Page 56 of Rising Out of the Darkness
“Without your company this time, of course.” The towel he had picked up slipped between his hand as I sucked in my lips to contain my laugh.
“Of course.” He tossed the towel into the basket he’d taken it from, then motioned with his head for me to follow him back into the bedroom.
“Well?” I asked impatiently.
He reached within his deep navy jacket, trimmed in gold, retrieved my dagger and handed it to me. The sight stirred asqueal of delight from me as I embraced the prince in a hug. His entire body stiffened, so I released him.
“Thank you for finding this for me. I thought … I imagined that I would never see it again. This dagger is really all I have left of them.” I almost choked on the words.
That was when he surprised me once more and pulled out my mother’s feather pendant. It was on a new chain, one that he was now draping over my neck as I stood there at a loss for words.
“All you have left of who?” Declan whispered, his thumb brushing against the side of my neck.
“My parents,” I said, so quietly that I didn’t even know if I had made any sound.
“I’m sorry we took you from your home.”
“Don’t be, it wasn’t your fault. Your father is the one I blame.” I let out a laugh, looking up at the prince to try to lighten the mood. Instead, I was met with a solemn expression.
“We are not good men, Elena,” he said, repeating his earlier statement.
“You saved my life, Declan.” I lifted my hand to place it gently over his heart. “That makes you good to me.”
His throat bobbed, still not making eye contact. The prince’s hand rose to cover my own. We stood there for a few moments before he lifted my hand off his chest and I let it fall to my side.
“I’ll see you for dinner tonight, and please don’t be late,” he said, walking towards the door. He opened it wide, then began to close it before he peeked around once more. “Wildfire,” he said.
“Mmhmm?”
“Thank you for stepping in front of that beast … and for savingmylife.”
The door closed with a soft click, leaving me alone and speechless.
Chapter 20
Declan
Everything about Elena fascinated me and terrified me at the same time. My body seemed to be pulled toward her by some invisible force every time she was near. Closing the door to my room with a flick of my shadows, I stormed over to my closet to get dressed for tonight’s dinner.
What a complete fool I had been on the journey back to the castle. I’d tried so hard to bury myself within my frigid heart, pushing her away with the only things I knew how to do, fear and gruffness. Unfortunately, that only unleashed her fiery spirit, making me burn for her tenaciousness even more.
I’d even let my ward slip on more than one occasion. The black fabric of my pants slid against my legs as I sighed deeply, thinking about the mess I’d created. I needed to do better, needed to be smarter. There was too much to risk and too many important factors at stake for me to lose all my senses by falling for a woman I knew that I couldn’t have.
She deserved someone far better than me, someone not filled with so much darkness. In just a short time, being around me had led to her almost death, all because she was trying to save me. A shiver trickled down my spine at the memory of the blue tint of her lips and the feeling of her lifeless body hanging overmy arms. Elena deserved a lifetime of happiness, especially after everything that she had been through. Sadly, happiness was not something that I had within me to offer.
Impatiently fumbling with the buttons on my black dress tunic, I heard a knock on my door.
“Come in.”
“Good evening, Your Highness.” Eloise gave me a polite bow and a smile as she walked into the room. Once my mother’s lady-in-waiting, now she served me.
“Eloise, you know by now that a bow is not necessary,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Of course, just as you know that I find manners to be everything in life,” she hummed, then strode over to hand me my dress jacket for the evening—a deep navy blue, trimmed with a fine golden embroidery around the collar and down the opening. Formal dinners were the only time I wore the kingdom’s royal colors of navy and gold. Normally, my wardrobe consisted only of the color of my heart, black.
“Manners are everything, huh? I’ll remember that the next time I hear you swearing foul words that would make even Liam and Killian shudder,” I said, a small smirk tipping up the corner of my lip.
She slapped my arm while letting out a huff of air. “One time! Gods, I impaled my finger with a sewing pin! What would you do if that was you?”
