Page 30 of A Storm in Every Heart
“I’ll do it,” I repeat, forcing my tone to remain even. “I’ll at least go meet with King Magnus.”
Elio’s ugly face bursts into a wide smile that stretches his features to near breaking. He claps his hands together in delight. “Oh, that’s wonderful. In that case we should discuss when you’ll travel to Hydratta and perhaps who will be included in the entourage.”
Daemon, completely ignoring Elio, swings around in his chair to look at me. “Dessa, are you sure? What?—”
“I’m sure. Excuse me, I’m going to go upstairs and prepare.”
Before anyone can stop me, I step out from behind Alix’s empty chair and march across the room toward the door. The weight of every eye in the room pierces my back, but none more searing than Kastian’s furious gaze, which feels like molten fire scorching into my very soul.
ODESSA, PRESENT
Asharp knock sounds on my bedroom door. “Dessa, are you in there?”
I look up at the door and freeze, my eyes widening.
I’m sitting on the floor of my bedroom, wearing nothing but a corset and panties, and surrounded by clutter. Next to me lies the crumpled silk gown I was wearing earlier, and in my hand is the exact green glass bottle with the little ship inside that I was admiring yesterday.
The bottle is the source of my confusion. I don’t know where the hell it came from, and moreover, I’m not exactly sure how long I’ve been sitting here pondering it.
After leaving the meeting with the emissary, I practically ran all the way back up to my third-floor bedroom and shut myself inside. I leaned against the closed door, panting.What the hell am I doing? Is this the best idea I’ve ever had? Or is it slow, drawn-out suicide?
I reached behind me and tugged on the laces of my tight gown, shucking it over my head and tossing it on the floor where it landed among dozens of other discarded gowns.
My room is—to put it kindly—a mess.
Everything from the floor to the furniture is covered in a mulch of clothes, old papers, and shiny trinkets. There are piles of books, packages from nearby shops that lie unopened, empty cosmetics bottles, and loose beads from broken jewelry covering nearly every surface. I’ve always had a weakness for collecting beautiful things…I’ve just never been good at keeping track of them all.
Because of the mess, I didn’t immediately notice the ship in the bottle sitting innocently on the windowsill, reflecting gleaming green light all across the walls. Once I noticed it, however, any other thought flew from my mind. I have no idea how it got in here, and I’m not sure if I’m excited or disturbed to see it.
Now, the knock on the door sounds again, and Alix’s muffled voice shouts from the other side. “It’s me! Are you in there? I came bearing gifts!”
I jump to my feet, bottle still in hand. “One second!”
It takes more than a few seconds to wade back through the mess and reach the door. I kick a turned-over vase and a pair of trousers out of the way, and pry the door open. “Hi!”
Alix stands on the other side of the door looking bemused. Her hair is braided away from her face, and she’s still wearing her human clothing—denim trousers and an oversized blue sweater. In her arms, she’s carrying a large paper bag and at her feet an enormous gray cat is rubbing up against her leg.
Alix’s gaze flicks over my lack of clothing and she cracks a smile. “I’m getting déjà vu.”
I sigh and step aside to let her in, pausing to pet her cat—Sushi—under the chin. The cat allows a mere ten seconds ofaffection before nipping the tips of my fingers and bounding into the room after Alix.
“When did you get back?” I ask, shutting the door.
Alix tiptoes carefully over the mess to reach my bed. “A few hours ago.”
I blow my tangled hair out of my face. “I didn’t realize I’d been up here so long. I was just going to get dressed and…”
“You got distracted,” she finishes for me with a grin as she sinks onto the corner of my bed and her cat leaps into her lap. “No worries.”
I replace the ship on the windowsill, then bend to sift through the clothes on the floor until I find a robe. I pull it on over my underwear and pull the belt tight. “How was your visit with your mother?”
She rolls her eyes. “Same as usual. She’s been trying to sell my Nana’s house for over a year now and can’t grasp that the town where Nana lived is condemned, so the house can’t even technically be sold. The government will buy the property just to get rid of the headache, but they’re not offering what my mom thinks it’s worth, and she’s going absolutely ape-shit over it.”
“I thought this was Isabelle’s house, not your mother’s.”
Alix laughs hollowly. “Oh,it is.My mom isn’t even getting anything out of it, so this tantrum is 100% organic. I honestly think she’s just bored now that Nana has been traveling a lot and I’m ‘living in Europe.’” She draws quotes in the air with her fingers. “She’s really on the warpath now, too, because I accidentally let it slip that Nana is coming to visit me.”
I perk up at that. “Belle is coming here?”
