Page 9 of Princess Takes Academy
And then kiss him.
Instead, I had to settle for trying to get his attention in other—more dangerous and destructive—ways. Like climbing the treacherous cliffs, jumping out of my bedroom window, and sneaking out of my bedroom when I was grounded. I couldn’t help it. I had to be with him. I had to get him to look at me differently without putting on a dress like Mama suggested when I’d tried to talk with her about it.
If Keras was too dumb to see me as a woman unless I put on a dress, then he could remain my friend and I’d use my unicorns to make me a full queen. Assuming I ever found them.
Isis had promised. I would have unicorn Blood. One day.
If Keras didn’t want to be a part of that…
My heart raged and I fisted my fingers around his gift. The tip of the jaguar tooth dug into my palm. The small pain helped me push down the urge to rail at him and pound his chest with frustration. Idiot boy.
I had to do something drastic. Even more drastic than usual.
I had the perfect plan—if he’d go along with me. He usually did, because he took his oath to Papa about keeping me out of trouble very seriously. Unfortunately, that meant I had to get into trouble to get Keras to notice me.
“I notice you, Soshee,” he said in the solemn, serious voice that made me crazy. He’d never quite managed to say my name in Nahuatl, but I loved the way he said Xochitl. It was soft and sweet. Special. Like a nickname that only he ever used. “But we’re still very young. Your father would hang me from my entrails in this heart tree if I even thought about kissing you, let alone anything else.”
“He would never hurt you like that.”
Keras didn’t argue with me, but I felt his certainty in our bond. He fully expected Papa to cut off any body part that touched me without permission.
Ridiculous.
But it did help me not feel quite so desperate and awkward. “So you do think of me that way?”
His skin was too dark for me to tell if he blushed, but he dropped his gaze and fiddled with the knife on his hip. “We’re too young.”
Releasing the carved tooth, I pulled my hand out of my pocket with a disgusted sound. It wasn’t the right time to give him his gift. Not yet. Instead, I grabbed his hand. “Come on.”
I started toward the dark crack in the heart tree’s trunk, but Keras dug in his feet. “You promised we wouldn’t use the tree anymore.”
He was right. Mostly. But I had argued with myself until I found what I thought was a loophole. “I said I wouldn’t go to new and unknown places. This isn’t an unknown place.”
Grudgingly, he let me drag him into the darkness of the secret tunnel. “So we’re going to see Queen Shara?”
“No.”
We walked a few steps. Somehow I managed to hide our destination despite our bond. I wanted to surprise him. On our anniversary, or his birthday as my Blood, I wanted to take him home.
He jerked to a halt. Light poured in through a crack, the same as in my nest, but on this side of the magical tree, the African savannah awaited. Tall, yellowed grass rippled in the breeze, bringing the smell of hot, baked earth and a nutty goodness. We were high on a knoll, looking out over miles and miles of countryside. Herds of some kind of deer or elk dotted the grass. I couldn’t see any elephants or giraffes, but they had to be out there somewhere.
I couldn’t wait to see them up close and real. Maybe we’d find a wild rhinoceros too. Some lions would be cool. Maybe some cheetahs. Could I talk to them like Mama talked to jaguars? I couldn’t wait to find out.
“You brought me back,” he said in a flat, dead voice that slapped me in the face like an icy wet blanket.
I turned toward him, tightening my fingers on his. “I thought you’d be excited to see your homeland again.”
He blew out a heavy breath and kept his face averted. “The last memory I have of this place is my mother being killed. Why would I want to come back here?”
Tears burned my eyes. Desperation bubbled up inside me, making my heart flutter with anxiety. This was supposed to be the perfect gift. The perfect trip. And he wouldn’t even look at me. He hated it.
“I thought…”
“You thought wrong,” he retorted. “Goddess above, Soshee! When will you ever think of someone other than yourself?”
He pulled his hand free of mine and stomped back into the darkness. Alone.
For a moment, I wanted to race after him. I even took a step in that direction. He didn’t carry Queen Shara’s blood, other than whatever drop or so he might have taken from me the night I made him Blood. Could he even get home through the magical ways? Would he get lost forever, trapped between heart trees?
