Page 82 of Hidden Kingdoms

I moved towards the noise—to the source of that power. It was a crazy idea, reckless. The energy screamed danger, not come closer, and when a hand clamped on my arm to turn me back, I flinched away but she held firm.

“That is not something you need to see right now. Leave him to his anger,” Alouette said. When I nodded, she let me go, eyes narrowing in judgment over whether or not I was going to listen.

As we started walking, she held out the black fabric. “Here, put this on. Who knows what he’ll do if someone catches a glimpse of you like that?” she teased.

“Thanks.” I frowned, taking the top from her and shrugging off my jacket for her to hold as I tugged it over my head to cover my ruined dress.

Had he told her to bring this?

Licks of energy continued to follow us, teasing at my hair as I re-belted my jacket and wrapped my arms around myself.

“He called you,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yep,” she replied.

I cast her a sideway glance, she was taller than me but not by much. Thin and lithe, she stalked down the corridor. There was something animalistic in the way she moved, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit the woman was intimidating.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did he call you?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

A thought popped into my head, one that didn’t sit well, though I couldn’t say why. “Are you and him… together?”

I was pretty sure of the answer, since she wasn’t acting like someone who had seen her boyfriend pressed up against a random girl in a dark corridor.

She barked a laugh. “No. He’s much too big and brooding. I prefer my lovers a little more…delicate.”

She quirked an eyebrow at me, laughing, and I found myself quietly joining her. It felt strangely comforting to laugh with someone, and I relaxed a fraction in her company. Even if the laughter hurt my pounding head and didn’t last all that long.

We walked in a mutual quiet after that, the magik that had followed eventually fading away. Without its presence, I found myself holding my breath every corner we turned, worried about what would find me.

“You’re safe,” she said, as I flinched at the distant sound of a closing door.

I didn’t like feeling like a scared little girl. That wasn’t me.

“Marcellus told me to take you to your room, so I will take you to your room. Nothing is going to happen to you. Although judging by what I saw back there you probably don’t need myhelp.” I frowned slightly at the ground, my eyes boring into the scarlet carpet beneath my feet. Despite the warmth that permeated the stone around me, a coldness had sunk into my bones that had me clutching the thick fabric tighter.

“I can’t control it,” I admitted.

“You will,” she said, with such certainty I almost believed her.

“Did you know him?”

I really hoped she didn’t.

“That guard? I mean, his face was a little smashed in, so it was hard to tell, but no, I don’t think I did.” I cringed as the memory of his broken form flashed through my mind—Alouette noticed.

“Are you sorry you did it?”

“No,” I said, instantly straightening my spine a little.

He deserved every bit of what he got, but it was a strange feeling knowing what I was capable of.

And knowing a part of me had enjoyed it.

---