Page 147 of The Art of Exiley

I jerk my gaze from his and start walking again, not wanting him to finish that thought. He chuckles bitterly and follows.

When we arrive at the council room, Rafe knocks, and we wait to be admitted.

He comes to stand facing me, a little too close, so I step back and hit the wall behind me.

I say words that I know will push him away. “That time on the Atlas, the power outage? It was because of me.”

“I gathered.”

“I provided the location of the station in New York and alerted the Families of our arrival so they could use a magnetic pulse to stop the train and plant a tracker.” And I’ve been consumed with guilt ever since, assuming that leading the Families to Carnevale must have aided in Hypatia’s abduction. But now I wonder if Michael helped them. How long has he been working with Kor?

Rafe hasn’t said a word in response to my admission.

I break first. “I’ll admit, I expected a little more of a call-for-blood reaction to that information.”

“I believe I promised to avoid any more death threats,” he teases with the quirk of a smile that makes my mouth go dry.

He steps closer, and my breath hitches as I press into the wall, no space left to retreat. We’re both gazing intensely at each other, and it feels different. For the first time, both of our masks are off. He has seen the worst of me, and I of him. We know each other’s values without pretense. I feel naked; I’d become so used to wearing my mask.

Rafe lifts his hand to push the hair away from my neck and then he strokes an electric finger down my throat. “I can still taste you,” he whispers, leaning in, his nose brushing against my skin. He breathes in deeply, but I have lost my own ability to breathe at all.

I feel barely there wet warmth as his tongue traces the column of my throat, making my entire body shiver and tighten. Then his teeth teasingly press into my skin, and my eyes flutter closed as I arch into him. I didn’t know that a heart so recently broken could race this fast. I didn’t know that the promise of a bite could make me want—

The door to the council room opens, and we jump apart.

Prince Alex’s soft gravel says, “Come in.”

The council room is large, and the walls are covered in colorful frescoes from ceiling to floor. Bloche sits in one of the chairs around a grand round table in the center of the room. Carved on the table in front of him is the Genesis emblem. Prince Alex takes a seat at a spot marked with a dragon. At a glance around the table, I see almost every seat is marked with an emblem. Each of the guild symbols are represented as well as the emblem of the Avant Guard, the Viper I recognize as the emblem of the Matriarchy of the Isles, and the Eye that represents the Prophets of Naiot. Rafe and I are not invited to sit.

“I assume we have you to thank for the escaped criminals?” Bloche asks me calmly.

“Yes,” I respond.

“And for them coming here in the first place?”

I nod. “But I hope to help lessen the threat they pose by learning their plans and warning you of them.”

“You have been working on their behalf but want to change allegiances?” Bloche asks. Prince Alexander looks on, brows drawn, fingers steepled, but he doesn’t speak.

“Yes.”

“And why should we trust you?”

Rafe interjects, “For what it’s worth, I trust her.”

I’m surprised by how much it means to me to hear him say that.

“But there’s something else you should know. Something more important.” All our eyes focus on Rafe as he continues. “Last night, I dreamed of her.”

I feel a slow burn creep up my neck. “Rafe, I don’t think—”

He quiets me with a hand to my arm, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at Alex. “Yesterday she fed me her blood to heal me.”

Bloche says angrily, “Prince Alexander, the Council assured us that if we accepted Avant students onto this campus, there would be no blood consumption—”

The prince holds up his hand. “With respect, Headmaster, I think we need to hear what Raphael is trying to say.”

“After I drank Ada’s blood,” Rafe continues, “I dreamed of her all night. Of her… in the future.”

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