“Good. But I haven’t been able to heal anyone other than myself yet.”
“With your aptitude, I'm sure you’ll be healing me from my battle wounds in no time.” He smiled and I watched his canines push into that delicious bottom lip of his.
“You’re a healer?” Isla stepped in, resting her hand possessively on his bicep. I deflated with a long shaky sigh.
“A healer in training… I still have a lot to learn.” I needed to get out of here.Now. It was a unique kind of torture, sitting with the man I wanted… and the woman he was promised to.
“Excuse me, but I have somewhere to be.” I got up, screeching my chair across the floor as I bolted. Robert trailed behind me, while I nearly slammed the door in his face in my haste to escape.
It was the weekend. I didn’t have training and Galen knew it. The sad little human had nowhere to be.
But then I remembered the plan—tonight.Tonight,I would find out if I could open a door between worlds. I regained my focus. Ididhave somewhere to be.
Raf decided to make an appearance while I was eating dinner in my room. I’d been enjoying a candle-lit meal with myself before he ruined the ambiance.
He didn’t even bother to use the door, opting to go through thewallin his shadow form. I had a book in my nose and looked up to find him standing in front of me—staring in his dark and mysterious way.
His black shirt accentuated his toned body, clinging to his muscles. I could tell that I was feelingespeciallylonely, because my heart skipped a beat when his glowing eyes locked with mine. A reaction to him scaring me senseless, no doubt.
“Howdareyou come into my room unannounced!” I slammed my book shut and stood, thanking the gods I was fully dressed and presentable.
“I didn’t want anyone to see me using the door. Iassumedyou’d be waiting for me to come by and tell you the plan. Or did you think you were just going to jump out the window at midnight and hope I caught you?”
Was he trying to irritate me or did it just come naturally to him?
I noticed him staring at my chest—at the pronounced rise and fall of my breasts as my heart rate returned to normal. “Eyes up here,” I hissed.
His gaze flicked up to my face and he smirked. “Your necklace is glowing.”
I shoved it under my bodice, huffing. “Regardless of your excuses, a gentleman would never come into my roomuninvited.”
I became flustered as he stepped closer to me, within range for that misty forest scent to waft its way towards me. It assaulted my senses, disorienting me even further.
“Does it make you nervous to be alone with me? I can hear your heart racing. I suppose agentlemanwouldn’t point such things out… but I never claimed to be one.” He smiled at me in his wolfish way.
I rolled my eyes at him. “You startled me. Don’t let it go to your head. Are you going to just stand there andpreen? Or are you going to tell me the plan?”
Ignoring my question, he turned his attention to the book I’d been reading. He picked it up from the table with a tendril of shadow. I was mortified as I watched it float over to his waiting hands—at the realization that he was about to find out that I read romance.
“A Night to Remember,”he read aloud, before opening to the middle of the book.“Helooked deep into her eyes before whispering, ‘I am going to give you the ride of your life.’”Raf gave me a wide grin—the largest one I’d ever seen from him. Two dimples and a full set of pearly white teeth… that were about to be smashed in.
“Give me that!” I yelled, diving for it and snatching it back.
“Don’t be embarrassed! We all need to find ways to… release our stress.” He couldn’t resist loosing a laugh and I felt the crests of my cheeks bloom with embarrassment.
“If you’re quite donehumiliatingme, perhaps you can tell me the plan and thensee yourself out.”
“Of course,Princess,” he said with an exaggerated bow. “Tonight, at midnight, you’ll look out your window and find me below. It’ll be dark, so if you can’t see me, trust that I will be there.” He emphasized this point with raised brows, making sure I understood.
“Yes, yes. You’re all shadow and smoke. If I can’t see you, I’ll still believe that you’re there.” I glared at him, as I tried to control my temper that he knew just how to stoke.
“You’ll wear this.” He threw me a black cloak. “And you’ll throwthisout your window.” He stepped back and grew three black vines that were long enough to reach from my window to the ground.
Watching him growsomethingfromnothingwas so remarkable that I just stared in awe as seed transformed to plant. His shadows weaved the vines together into a tight, thick braided rope.
He proceeded to tie knots down the vine, creating grip along the entire length of it. “Don’t forget to secure it to something before you throw it out the window.”
I gave him the largest eye roll I could muster. “I understand the concept of a rope ladder. Thank you for your wisdom, Prince of Pricks.” I smiled at my joke and he had the good sense to laugh along.
