Page 95 of The Last Guardian

My breath hitched when my eyes drifted to the corner of the room, where the only bed stood. No sofa in sight. Just a beautiful, small bed, with a carved wooden frame and white sheets.

Zaidkiel closed the door behind us and removed his mask. “Don’t worry, Princess, I’ll sleep on the floor.” A half-smile played on his lips, almost dropping my heart from my chest, at the beauty emanating from him.

I placed my travel bag on the ground. “No, it’s okay. I can share.” I smiled back at him.

Zaidkiel stared at me as if he saw me for the first time. His gaze didn’t shift. First, it lingered on my face, then settled on my lips—on my smile. “As much as I appreciate your constant frown, you’re absolutely breathtaking when you smile.”

The word knocked the air from my chest. Heat flared so fast it was almost painful.

Breathtaking. A quiet certainty hid in his voice, making my chest tighten.

Breathless, I couldn’t utter a single word as Zaidkiel made his way toward the table, taking off his black hood and sword. His every move commanded the room, as if the air bent in his wake.

Pushing aside the chair, he settled himself in front of the fire, as he finally arched a brow in my direction. “Aren’t you hungry?”

With a hard swallow, I stepped forward to the table in front of him, the heat from the fire warming my drenched clothes. Drops of rain fell on the stones on the floor.

The rain lashed against the windows, rattling the glass so violently it could shatter it into shards.

Zaidkiel’s warm gaze travelled from the fire to the table before meeting mine. The exposure of his stare on me sent hot shivers down my skin.

With careful movements, he grabbed a pitcher of red wine and poured our glasses.

“How many species are there? On this continent?” The tender meat melted on my tongue as I finally took a bite, filling my empty stomach.

Zaidkiel’s eyes stared at me as he sipped his wine. “A lot. I might take the whole night if I listed them all.” Taking a bite of his bread, he added, “But if you’re still interested, when we get back to camp, I’ll give you a book about them.”

I snorted, raising my brow. “You read?”

Zaidkiel arched a brow, a hint of a smile curling on those impossibly beautiful lips. “Is that surprising to you, Princess?”

“A bit.” I shrugged, teasing him. “I assumed you were all fighting and snarling, but not much else.” I fought hard not to laugh, biting the inside of my cheek, blood touching my tongue.

He tilted his head, eyes glinting with mischief. “Careful, you might like what you find when I’m enjoying myself.”

A rush of warmth spread down my neck, burning my cheeks, and my heart thundered in my chest. Stars, this was dangerous territory.

Zaidkiel leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face. “I was talking about books.”

I rolled my tongue over my lower lip, trying desperately to keep my composure. “Sure.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my lips as I looked up at him.

It had been weeks since I left Lorath, and a small intimacy had settled between us over the past few days. A reluctant tension had disappeared, replaced by jokes and laughter. My threatening heart thundered in my chest, pulsing my blood, as the realization grew inside.

Zaidkiel’s presence had been an escape since everything had collapsed in my life. He’d been a constant aid to forget about the shattering walls inside my heart, sometimes provoking my anger on purpose, and other times making me laugh and feel… alive.

Clearing my voice, I tried to ignore the rising feeling that threatened—the need to never feel as alone as before. Instead, I chased away the feelings, the thoughts.

“Do you think the relic will work?” I cleared my throat and chewed another bite of stew.

Zaidkiel’s fingers—with old transcriptions inked on his flesh—played with the rim of the glass. “I suppose only the end of your Rite will tell us.”

Every fiber of my body tensed—the weight of this relic on my shoulders, on how if I failed to activate it, I could doom Erath forever.

“Why meet Kraktos now?” I frowned. “Why did you wait so long to meet him?”

Zaidkiel clenched his jaw hard, a dark look shadowing his face. “I couldn’t exactly roam as freely as I could between Perygan and Keraneeth.” Taking another sip, he added, “I tried to ask for his aid a few times in the past—but in vain. And we were lucky that he decided to show up today. He could have dismissed us without even deigning to show his face.”