30

A crack in the atmosphere at half past eleven has me spinning on my heels in fright, nearly dropping my hairbrush.

“Good evening, mortal,” Dane drawls, pulling lint from his cuff and flattening out his sleeves, making sure his sleeve garters at his biceps are perfectly in place. He regards me with a grimace. “Forever in your sleep clothes, aren’t you?”

“It’s nearly bedtime.” I place a hand on my hip. “Why are you dressed up?”

Dane looks down at his waistcoat before pushing his hands slowly into his pockets. “Have I been so lazy that you seem to think this is me dressed up ?”

“You’ve been wearing human clothes the last two days. I guess I was getting used to an immortal creature in cotton shorts and white tops.” Then I pause. “How do you get clothes when you’re in the dungeons?”

“One of my—”

“Powers. Yes, forget I asked.”

He shakes his head. “We have to practice. We’ve missed three classes so far, and I refuse to dance with you at the ball if you fall over my feet. Plus, you’re a terrible dancer.”

I gape at him. “And how, pray tell, do you plan on attending? Your trial—for murder —is in a few days, and the ball is in two weeks. Poppy will find me another date.”

“His name is Silas, and all he’ll want to do is fuck you, which is not happening. Forget it.”

I stifle a laugh. “Are you jealous, Dane Dalton?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then I’m going with someone else. You’re not going to see the light of day for a long time, according to the laws in this academy.” I throw my hands out. “I need to go to the ball, Dane. I don’t have a choice.”

“Nothing will come of my trial,” he says, inspecting my room like he hasn’t spent the last nine days visiting it. “Do you have something that plays music? Or shall I conjure a piano?”

Of course he changes the subject. “Depends. Can you play?”

A smile tugs at Dane’s lips, and he turns his back to me. “I had a great teacher. I was never as good as her, but I was fine with listening instead of playing.”

“Sounds like you had a crush on your piano teacher.”

“You could say that,” he replies, turning to me. “She knew how to play every instrument beautifully. I was mesmerized by her.”

I press my lips together. “Lovely.”

“Who’s the jealous one now?”

I grimace and move towards the small desk in the corner of my room, checking my phone for a reply from Poppy. She said she’d let me know tonight if she found me a date, and a part of me is glad my notification bar is empty.

“The curse hasn’t spread much,” I say, showing him my hands. “A little on my palms, but none of it hurts like usual. This is a good thing, right? You won’t need to come here twice a day to siphon it if it stops. It’s a win-win.”

That sounds terrible, but the words are out before I can stop them.

Dane stares at me, emotionless.

“I just mean because you obviously risk a lot coming here. And it hurts you.”

“Stop the backtracking. We both know you don’t want me here.”

“You don’t exactly want to be here either,” I reply quietly.

“Great. Can you get dressed? I can’t dance with you while you’re wearing…” He points at my sleep shorts, which barely hide my ass cheeks.

“You did teleport in here near midnight. I don’t know why you expected me to be in my uniform. I’m about to go to bed. Can’t we do this tomorrow?”

“No.”

I wait for him to say something else, but all he does is lean against my dresser, staring me down.

I tut and head towards him. I see it the moment he thinks I’m closing the distance to him, and his breath hitches as he clears his throat. But then I move him with my shoulder, shifting him aside to get into my dresser.

I go into the bathroom with something more Dane appropriate. Once I fix my breasts into a bra and smooth down the dress that reaches mid-thigh, I finish brushing my hair and braid it to the side.

He patiently waits as I apply some mascara and lip balm. My cheeks are a little flush from… well, I guess because Dane looks the way he does. I hate that I’m attracted to him and my body has no idea how to not react to his close proximity.

And why does he need to smell so good? He sleeps in a dungeon, for crying out loud.

Hurry up, his voice comes.

Screw you, I fire back.

I check myself over once more before exiting the bathroom, stopping in my tracks when I see Dane having a silent discussion with one of the shadows on my walls. He and the little girl seem to be staring at one another, and she jumps in the air in excitement as the corners of Dane’s lips curl.

He chuckles as she shows him a stone she finds on the ground.

“Do you know her?” I ask, breaking his concentration.

Silence, and then Dane drops his head. “No,” he says without looking at me. “She’s alone, so I was keeping her company until her protector returned.”

He lifts his head and nods to the large mass as it takes the girl’s hand—then they both vanish into the crack of the wall.

“She’s sweet,” I say, fidgeting with my hair. “She always plays with the dog and waves at me.”

“Hmm.”

Crickets could fill the silence that stretches between us, if they existed on this island. Dane keeps his eyes on the wall, chewing on the inside of his cheek, seemingly lost in his head.

I try to listen, but he’s sealed me out.

I stand here, kind of confused. “So…?”

He still doesn’t look at me. “So?”

“You said you were here to practice.”

He blinks a few times then rubs a hand down his face, which is filled with exhaustion. “Right.”

When he turns, I watch him stride towards the dresser again and start playing music from a small wooden box. Chords strike on a piano, a soft voice in a different language fills the room, and then violins join in a beautiful symphony.

“You look tired,” I say.

“Observant as ever, mortal.”

“Are you not sleeping well?”

He frowns. “I sleep in a cell—what the fuck do you think?”

Good point. Although he better not snap at me like that again. But he looks different than usual—moodier.

“What happens down there?” I ask, sure he’ll snap at me some more. “You hadn’t healed yourself last night. You had a lot of bruising and cuts on you.” I nod to his neck. “Especially there.”

“Why do you care?”

I sigh. “Would it kill you to go a day without being such an asshole to me?”

“Yes.” He runs his hand through his hair, messing it, yet still looking as dashing as ever. “Put heels on.”

I cross my arms. “Excuse me?”

“I assume you will be wearing heels to the ball?”

Another good point.

Once I fasten a pair of stilettos, I walk to stand in front of him. He still towers over me. “How tall are you? I’m not considered short—I was taller than most of the kids in my year, but you’re a skyscraper compared to me.”

Instead of answering me, he goes for the one piece of information he took from that. “A skyscraper?”

I stare at him for a long moment, then my shoulders slump and I shake my head. “Never mind.” I take his hand and place it on my hip. “Do you know the steps?”

“I’ve done this dance a thousand times. It’s me here to teach you.”

“How noble of you.”

He leads us silently through the routine as he takes my other hand in his and pulls me around the room. “Probably the nicest thing you’ve said about me,” he says, spinning me and capturing my hip again.

“Don’t get used to it.”

He dips me abruptly, and I yelp as my head nearly hits the floor. I gape at him as he smirks while tugging me back to stand straight. “Asshole.”

He chuckles. “That’s better.”

There’s a constant electrical current between us. It’s… comfortable, not something I need more or less of. My chest brushes against his as he pulls me closer, and I feel his breath on my cheek before he dips me again.

I swallow as his eyes clash with mine, holding my gaze. “Do we need to end the dance the same way we did before? Do we need to kiss?”

“No,” he replies as he guides us in carefully coordinated steps. “I think that was just to help form a bond of sorts, so partners are more at ease with their pairing.”

I let out a breath. “Good.” Not good. I want a reason to kiss him without admitting to myself I actually do want a kiss—a real kiss.

His jaw clenches as he spins me and twirls me back to his chest. “Am I so undesirable, mortal?”

“Coming from the person who made my life hell and called me ugly and disgusting.”

“The truth hurts,” he says with amusement, and he fully grins when I smack his chest.

I seem to be smacking him a lot lately.

As before, I somehow know how to move, and Dane only needs to talk me through a few parts of the dance, and at one point, we smoothly sail through each step without missing a beat from start to finish. I giggle as he does the final dip, and I hear Dane’s heart in my own ears.

“Not too bad,” I say, grinning as I pant. “I bet Silas is better.”

He lifts me. “Once more.”

This time, he throws me around like he’s trying to prove a point. I accidentally stand on his shoe, and he bumps my hip into the dresser intentionally. I stick out my tongue, and we start from the beginning again.

By the time we’re done, it’s nearly three in the morning. Dane has his sleeves rolled to his elbows, the top two buttons unfastened, and his hair disheveled. I’m in a worse condition. My hair is a mess, my dress clings to me, and my limbs ache.

We both drop on the bed after six billion run-throughs of the dance, breathing in sync. “You’re worse than I thought,” he says while filling his lungs. “Shockingly bad, to be brutally honest. There isn’t a chance in hell Silas will want to fuck you after that.”

“You know, it’s sometimes better to not be honest.” I roll onto my side, perching on my elbow with my hand to my head. “Which is why you withhold so much stuff from me, and I’m getting fed up with it.”

“What do you mean? Like what?”

“Firstly, you won’t tell me why Valin took me. Secondly, you won’t tell me why you killed someone. Thirdly, you won’t tell me why the tasks are made the way they are. Should I keep going? I’m sure I have another twelve to go through.”

“Can you just settle on the fact you’re better off not knowing?”

“No.”

He sighs. “I’m starting to remember why I hate you.”

“Good,” I retort. “Because this nice version of you confuses me.”

“Give me your hands, so I can leave.”

I sit up and so does he, and I place my palms on top of his. I keep my eyes to the side, not looking at him as he mutters annoyances to himself while the burning begins.

But it doesn’t come…

It should hurt, right?

It always hurts.

Why doesn’t it hurt? I feel a slight heat, but that’s all.

When I glance at Dane, he looks like he’s in excruciating pain. His eyes are screwed shut, his teeth clenched, another trickle of black blood dripping from his nose.

His body is shaking while I stare at him.

Tightening his hold on my hands, he swears to himself as black tendrils claw up his neck as they always do, settling into his skin.

But I feel nothing.

He breaks away abruptly and falls off the bed, crouching down as he grabs his chest. “Fuck.”

I go to him, dropping to my knees as I grab at his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

He shoves away from me, his eyes fully black, even the whites taken over, the dark veins climbing up one side of his face and into his hairline.

“I need to go.”

“No. Wait.”

But before he can materialize, I reach out to stop him, knowing he’s too weak. But a sudden tug all over my body makes me dizzy, my room warping into nothing, and I drop onto a cold, hard floor with a stench that could burn my sense of smell to nothing.

Dane lands on top of me with a grunt, and he pushes himself up using his hands, blood gushing from his nose as his thighs bracket my hips.

“What the fuck did you do?”

I look around and feel myself paling more and more with each passing second. “Oh no. Is this your cell?”

“Yes, and I’m not strong enough to take you back. Are you insane?”

My eyes go wide. “No. You need to take me back.”

He falls to the side, tensing all over. “I can’t.”

I get to my feet, gaping at the blood all over the bricks, the chains dangling from the ceiling, and the metal bed frame with no mattress. A wooden block sits to the side with food no one should ever be touching, never mind eating.

“I’ve seen this before,” I say aloud. “This cell. There was a little boy in it.”

Dane is still gasping in the corner, trying to settle his pain while I try not to panic at seeing all of this when I’ve already dreamed it and now being trapped here.

Think. Think, Sera .

“What was that thing you said immortals can do where they share power?”

Dane closes his eyes and mutters a curse under his breath. “Power linking.”

I nod and crouch in front of him. “Yeah, that. Can I do that with you?”

He stares at me, the shivers wracking my body from both fear and how cold the cell is. Dane takes in our surroundings and then grimaces, as if contemplating and weighing other options. But there is no other option. Dane can use my body to get us out of here; he’s too weak, but his power is not. He can sleep in my dorm room until he’s fit enough to leave.

I grab his curse-covered hands. “Tell me what to do.”

He groans and gives in. “This is dangerous—do you understand? Power linking isn’t safe and should only be used under extreme circumstances.”

Is he crazy? “This is extreme. I’m in your cell in the dungeons!”

“Fine,” he snaps. “Picture your room, get a strong vision of it, and build up enough determination to get there.”

“That’s all?”

He nods. “I’ll do the rest. You’ll feel the need to travel there, so just do it. I’ll try not to overwhelm you.”

“Okay.”

He squeezes his eyes shut with a rush of pain. “You owe me a fucking kiss for this.”

My lips part. “You want to kiss me?”

His gaze levels on me, as if I’ve asked what color the sky is. “Haven’t I made that obvious?”

I smile and nod with a blush to my cheeks despite our current misfortune. “Fine. If this works, I’ll kiss you.”

“Deal.”

I picture my room as hard as I can, listening to Dane muttering in another language as bolts of energy shift between us. I gasp from the intrusion of power I shouldn’t feel, and my mind goes completely blank as my heart accelerates.

I feel like I’m waking up, lost but found, as if I’m reconciling with a part of me that’s been missing for too long.

The smell of the cell vanishes, my vision warping once again, and Dane tells me to focus as he forces his power into me at full capacity. I manage to somehow materialize us out of the cell by focusing on my room like my life depends on it.

His hands are gripping me as everything around us ripples into a swirl of nothing. We land on a soft rug, his chest pressing to mine as we both gasp for air. He’s crushing me until he pushes himself half up.

He grabs my face, and I see the curse has seeped into his skin already. “Talk to me. Tell me you’re okay.”

I blink. “I’m okay. Are y—”

I look up, the sound dying in my throat as all the blood drains from my face when I realize where I’ve brought him. The immortal creature who hates humans. Who hates my world and my people.

My eyes land on my bedside table—on my pink lamp and my electronic alarm clock, which is still working. My bed is still made from the morning I left for work, and a picture of me and Toodles sits on the bedside unit.

Dane frowns as he sits up and takes in our surroundings, his puzzled glare traveling around the bedroom I haven’t been in for months.

“Where the fuck are we?”

TO BE CONTINUED…