Chapter 24

Ember

I wake the same way I have every morning for the past week to my mark burning. Bile rises to my throat as panic threatens to consume me yet again. I sit up, clutching my shoulder, my chest rising and falling rapidly as awareness of my failure fully sets in.

I had been caught. It didn’t matter that I had enough money to buy the potion. It doesn’t matter if I can’t leave the palace. My opportunity is gone.

My mind races as I struggle to think of other options. No one knows about my secret. There is no one I can ask for help.

I have to figure out another solution on my own. It is only a matter of time before Prince Kaine realizes that I have been deceiving him and rejects me. Avoiding is not something I can do forever.

Nara paces in my mind, more reactive than ever, anger bleeding through her silence. She doesn’t need to say anything. I can feel her disapproval.

Her frustration and anger that I had even I tried to buy the potion in the first place is evident. My refusal to try with Prince Kaine hurts her. I wish there was another way, but my status as a guard isn’t the only thing at risk she is. I can’t risk it.

I dress and force myself to train, panic mixing with depression with every step toward the training grounds. Once there, I stumble through my drills, clumsy in my movements and a step too slow at every turn.

Robert, still salty from our previous conversation, jumps at the chance to spar with me. He wins, but I barely react as he makes some snide comment about how I’m losing my edge. I’m too tired to deal with him today.

Although the blow he dealt me isn’t serious, I can tell that it is going to leave a mark. Robert is a good warrior. He did it on purpose.

Training ends I quickly and retreat to my room using the investigation as an excuse for skipping patrol. My chest feels hollow as the weight of my impending discovery all pulls me under. There is nothing left to do but drown myself in research.

I bury myself in court documents, chasing threads that lead nowhere. The exile records for Lady Chantarelle’s father are still missing. The harder I search, the less I find. Every dead end feels like another stone sinking in my gut.

The knock on my door startles me. I open it to find Jake waiting, his face unreadable. “Kaine wants to see you. Right away.”

My heart thuds in my chest, my blood chilling at having to face Prince Kaine today. I want to protest, but I know that I can’t ignore a direct summons, instead I nod and gather my notes. My steps are heavy as I walk toward his office.

When I enter, Kaine doesn’t bother looking up from the stack of papers on his desk. He simply waves me inside and gestures to the chair across from him.

I sit, trying to take up as little space as possible and angling my chair as far away from the prince as I can get away with without seeming rude. I can’t be sure that he still can’t feel our bond. I can’t be caught now.

Silence stretches between us for a long moment and my mark burns, a reminder of what can never be. I feel the pull of him, a constant ache and I have to fight to keep my expression neutral.

Finally, he speaks. “What have you found out about the noble woman?”

I keep my voice steady as I begin to recount the missing records. “There are gaps in the records pertaining to her father’s exile. I have spend hours double checking for something I might have missed, but it’s not here.”

He listens, silent, his gaze never rising from the document he’s reading as I speak. My words quicken. “I don’t want to presume anything, but it seems related. It also means that records are being tampered with. If those records were wiped, what else has been changed or gone missing?”

Kaine nods once, the silence between us stretching. I wait for him to ask something else, for him to press, but he doesn’t. His silence is louder than his words.

When I finish, he waves his hand in dismissal. I stand quickly, eager to make my escape, but his voice stops me cold.

“We’ll need to speak with her soon. I want you there.”

I turn, and our eyes meet. The force of the mate bond sharpening in an instant. My shoulder is set ablaze as I am overcome with longing and Nara whines violently as the bond flares so intensely that my breath catches.

I can feel it now. The last threads of the potion’s protection are gone. I am fully exposed.

I drop my gaze and hurry out of the office, my steps uneven as I try to navigate the corridors. My heart pounds in my ears as I quickly retreat to my room. I slam the door behind me and allow my body slide to the floor, my arms wrapping tightly around my knees as the realization hits me.

It’s gone. There is nothing left to protect me now. If Kaine didn’t realize it in that moment, he will soon.

I pace the length of my room, my hands trembling as I put pressure on my burning mark. Nara prowls in my mind her desperation to go back to Prince Kaine’s office maddening. It takes every ounce of willpower that I have to prevent her from taking control.

Tears slip down my face as I reel. My final defense is gone. There’s nothing dulling the bond now. Nothing hiding me from him.

I spend the night trying to outpace my own heartbeat, but I’m chasing ghosts. I curl in on myself, willing the bond to stop pulling. Nara doesn’t speak. She lets me stew in my own panic.

I know she thinks that Prince Kaine is worth the risk, but I can’t lose her. I can’t lose everything we have worked so hard for.