Page 36 of The Last Guardian

To the right was an imposing, meticulously crafted bed, covered with a bright blue bedspread. The outside light from the bay windows spread across the room. In the far corner, behind a curtain swaying gently, hid a round bathtub.

It felt intimate.

“So curious.” Zaidkiel clicked his tongue, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. He sat at his desk, leaning into his large chair as he gestured to the chair facing his. “Would you care to take a seat?”

I stilled. The last time I was at a desk with someone was with Haedeon and…

The two holes in my neck prickled with the memory, and I winced. Zaidkiel observed me, his eyes narrowed.

“Or the couch, if you prefer?” he suggested at last.

With a nod, I sat down on the brown couch. Zaidkiel did not sit next to me. He was facing me, sitting in the chair, maintaining a distance that I greatly appreciated.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Zaidkiel looked at me with his strange eyes, and I stared back until the silence became unbearable.

“So? Will you please explain what you want from me?”

“Nothing you wouldn’t give willingly, of course,” Zaidkiel smirked again, as if he enjoyed my discomfort.

Asshole.

“I’m serious!” I scoffed.

“I am too, Princess,” Zaidkiel replied, pouring a dark liquid into a glass on the low table. “I saw you running through the woods, covered in blood, and I had no choice but to follow you. I acted out of duty.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not what you said earlier,” I accused him. “If it was out of duty, why didn’t you take me back to the palace as soon as you found me?”

“Would you like to return to your charming palace, Princess?” His gaze brimmed with unspoken words.

I didn’t answer.

“That’s what I thought.” Zaidkiel leaned against the chair, looking down at me as he sipped from his glass.

“Will you please tell me why you brought me to this ship? Why not elsewhere in Vallen?”

The way he avoided my question drove me completely crazy.

“I was on my way to the ship before I found you in these gardens. I wasn’t going to change my plans just for you,” Zaidkiel blurted, flat and sharp. “And you? What were you doing in that part of the palace at that hour, Princess?” He took a drink of the brown liquid, looking at me with a challenging gaze.

Zaidkiel waited for my answer.

I didn’t speak.

“Lost your tongue again?” Zaidkiel raised his brow.

“Why are you such an ass?” I snarled.

My heart raced as soon as I said those words.

What was wrong with me? What was I thinking? This man was supposed to scare me. Why did I play with fire and insult him?

“An ass who saved your life,” Zaidkiel corrected, sipping his drink.

“Just take me back to land and let’s be done with it. I don’t want to be here.”

”You are in a rush. Why?” A frown formed on his face.

“None of your business.” I glared.