Page 60 of A Kingdom of Shadows

My feet feel light. There's that same lustful look in his eyes, where I know I'm staring at him the same.

"Every day," he whispers, inching closer to my lips. "Every hour." On impulse, my eyes start to flutter closed. "And every second."

I gulp. "We would surely pass out after a while." My voice seems to be lost. "Besides, you would go insane. I can be quite a handful."

Yet, in reality, he's the only one who can handle me.

His vibrating laugh makes me want to ignore all the signs as to why last night shouldn't have happened. The truth is that kiss left me needing more. It created an addiction bigger than the first time. One that should be impossible between him and me.

"As can I," he replies, and my eyes open.

I scoff. A handful is an understatement when it comes to him. "I think you enjoy being a handful."

He nods. "True." Then grins. "Though I tend to enjoy a lot of things."

"I know. Annoying me is one of them."

"Now kissing you has been added to that list."

It's like he's trying to say all of this on purpose for a reaction. And he is getting the right one. My throat knots, and I close my eyes, chuckling as I shake away the flutters in my stomach. When I open my eyes to look at him, his smile pulls me close with his warmth and forms a bond I cannot fathom.

But the moment withers like autumn leaves falling off branches as something skitters across my calf, sending me jumping back from Darius.

My hand flies to the blades along my sheath as I stare at the snow-coated ground. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Darius asks, but whatever happened doesn't occur again, making it feel like I'd made it up in my head.

"I thought—" I pause, looking up at Darius, his brows drawing together before I shake my head. "Nothing, let's just go."

He's still by my side as we reach the top, and a group of seven priestesses, as Dusan had mentioned, appear from behind two boulders.

The mist makes it hard to see them, even more so as a white lace cloak covers the top part of their faces. They all have a silver staff adorned with an opalescent gem, and as I step toward them, Darius presses a hand against my arm. Our eyes meet, and he transmits a look that tells me he'll take it from here. He then starts telling the Elven priestesses our names, why we are here, and what we've come for.

They're silent, not even moving an inch or giving us a sign of askance before they part to each side, now standing in a row and giving us space to see inside the pitch-black cave. The two nearest the entrance tap their staff against the ground, alighting the gem.

I watch with grave fascination as they extend their staffs and press the gems to the entrance, igniting the inside with a flash of phosphorescing blue light.

We thank them despite no response and enter, creeping carefully along with the crunching of broken ice beneath us. My eyes roam the cave with slight wonder, its reflective colors making Darius's hair look navy, and the ceiling glows with dots of emerald as if they are stars.

"With how easy it is to enter the cave; what do you suppose we'll encounter?" Darius offers his hand as we come across a dip, and for once, without argument, I accept it, skipping across. We're further away from the entrance, and I imagine we have a long way until we see at least some sign of the stone.

"Arlayna mentioned these are more of a puzzle kind of tasks rather than facing creatures."

"Any good at solving?"

I turn to him and cross my arms. "I'm excellent at solving."

He half smirks, half laughs until his eyes catch something behind me.

"What?" I ask warily.

"There's something inside your hood." He draws a step near me, reaching his hand out. "Stay still—"

Swatting his hand away, I huff, not up for his usual trickeries when inside a cave that looks disturbing enough. "If this is some plot just to get close to me—"

"Goldie, for the love of—" He stops himself, pressing his lips tight together before he exhales and says, "Just let me—"

I go to raise my finger to stop him, but something tugs at my hair, and I look to my left, only catching a glimpse of fur before it slides down my leg, and I gasp, jerking backward with Darius catching me in his arms. He wraps a strong arm across my middle, and we pant, wondering what on earth just happened.

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