“It also makes you seem quite…possessive.” I turned my head to the side, my stomach clenching as his lips grazed my cheek. I dropped my voice to a whisper as I lowered my right hand to my thigh. “Of what you refuse to claim.”
Nyktos stiffened behind me.
Jerking to the side, I shoved my elbow into his stomach hard enough to catch him off guard. He let go, reaching for the sword he’d put in the ground as I whirled, but I didn’t go for it.
I didn’t need to.
Nyktos froze as silence fell over the courtyard. His gaze dropped to the shadowstone dagger I held at his throat and then flicked to mine.
I smiled at him.
“Bravo,” he murmured.
A round of applause and hoots broke out across the courtyard, and my smile grew wide. “Who will train with me?”
“I’m sure there is now an exceedingly long list of volunteers,” Ector commented, his words met by several raucous affirmatives.
“I will,” Nyktos said, his voice stirring thoughts of tangled limbs and balmy nights. “You going to lower that blade now?”
Laughing under my breath, I withdrew the dagger and sheathed it. “Better?”
“Not sure.” He straightened, his eyes never leaving mine.
Warmth crept up my neck as I clasped my hands once more, fully aware of the avid stares. Clearing my throat, I pulled my gaze from his and looked at Saion. “I think I will return to my chamber now.”
Saion stared and then tipped his head back, laughing deeply. “Fates,” he murmured, sliding off the boulder.
“Until later,” I said to Nyktos.
Nyktos watched me with intense silence as I picked up Saion’s discarded sword and handed it, hilt first, to the god. I took a couple of steps toward the doors and then stopped, turning back to Nyktos and his guards and giving them the most elaborate curtsy I was capable of.
There were chuckles, even from the reluctantly amused Rhain, but it was Nyktos’s deep, rough laughter that stayed with me.
Chapter 18
A knock came about an hour after I returned to my chambers. Unsure who it could be, I cracked open the door first and then swung it wider when I saw the young mortal.
I stepped aside, allowing him entry. “Hello, Paxton.”
He made his way into the chamber, favoring his right leg over his left. A curtain of blond hair fell forward as he bowed. “His Highness asked that I see if you were in need of fresh water for a bath.”
“I have the water that was brought in this morning,” I told him.
He investigated the bathing chamber, immediately spotting the full, unused tub. “The water has to be freezing by now.”
Probably, but it wasn’t like I planned to soak in it. “It’ll be fine.”
“It’s no trouble.” He’d already turned, making his way into the hall.
He was faster than I expected him to be. I hurried after him. “It really isn’t—”
“I’ll get His Highness.” Paxton headed straight for the door next to mine. “He’ll fix it right up for you.”
“You really don’t have to do that—”
“It’s no problem.”
“I understand, but—”