Page 78 of Tower of Tempest
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he whispered. “And we’ll figure out how to get you out of here.”
The laughter died on my lips. “Out of here?” I asked.
He gestured. “So we can go to the shadow court like we’d planned. Find your gran.”
Of course that’s what he’d expect. That had been the plan. I grabbedmy mask, wringing it tight, hesitating before saying my next words. “Loch, I don’t want to leave.”
His brows pinched together. “What are you talking about?”
I spread my arms wide. “I just found my parents. I know who I am now. I have a duty to them.”
I thought of my mother, all her hopes and dreams for me, how badly it would hurt her if I left.
“What about your duty to yourself?” he asked. “You still don’t know who your gran is. Why she took you. As long as she’s still out there, as long as the shadow king is involved, you’re not safe.”
The challenge in his words surprised me. Tension tightened his shoulders and his expression in a way I wasn’t used to.
“He’s not going to take me.” A defensiveness rose up in me. “I’m a princess. He wouldn’t want that kind of conflict, surely.”
Loch’s temple pulsed. “You have no idea what he wants.”
“And you do?” I shot back, anger flaring at his words. At the audacity to tell me that I had to leave the home I’d just found and go with him. Like he knew better than me.
“You realize you’re just as trapped here as you were in that tower.” He gestured to the gleaming castle. “It’s just a nicer prison.”
I stepped back like he’d slapped me. “I’m not trapped. I’m a princess, and I owe it to my parents to act like one.”
Pity shone in his eyes, and I hated it. “You don’t owe anyone, not a damn thing. Why don’t you get that?”
“Stop.” My voice shook. “Just stop it. I don’t want to leave here, and you need to respect that.”
The truth was I didn’t know what I wanted, but the thought of leaving this safe haven I’d just found made all my bones twist into knots.
The anger ebbed from Loch’s face, and he slowly unclenched his fists, inhaling a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight. I’m not trying to upset you. It’s just—you just freed yourself, and now you’re retreating again.”
“Go to my room,” I said, voice low. “Wait for me there, and we can talk about this more.” I didn’t want to disappoint him, didn’t want to say goodbye like this, not after everything he’d done for me. “It’s down the hallway from the ballroom, silver double doors on your right that you can’t miss.”
He was silent, too silent. “Okay, then,” he said after a beat. “I’ll go, and we can talk more when you’re ready.”
I nodded, hating this tension between us. Loch opened his mouth, then hesitated and closed it as he gave me one last backward glance before slipping away and around the corner. Once he disappeared I sank against the ledge he’d just had me pressed up against. A stone settled in my stomach, something telling me that whatever was building between us had just been broken, and I didn’t know if there would be any way to fix it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
LOCHLAN
It was supposed to be harmless flirting. Deep down, I knew there was nothing harmless about what I’d just done. I’d never meant to take it that far, not with her. But the way she was looking at me while we danced, with that fire in her eyes, I’d lost all control. Then it went to shit. Our easy relationship, the banter, the teasing, it was gone now. Something irrevocably changed between us. And it was all my fault.
Blood and water, everything had become so twisted so fast. I entered the hallway where Poppy said her room was and crept forward, looking for the large double doors.
My cock still ached, my mouth still tasted like her, and despite it all, I wanted more. Hearing her breathy voice, those sweet sighs and guttural moans. That alone had been enough to undo me so completely I couldn’t put myself back together. I was just pieces now, tiny little fragments, and the only one who could fix me wassomeone I couldn’t have. Not if I valued our friendship—and I did. Enough that I would never jeopardize it again.
The doors appeared on my left, just like she’d said they would. I’d wait for her and convince her to come with me to the shadow court. Iunderstood why she didn’t want to leave. She’d just found her parents, her home, but she hadn’t found any answers, not about her gran, not about the shadow king and his intentions. I worried if we didn’t find the truth, she’d never be safe.
Then, I’d tell her that what happened between us had been a mistake. Not in those words, of course. Hopefully she’d understand that I was trying to save our relationship, not break it.
I slowly turned the silver handle, and pushed open the door, glancing to the left and right in the hallway when three guards appeared from around the corner, those shiny silver chest plates stretching over their tunics.
“Evening, gentlemen,” I said in my calmest voice.
