Chapter 53

Elouera

The underground training room smelled of wet dirt, metal, and the sharp, coppery smell of my own blood.

The young messenger’s warning was still ringing in my ears.

The smoke is rising through the ventilation shafts right now.

But the boy had already fallen face-first onto the dirt, unconscious from the deep cut on his forehead.

I wanted to rush out and do something, but I couldn’t. My body was too exhausted.

My heart pounded hard against my chest, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of Holden’s poisonous gas. I had spent three hours fighting Jace, and the effort had nearly drained all my strength.

Sweat soaked my linen shirt, and my muscles trembled from exhaustion. Every part of my body ached. The small dose of Catalyst-7 I had swallowed hours earlier was still affecting me. A dull pain remained beneath my skin, making me extra sensitive to every little movement of air in the dark room.

I let my short sword fall into the dirt. It struck the ground with a loud metallic sound that echoed through the room.

“We don’t have time to waste, Jace,” I said between breaths, wiping the sweat and dirt from my forehead with the back of my hand.

My voice was rough and tired. I wasn’t even trying to sound like a prince anymore.

“If Holden’s men are opening those poisoned wine barrels, the lower barracks will become a slaughterhouse in less than twenty minutes.”

Jace didn’t answer immediately.

He stood about ten feet away from me, holding his heavy sword with its tip resting on the ground. His chest rose and fell beneath his dark leather training shirt, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle kept twitching beneath his stubble.

The torches on the walls cast moving shadows across his face, making his expression look even harder.

Slowly, he put his sword back into its sheath. The sharp sound of the metal locking into place seemed to mark the end of our training.

“You’re not ready,” Jace said in his deep, rough voice.

“I blocked your strongest attacks four times in a row!” I snapped, stepping toward him. My boots crunched against the loose dirt. “I can hold my sword properly, and the poison can no longer stop me from moving. I can fight!”

“You’re running on nothing but anger and stubbornness, Elouera,” Jace growled, walking toward me in two long strides.

He stopped right in front of me, his tall, muscular body blocking the little light coming from the corridor.

“Your balance is poor. You’re putting too much weight on your left side because your ribs are still bruised from when Callan grabbed you. If you go into those lower barracks now, surrounded by fifty Alphas losing control because of the poison gas, you won’t last three minutes.”

“I survived six years of Holden poisoning my tea with Night-bloom!” I shouted, finally losing control of my anger. “I survived Callan putting his jaw against my throat! I even survived you sinking your fangs into my neck! So stop looking at me like I’m some fragile doll that’s going to break at the slightest touch!”

In my anger, I grabbed the bottom of my thick, sweat-soaked shirt and pulled it up, revealing the dark, fading bruises along my side. I wanted him to see the proof that I could take a beating and still stand.

I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was too angry and desperate to prove that I could help instead of being someone he had to protect.

The shirt lifted above my waist, exposing my skin.

A cold breeze from the underground room brushed against my bare ribs.

Jace’s eyes immediately dropped to my exposed skin.

He stopped talking.

In a split second, the strong, controlled commander I knew seemed to disappear. His hazel eyes widened, and his pupils grew so large that the green in his eyes vanished, leaving them almost completely black.

He didn’t step away. He seemed unable to move.

Before either of us could react, his rough, calloused hand shot forward.

His palm was warm as fire as he pressed it against the bare skin of my right hip.

A powerful shock rushed through my spine.

It wasn’t a small tingle. It felt like a bright, golden bolt of lightning had struck me, sending a violent wave of energy straight into my chest. Our mate bond suddenly came alive with incredible force.

I gasped as the air left my lungs. My knees gave way, and all the strength seemed to drain from my legs, leaving me unable to stand.

Before I could fall to the ground, Jace wrapped his other arm around my upper back and pulled me tightly against his chest.

“Elouera,” he choked out.

It wasn’t an order. His voice sounded broken, almost like he was fighting back a desperate sob.

His fingers tightened around my bare waist, holding me upright as he pulled my hips against his thighs. The moment his bare skin touched mine, the bond between us grew even stronger, like someone had poured fuel onto a dying fire.

The golden marks on my neck suddenly began to glow so brightly that the light shone through the high lace collar of my shirt. A warm, golden glow spread across the dark stone walls of the underground room.

My hands flew up, and my fingers instinctively grabbed the damp collar of Jace’s shirt.

I couldn’t push him away. God help me, every part of my body wanted me to pull him closer, bury my face in his neck, and breathe in his intoxicating scent of cedar, rain-soaked earth, and something wild, like lightning.

The tension between us had been building for three years. Through every harsh training session at the academy, every time he stood silently outside my door, and every battle where we had both shed blood, our feelings had continued to grow.

Now, all that tension suddenly burst into something powerful and overwhelming.

“Jace…” I whispered weakly. My voice sounded frightened and painfully soft against his ear.

He lowered his head until his forehead rested against mine. His chest rose and fell heavily, and his heart beat so hard that I could feel it against my own chest.

He was trembling.

The same ruthless commander who could break a man’s skull without even blinking was shaking just from holding my bare waist.

“I tried,” Jace whispered, his warm breath brushing against my lips. His voice sounded rough and broken as he struggled to control himself. “I tried to keep my distance. I tried to stay eight feet away from you. I tried to be nothing more than your soldier, Elouera. But if you touch me like this again, or look at me that way, I’ll burn this entire palace to the ground just to keep you here with me.”

His thumb slowly moved across my hip, sending shivers through my body.

His fangs began to grow longer, lightly touching his lower lip as his Alpha instincts fought against the part of him that was still trying to stay in control.

For three heartbeats, we remained frozen together, unable to move away from each other. Our breaths mixed, and it felt as though an invisible golden thread connected our souls, binding us together in a way neither of us could escape.

I lifted my face toward his. My lips were only a tiny distance from his, and the fear inside me was slowly being replaced by a powerful, frightening desire to kiss him.

Then a sudden, horrible scream rang out from the ceiling above us.

It wasn’t the sound of metal machinery.

It was the painful scream of a man being burned alive.

Through the narrow iron air vent near the ceiling, thick silver smoke began pouring into the underground room.

I recognized the smell immediately.

Night-bloom vapour. Silver mercury. Concentrated Catalyst-7.

Holden hadn’t released the poison only in the lower barracks. He had spread it through the air vents across the entire lower level.

Jace’s eyes snapped open. His hazel eyes turned a terrifying, glowing red as he breathed in the poisoned air.

His grip tightened around my waist until the pressure hurt my bones. A deep, frightening growl rose from his chest as the poison triggered his Alpha instincts and threatened to make him lose control.

Then, from the dark corridor directly behind us, I heard a familiar sound.

Click. Drag. Click.

The unmistakable sound of a brass cane striking the floor as someone slowly approached us.