Before I Let Go (Skyland #1)(7)

“People like you?” My mark sparked to life against my spine, and I knew Evren was near. I looked over my shoulder, and there he stood near his men and a few horses, and he nodded at something one of them was saying even though he was looking directly at me.

“I don’t expect you to trust me, Adara.”

I pulled my attention back to her. Her hands squeezed into fists even as her shoulders fell.

“I would question your sanity if you did so blindly, but Queen Kaida and I, we aren’t the same.”

My stomach hardened at her words. She was right, I didn’t trust her, and I didn’t think I ever would. She was the queen of the Blood kingdom, the mother of my mate, I stuttered in thought at how easily that word formed in my mind, who betrayed me, and no one becomes queen without a thirst for power.

“I apologize for not taking your word on that.” I crossed my arms. “Queen Kaida would like for me to believe that she isn’t nearly as bad as she truly is as well.”

“That’s probably true.” She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes, and gave a half shrug. “But I’ve never known the woman to be anything other than her true, cruel self.” Her gaze dropped to my hand where I was still holding the dried meat, and she nodded toward it. “Eat. We’ll be leaving for Sidra Palace shortly.”

She turned, leaving me with nothing but the meat and my thoughts, and I looked back to where Evren stood. He was still watching me, his gaze hard and unreadable, but it flickered to his mother as she moved away from me.

I shoved the meat into my mouth as he took a step in my direction and quickly turned away from him. I wasn’t ready to face him after last night, after I allowed him to kiss me after everything that had happened. I had kissed him with so much want laced behind my lips, and he left the tent this morning without a single word.

“You ready?”

I could feel the heat of his chest at my back, but I didn’t turn around. I just stared ahead at the dying fire and nodded once. I could feel him studying me from behind, the heat of his gaze stronger than the flames in front of me, and I quickly swallowed the tough meat before wiping my mouth.

“Princess?” Just hearing his voice made my stomach tighten to the point of pain.

“I asked you not to call me that.” My voice was cold and unfeeling, exactly like I wanted it, but the complete opposite of how I felt inside. The urge to make sure he was okay was overwhelming, and I was dying to know if he was plagued with his nightmares often.

“Okay.” I could practically hear the frustration in his voice. “Are you ready, Adara?”

“Yes.” I finally turned to him, and my eyes threatened to flutter shut as the smell of him hit me. “Your mother said we are leaving for the palace shortly.”

“We are.” He crossed his arms as he studied me. His black shirt was clouded with dirt, and when I looked back up at his eyes, I saw the same weariness in his gaze. “The men are going to take down our tent, and then we’ll head out.”

“You should have woken me.” I lifted my chin as I said it. “It was foolish to let me sleep in while the rest of the camp was packed up.”

It was foolish to let me sleep while you left me feeling so unsure.

I wasn’t sure why that bothered me so much. He had asked me to stay with him for the night, and he didn’t owe me anything this morning. But my chest ached, and I couldn’t get the feeling to stop. I hated him, and the feeling confused me. How could I hate someone so badly while also craving them with every part of my being?

“You were sleeping so peacefully when I awoke. I knew you needed your rest.” His gaze fell to my mouth, and I bit my tongue to stop from saying the things I truly wanted to say.

“Well, thankfully now I’m rested and thinking clearly. So we should be on our way.” I went to step past him, but he stopped me with his hand on my bicep. He moved in close, close enough that everything about him overwhelmed me.

He stepped close enough that every part of me felt unsure in my resolve to hate him.

“You’re angry with me.”

“You’re bright, prince.”

His lips cocked into a smirk at my remark. “I meant angrier than normal. Angrier than you were when I left you sleeping.”

My spine straightened, and I begged it not to tremble under the weight of his presence.

“I’m fine.”

He leaned closer still. His nose pressed against my jaw, and I felt him breathe me in as if I was his first true breath after a lifetime of suffocation. “I’m sorry if I upset you last night.”

“You didn’t.” My voice broke, and I hated it. “Last night shouldn’t have happened. It won’t happen again.”

He groaned and his breath rushed out against my neck. “We both know that’s a lie, princess. You can hate me in the light all you want, but the truth of us comes out in the dark. It always will.”

My stomach tightened at his words, at his threat, and an ache began between my thighs. We were surrounded by a camp full of others, but it only took a few whispered words from his lips until he was all that I could see. He was everything that I could feel.

“That darkness is yours, not mine.”

He chuckled soft and low, but he didn’t back away a single inch. “Let some of your magic spill from your hands, princess. Let the rest of the camp see the way your magic is the twin to my own.”