Page 47 of A Kingdom of Shadows

"Guess," he says.

"Your own private lair of gold jewels."

He chuckles, rich and sensual. "Yes, what else?"

I roll my eyes. "All the men and women to satisfy your needs."

He lifts a brow. "Nowhere near right, Goldie."

My hands glide up his chest, feeling the tension of his muscles harden beneath his shirt. "A new mask then."

He clicks his tongue, sliding his fingers up my bareback. "Getting colder now."

The air between us is palpable with something so fierce and profound that it's almost magic.

"Then—" I screw my lips together, breathing far too heavily. "Then—" I scrunch the material of his shirt into my fist. Frustration, burning, and some form of desire I wish to loathe has me trapped.

"Then what, Goldie?" he whispers, and my lips part slightly, but the only sound I can make is a breathless whimper.

I rise on my toes, our lips almost meeting when the door swings open, and I jump, shoving myself off Darius as I turn to find Arlayna's gaze shifting between us.

"Sorry," she says, cocking an eyebrow. "I thought I'd heard something."

Was it the sound of my thrashing heart? The strange tension between Darius and me? If Arlayna had come just one second later, she would have seen us kissing.

"No." I swallow, looking up at Darius in a blur. "It's fine he—"

"I was just telling her about the plans for the upcoming tasks," Darius concludes hoarsely and walks past Arlayna before whirling on his feet to us. "I will see you both in there." He inclines his head, his eyes catching mine from behind Arlayna like he is just as shocked as I am.

He looks off to the side, his jaw working back and forth, and I wonder what he is thinking as he turns and leaves to go back into the throne hall.

When Arlayna's gaze returns to mine, she studies me. I feel like I've been caught for something that did not happen yet almost did. "You're sweating."

I rub the back of my neck. "It's quite warm in here."

She nods with a low hum, obviously not believing it. It's cool here at best. "You know... high Elves are known for practicing the magic of Elvarune. We draw it from the earth, and since a young age, we're taught to heal and manipulate energies and objects—"

"And I assume knowing if someone is lying is also one of them, too," I say, tired of yet another use of power that can catch me out.

"Not at all," she says, "I merely wanted to tell you about the history of Olcar's magic." Her brow quirks as she gives me a secretive look. "I assumed you'd be interested."

My lips form into a smile because that is not what she truly meant, and we both know it. Her grey eyes twinkle with enigmatic amusement, a monochrome hue that you'd think is pencil-drawn.

"Is everything okay here?" Aeron appears to the side of Arlayna, clad in armor, and even with Arlayna's tall height, her head barely lines with his chest.

Arlayna stiffens at the sound of his voice, and I notice her breathing go slower as her gaze shifts to the floor. She closes her eyes, licking her lips like she's built enough courage, and then twists around. "Why wouldn't it be?" she says before pushing past him.

There is a moment—a snippet gone with a blink of an eye where the corner of Aeron's lips lifts into an affectionate smile as if he remembers something.

I narrow my eyes at him, but he straightens, bids me goodnight, and returns to his post of guarding the castle.

Chapter Twenty

There's a serene aspect toward Olcar. Perhaps it is the fresh mountainous air or the views from the library's balcony that have me resting the heels of my palms against my cheek. Tendrils of hair spill over my shoulder as I look to my left, where a book I'd grabbed lies on the ledge.

I wanted to learn everything after the king spoke of the Isle of Element's potential power loss last night. The first thing I asked this morning when Golrai fluffed my bedsheets was whether the castle had a library.

Indeed, there was not just one but two libraries. The grand library was located on the upper floor of the castle, and the other, near the throne room.

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