my hand on his nape, playing with the curls there to soothe him. “I’m afraid not, pet, but we’ll find a way.”

The gears in my mate’s head had begun to turn—I could tell by the crease on his forehead and the twist of his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek. He was a clever little thing, so I was hardly surprised when, less than a minute later, he said, “What about a portal?”

Of course.

Not long after our discovery of the restricted section, Luca had found a dust-covered grimoire hidden away on one of the many neglected shelves in the back. It was pages upon pages of handwritten data, detailing the intricacies of portal conjuring and temporary tears. There were even instructions, as if it were a recipe book intended to be handed down the family tree. Luca had studied it for days, hunched over his desk, barely eating or drinking unless I encouraged him to do so, and eventually—when he’d felt confident enough in his knowledge—he’d taught me all he’d learned, eager to test it out.

The tome had stated that only beings with magic in their blood could accomplish the spell. As a Fae, and a prince at that, I had a degree of magic running through my veins, though I was rarely given the chance to nurture the art. Father had wanted to keep that power to himself, and while he was no mage, he could perform certain spells that Luca hoped I could emulate with practice. I had less faith, but for him—for that sweet, sunshine smile and those gentle blue eyes—I would do anything, so I gave it a shot.

For weeks, it was a failure. There were moments when we believed we were close, only for me to lose all progress whenever I practiced alone. It was infuriating, but just as we had resigned ourselves to giving up, I’d managed to open a small tear that connected the library to our rooms in the palace. It was a short distance, but after breaking that seal, the distance kept stretching until one day, I’d sent us to the human realm—the living room at my penthouse, to be exact.

Knowing we had the spell in our arsenal, we’d agreed to use it sparingly, only in emergencies or when there were no other options, andonlywhen we were certain no one was around to witness it. To pass through the Veil was to be directly on my father’s radar, but with this, we did not have to divulge our reason for crossing to the human realm, and that was often for the best. I was under no illusions that my father knew nothing of what happened within his walls, and since we had spent many weeks practicing with magic, he would have sensed the shift. However, he had not yet broached the subject with me, and I did not wish to tempt fate.

Especially as it could be useful if we ever found ourselves in need of escape.

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