Page 92 of Hidden Kingdoms

Could be a chunk of scalp for all I knew—probably was.

Pride radiated through me at what she had done. I couldn’t deny the thought of her pulsing with angry magik and covered in blood didn’t get me hard. I pulled a dagger from my hip, flicking it around my fingers out of habit as I lost myself in that image.

“How much of this was her and how much was Marcellus?” I asked, handing the phone back over.

Bastian’s voice was tense as he answered, “Enough.”

My dick twitched at the memory of her power filling me the other night, and I wondered if I could justify slipping into her bed tonight. No, there would be no more nightmares for Goldie anymore, and I wouldn’t be welcome tonight. I only had myself to blame. I would still be in that room next to her praying to Tieralla she would need me.

“And you still won’t accept she is what we’ve been looking for?”

He leaned forward, fisting a hand through his hair, untouched drink still in the other. If it took another trip to Novafor him to get his head out of his arse about this, then I would do it, even if the seer did give me the creeps.

“Did you find anything when you were away?”

Change of subject, standard Bastian tactic.

“Obviously not, considering what we’re looking for is in this fucking castle!” I lurched from my chair hearing the legs scuff backward across the rugs. “And if I had been here, not off on some stupid search, maybe she would have been safe!” The glass I had been holding shattered into tiny pieces as it hit the wall, fractured in the same way my mind was from thoughts of Elodie’s fear.

Fuck cleaning it up. Bastian could sort that.

“She should have been safe, Bas! This is all kinds of fucked up. We kidnapped her. Took her from her fucking bed. What are we even doing?” His head stayed down, eyes fixed on a point on the floor in front of him, and I wanted something else to throw.

That wasn’t who I was.

I workedevery fucking dayto release this kingdom from the flesh traders who had their grimy fingers wrapped around it. And here I was, complicit in holding Goldie captive. I couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t standmyself.

“What do we know about him?” I demanded, feeling the dark urges rising up within me and knowing I didn’t want to hold them back.

“Only this.” Bastian tossed a small clear packet at me, remnants of white crystalised dust lined the bottom and a sunflower was stamped on the front, its petals ablaze.

Flaming sun.

“Marcellus is looking into it.” His voice was distant.

“I’ll be in the dungeons.”

36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

KAIUS

The dark that resided within me was desperate for its time to come out to play, as I stalked down the corridors that would lead me to the dungeons. I gently nudged it to the side with the promise of later. It wouldn’t do to be leaking that poison while walking down the halls.

Descending the stairs that would take me where I needed to be, I let the anger dancing through me build.

Part of me knew it wasn’t fair on Bastian to blame him for this. Neither of us had been prepared for what had happened when we climbed into that room. We were looking for a weapon. We weren’t expecting a person—especially not Goldie.

Seeing her face change from the shock of finding two men in her bedroom, to the fierce determination it held when she decided she was going to try and fight us off, was fucking adorable.

Not to mention, her tits were barely covered by thin scraps of material, and I knew I was in trouble.

When The Darkness had arrived in her room, neither of us second-guessed saving her. It was an instinct. A pull that came from deep inside of me. Maybe Bas felt it, too?

To his credit, he had ensured she had somewhere to sleep, three meals a day, and guards at her door. He had rolled his eyes at me when I’d declared I would arrange her clothing, and I can’t deny the satisfaction I felt knowing she was walking around in the scraps of lace I’d picked out for her.

She was pissed at me right now but that was ok. I should have done more, asked more of the workers if they had seen anyone hanging around by her room. That wing was almost forgotten, all the empty rooms meaning witnesses were slim.

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