Page 175 of Hidden Kingdoms

My mind was clouding with the uncomfortable mix of emotions my magik was latching onto. Add that to the new memories that were clamouring for my attention, desperate forme to pull them out and inspect them. Give them the time they needed after being locked in the dark for so long, but I couldn’t do that now.

The temperature around us was steadily climbing, a bead of sweat rolled down my temple as the image on my mum's blood-stained hair replaced the solid form of Marcellus’ chest. I blinked it away, tilting my head back to lock eyes with his ice-hardened stare.

“You want out?” he asked, and as I nodded, Marcellus let go of my arms, turning his back on Bastian with no hesitation as his hand slipped to my waist and he guided me forward. His grip on me held me steady as I fell into step with him, instantly leaning into his touch as it gave me an anchor.

A flare of heat ripped through the hall for one agonising second, agitating the freshly healed scars on my back and drying the tear tracks on my face, before it was sucked away. A lash of air whirling around us and dissipating its reach as Marcellus countered it without breaking stride.

I risked a look over my shoulder, the air around Bastian shimmering in the heat that poured from his skin. Marcellus’ squeeze on my waist had me turning me back.

“Weren’t you going somewhere?” I asked, aware we were walking in the opposite way he had been.

“Nowhere important.” Marcellus pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping a message out one-handed before putting it away.

As he led me down corridors I’d never seen and stairways I didn’t recognise, part of me was surprised Bastian hadn’t followed behind. Forcing me back into his company, the anger-laden energy that was churning within me was a reminder that it was for the best that he hadn’t.

Icy air hit my overheated skin as we exited the palace, and for once I was grateful for the unforgiving weather. I hadn’t paidattention to the direction we were headed. My head too full of thoughts to care, as we came to the edge of a vast field that was teeming with soldiers. All dressed in varying shades of black and grey, with their confusing assortment of weapons being put to use everywhere I looked.

The clamour of people and weaponry combined halted as we approached the boundary, all attention turned our way, making me increasingly aware of the hand he kept clamped onto me. Marcellus lifted a hand, and the noise resumed as they continued with whatever they were doing out here.

There was a pile of unused equipment heaped next to an equally large jumble of weapons. Without breaking stride, Marcellus tugged out a large wooden frame, perching it effortlessly on his shoulder and picking up a small brown bag, before guiding me around the outer edge. As we strode past, I scanned the others, mild curiosity playing on their faces as they paused to track our path. Including one I recognised from the bonfire last night.

My eyes met Lev’s as he grinned at me from behind a huge, padded target. I managed a small smile that didn’t match the turmoil inside me as he braced for his partner's attack. Still none the wiser as to why Marcellus had brought me here, I let him lead me on.

We kept waking until we were the furthest people on the field, and Marcellus’ hand left my waist as he dropped the bag on the floor. Separated from his giant form, the cold found me, attacking the bare skin of my legs that wasn’t covered by the long skirt I wore. The hooded jumped wasn’t enough either though there had been exactlyno timeto grab a coat. Cupping my hands over my mouth, I heated them with my breath as Marcellus placed the target on the ground, adjusting the stand until it was upright.

“You want to talk about it before or after you let your rage loose?” he asked as he faced me, his ridiculously huge frame consuming my line of sight. Not that I really wanted to look anywhere else.

“About what?” I feigned ignorance, unsure I was ready for this conversation, despite the fact he had saved me the displeasure of more time in Bastian’s company.

He huffed a rough laugh that carried on the air, and I didn’t miss the way a few faces glanced over at us. “About why you were raging through the palace with the Prince hot on your heels?”

Toying with the rings on my fingers as I spoke, the memories that had been pulled from my mind were screaming at me. “Because I’m tired of his demands from me, and he’s tired of not getting what he wants for once in his life.”

“You decided against punching him in the face this time?” I could practically hear the smirk through his words as he teased me.

“Ialwayswant to punch him in the face, but unfortunately, I doubt I’ll ever catch him off guard like that again.”

As silence settled between us, Marcellus didn’t push for more, but I found myself speaking anyway. “There’s a block on my mind, and today Arden tried to remove it. Bastian thinks that there is something in my memories that will show him a way to defeat The Darkness.” My eyes flicked to the reassuringly calm sky above us.

“It worked?” he asked.

“A little.”

“And did you remember anything?”

Hesitantly, I nodded, not looking his way again until his large fingers gently gripped my chin, each point of contact like needle points of awareness, turning my head so I had no choice but to meet his gaze. Despite his icy stare, heat flooded through me at the intensity I found in them.

“Don’t worry, Little One, I’m not the one who needs your secrets.”

No, that’s Prince Dickhead.

My fists balled at my side as his eyes searched for something within mine. When I didn’t reply, he tilted his head towards the target set up before us, a barely perceptible shimmer of air coating it.

“That anger that’s inside,” he said, voice vibrating the air between us. “Use it.”

So, I did. I let the memory of Bastian’s demands fuel me. Of his stupidly pretty face that hid the ugliness that lurked within. Marcellus dropped my chin, taking a step away as I felt each memory of Bastian’s hatred towards me.

My magik eagerly latched onto the anger that hadn’t ebbed, and I pulled at it. Tugging it forward as magik encouraged it on, the two melding with one another until there was no magik and anger, there was just power.

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