Page 38 of Hidden Kingdoms

“Why would you take her through the front door?” the first man questioned in a low voice.

“I wasn’t told not to,”the second voice replied, its sonorous rumble pulling at something deep in me.

“Are you sure her hand was in the water?” Disbelief was clear in his voice.

“Do you take me for a liar?”

A pause. “Perhaps you weren’t close enough to see clearly.”

Footsteps thudded and the bigger figure of the two stepped forward, his hand reaching out to grab the other man’s arm, who tensed under his grip before he was let go.

“I was close enough.” Words spat through gritted teeth.

“Did anyone else see?” A small note of panic threaded through his curiosity.

“Perhaps a guard. It was early. No one else was around.”

“Why would you take her through the front hall to begin with?”

The bigger man shrugged a shoulder. “I wasn’t told not to.”

The smaller figure, who was still overly large himself, began to walk away towards other people in the room. His surroundings blurred into obscurity, and I felt myself blinking furiously again in an attempt to clear the scene.

“You’ve summoned her.” It was a statement from the second man, not a question.

“How did you know?” he demanded, authority clear in his tone.

The large man turned his body towards my field of vision and though it felt like I was looking through frosted glass, I could make out the frown that pulled at his features.Impossibly, his eyes found mine, two globes of ice searing into me in a way that made my heart stutter.

17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ELODIE

Afirm grip tugged at my shoulder, and I was wrenched back into my skull with a painful snap of my mind. A gasp escaped as my consciousness settled itself, my head pounding at the force. Fog still covered my vision as a low voice hissed at me to keep walking while I tried to figure out what the fuck just happened.

I continued on, almost blindly, until my eyes cleared and a large black door with intricate etching came into focus, two guards standing either side. Frowning in confusion at the familiar wood, I shrugged off the hand still gripping me.

What had I just done? A pull began in my chest, heart speeding with a mix of anticipation and a weirdly strong desire to go through that door.

The guard’s hand fell to his side as he stepped away from me, matching frowns on our faces as we looked at each other. He knocked twice and my attention return to the door. His side-eye was getting annoying. A moment later it swung open, and he pressed me forward into the room, my feet scuffing on carpet as the door closed with a defining thud, sealing me inside.

The room was filled with a stuffy warmth that came from a large fire set into one of the walls, its scent filling my senses along with something I couldn’t quite pin down.

There was barely a second to compose myself, to attempt to calm my racing heart or take in any of my surroundings before my eyes collided with a gaze that must have been trained on the door before I had even stepped through.

My breath left me in a whoosh of air as Marcellus’ ice-blue eyes pinned me to the spot as magik crackled under my skin.

He took a step my way as I dragged in a clear breath, the pull in my chest lessening as his towering form came closer, looming above me despite the distance between us still. Alongside the warmth that infused the room, a new heat flooded my body as our eyes remained locked. Part of me cringed at the memory of my breakdown in my room, but another part of me craved the contact between us. To be held again by this stranger.

He wasn’t wearing his cloak with the symbols, and I was glad; I needed my mind in the here and now. The scars that raked across his face shone pink against his dark skin, and I itched to reach out and touch them.

Would they be smooth as the hidden silk against my skin or rough under my fingers?

Marcellus was the Prince? That made no sense…

Movement caught my attention and reluctantly I pulled my eyes from his. Though I wanted desperately to step closer, I kept my feet rooted to the spot as I swept my eyes over the other people in the room. Knowing that Marcellus’ were still firmly on me had the inner me preening at his attention.

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