Page 68 of The Last Guardian

“And, you…” I stammered, trying to avoid his gaze, “…you let me sleep here? In your bed?” I frowned, biting my lips nervously.

“Yes.” Zaidkiel snickered, his teeth biting his lower lip to fight his amusement. “Didn’t want to disturb your beauty rest by taking you back to the ship.”

“And you slept…” I stopped mid-sentence as my gaze met his.

His eyes sparkled as he stared at me. Zaidkiel slowly leaned closer, closing the distance between us, his breath dancing on my skin. Why was his presence so unsettling now? Was it because I had felt him in my mind recently? Or because I had slept in his bed?

No. I always felt his presence unnerving, from the first time I saw him. Why, I couldn’t say. And the way I wanted to smash his face? That had always been there too.

“Would you have wanted me to keep you warm for twenty-six hours, Princess?”

My cheeks flushed and burned as I felt blood rise to my face. “Does everything have to look like you’re trying to get me into your bed?” I scoffed, putting my bread on my plate.

Zaidkiel smiled again, and I cursed myself for not having chosen better wording for this one. “You were in my bed.”

I glared at him, curling my fist. I should smack him in the face after all. “Were you in your bed too?” I asked, my voice bitter.

“No, I slept on the couch.” Zaidkiel leaned back in his chair, his eyes twinkling. Relief surged through me until the jerk added, “I prefer not to sleep when a woman is in my bed.”

He was pissing me off right now.

“Honestly, it’s like an obsession. You should get help before it gets worse.” I rolled my eyes.

Zaidkiel’s hand rested on the table, his fingers tapping on the wood as his eyes flicked. An electric shock shook me from the inside at the way he looked at me.

I cleared my voice, trying to ease the tension. “So, what now?”

With a single gulp, Zaidkiel drank the rest of the liquid, his hand flexing on the glass. “I have a meeting to attend to this morning; you can train with Dax if you want,” Zaidkiel said in a smoky voice. “And we can attempt to search for the first Threshold in the afternoon, if you feel like it.”

Sipping my cup of tea, the taste of lavender and bergamot touching my tongue, I asked, “How exactly does it work? How can I find the Threshold?”

Zaidkiel took a deep breath, his thumb turning a silver ring on his middle finger. “I cannot really anticipate how your mind is going to react,” he explained, leaning against his chair. “For some, their power called from the soil of their soul, and if not power, for some, a core memory sucked them in.”

“And…” I put the cup on the table, playing with the handle nervously. “How did you find yours?”

Zaidkiel’s eyes darkened. For a moment, he hesitated. “The Void swallowed me in flames.” Putting his hand to his jaw, his tattooed fingers grazed his sun-kissed skin. “My power.”

Since the moment I had learned of his true nature, I’d been dying to learn more about the kind of power this man could wield. “What’s your power?” I asked, curiosity in my voice.

I bit my lip nervously, waiting for his answer, and Zaidkiel’s eyes sharpened, searching mine with amusement. “Curious after all?”

A silence fell as I leaned back against my chair, waiting for him to answer. Zaidkiel straightened up, opening his hand in front of us, palm wide.

I looked down at his large hand, waiting with anticipation. For a moment, nothing happened, but slowly, a small black hue emanated from his sun-kissed skin, floating around the patterns of his palm.

Stars, it was beautiful. Like a flame without the standard shades of a fire. No, it felt wilder. Stronger.

Darker. Like a shadow caressing the sun.

But the tremor, the warmth emanating from him, even at a distance, wasn’t something lurking in the shadows. Not with the way the black morphed into a deep, dark red.

Smoke—black flames, with a hue of red.

Mesmerized by its strange beauty, my eyes never left the beautiful fire, floating, swirling on his skin. The black twirled around the red, spinning like an endless dance.

My gaze followed its every move, and the desire to touch it and feel the flame’s body against my palm overwhelmed me.

I reached out with my right hand, no control over my body, but the hot power never rose above the surface of my skin. The flames accepted my offer. The warm sensation tickled my skin in delightful caresses, and it danced around one of my fingers, grazing it, warming it.