Page 133 of The Last Guardian

“Yes, of course.” Zaid’s eyes shone with a light that told me he was holding back from finishing what we’d just started.

My chest ached; the urge to kiss him surged up, and I fought it back with everything I had.

Taking a step forward, I averted my gaze from him as I passed by him. Before I could reach the door, his hand curled around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

His fingers tightened against my skin, burning, etching their mark on me.

My eyes drifted up to his as Zaid looked down at me, carefully lifting my hand, his thumb traveling from my wrist to my palm in a slow, torturous stroke. He leaned down.

His lips hovered over my palm, close enough to feel his breath dancing against my skin. When he closed the distance, as his mouth brushed and closed against me, a warmth went through me in hot, electric waves; the mere contact of him burned me with a force I couldn’t quite name, leaving me breathless.

His eyes lifted, meeting mine in a storm of unsaid words, as his lips were still tasting my skin. And it felt as if an indelible mark was etched inside.

Not only my skin.

My soul sang.

Zaid pulled away slowly, never breaking our gaze, and my skin ached for more of him, for his lips searching every inch of me, leaving me panting.

His thumb brushed once more against my palm before letting go, his fingers flexing at his side.

“Goodnight.” His voice was nothing more than a soft whisper as he stepped back from me.

As Zaid walked away, my eyes followed his every movement, the way his shoulders tensed, his hand traveling through his beautiful, dark hair.

Still breathless, I waited in the dark for a few minutes, in front of the door, incapable of moving. My fingers brushed my lips, where the ghost of his lips had almost been, before traveling to my palm, where he had left an invisible mark forever intertwined in the patterns of my skin.

I let my back rest on the cold wooden door, closing my eyes for an instant, trying to let go of the tension I felt every time he was near.

Something about him always made me question everything.

Everything I always fought to protect, to hide.

My true self.

Zaid charged that overwhelming need inside me to be part of something so wild, so achingly beautiful, something that could alter everything. A force impossible to escape.

The sparks he lit up inside my chest flared brighter than ever, like a wildfire dancing, ravaging everything in its wake.

THE EVENING HAD passed quickly. I’d hoped to have some time alone with Arthur, but when I returned to the dining room, he had already left. Where, I couldn’t say.

I needed to find time to talk to him, to demand answers from him—about everything I learned in Keraneeth.

During dinner, Nefeli tried to fill the cold silence from Lyra with jokes Dorian had quite appreciated. Still, Lyra never cracked a smile. And shortly after, we all went straight to bed.

Yet, after three hours in the dark, sleep never came.

My mind kept summoning the image of Zaid leaning towards me, the feeling of his lips ghosting mine. The way his piercing green eyes and charming smile made my heart skip a beat. I needed to distract my mind.

Desperate for distraction, I lit a candle and took out Zaid’s book about the species. I read the last chapter, focusing on the Guardians throughout history. Initially, the first Guardian had been bestowed upon the first emperor of Perygan: Enalius. This had occurred before the empire fractured into four distinct kingdoms.

After the fall of the first emperor, the Elves had given the four kings their own Guardians, but these monarchs were not driven by bloodlust. They wanted to offer their subjects the opportunity to connect with one of these Guardians.

At that time, they established a sanctuary where these Guardians could roam in peace. Myrh. A place full of magic and beautiful landscapes.

These Guardians could take many forms, from dogs to bears to even lions and birds.

The Guardians: The Spirits of the World