Chapter 34

When he pulls away, his lips hover over mine. For a second he looks torn. But just for a second. The next he moves away from me and beckons me to him.
"I got takeaways," he says quietly, nodding towards the small round table. He even has hit goat milk.
I frown up at him.
"Because I know ya. I knew ya'd be too busy to even have time to take care of yerself."
The silence that follows is heavy.
I sit down at the edge of the bed and he is on his knees in front of me, helping me out of my shoes. He takes my waist and guides me to my feet. He pulls the dress over me and before I've had time to shiver from the chilly breeze coming from the window, D'ziko is helping me into one of his t-shirts.
Now that the dress is on the floor, I frown. It just looks so tiny. It must've shrunk. How the hell did I fit into that thing? Maybe that's why my lungs were burning throughout the day.
I cross my arms and look at the posters of Leza on the wall to avoid eye contact. If he thinks I'm breaking the ice then he's widely mistaken though I want to scream at him, demand his whereabouts, I won't. D'ziko is the one that left this house, he must find his way back in.
“I'm sorry,” he says. “I just needed to get away.”
I glare at him. And chuckle darkly. “Get away, huh? From me? From me, D'ziko? Woaw! So getting away is an option in this relationship now? Please level with me so I know what I'm getting myself into. Is this how we’ll solve our disagreements? With ya running away? Escaping?”
He’s just looking at me.
And by now I know him well enough to know that he's not saying another word. At least not on this getting away issue.
I’m so angry I can't bring myself to look at him. D’ziko lifts my chin, giving me no choice but to meet his fierce gaze.
“I would never kill ya, Imani. I live for ya.”
Ugh. Mondo. Is he going to run his mouth off to D'ziko every time I tell him something? Some friend I have.
I pull him by hand to the blanket on the floor. He lies down. I lie next to him with half my upper body on top of his chest, my hand on my cheek, and I look at him.
He keeps fidgeting and seemingly uncomfortable with cuddling thing , but he’s still holding me tight.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’ll be fine. I don’t want to fall asleep,” he says.
I don’t want to fall asleep either, I might just wake up tomorrow to find that this is all a dream.
“I’ll still be here in the morning D'ziko.”
He brushes my back. He runs his hand up my back all the way to the back of my head.
As we eat, he asks about my day. I tell him everything from the moment I woke up to the time I walked through the door. I even manage to add in the bit about unearthing the identities of those strange beasts. He frowns a lot. Asks questions when it's appropriate and laughs rarely.
When I ask him what he did today he seems reluctant to speak.
"I need to know," I say, forking some stake.
My mind is already racing with possibilities.
He barely nods. "When I got to yer room, well, someone had been in here."
"It must've been one of the maids." Even as I say this, I don't believe it.
"He gives off a negative energy."
"He? How'd ya know it's a he?"
"A man's scent is much stronger. Masculine in a strange kind of way. While all Noddon's have enhanced hearing. I have a strong sense of smell."
"Who could be in my room? What would they want?" I ask.
The question hovers over us as the clock ticks.
But soon we both come to the same conclusion. "The Essence Thief."
My heart kicks against my chest. Fear crawls into my pores, the cloudy black shadow refusing to leave me alone.
He’s still fidgeting, I know what it is: he’s fighting the urge to make love to me, but I can’t help him, not now.
We finish our food in silence and both each have two glasses of milk. We get under the covers and for some reason I know being in his arms will make me feel safest. I snuggle up to him. My back to him. He wounds his arms around me, creating a shield. His face finds a nest on the crook of my neck.
He clicks his fingers and the lights go out. He shuffles a bit behind me, one of his arms leaves my waist and when he resumes his previous position, the difference pulls at my heartstrings so powerfully that I wrap my arms over his, squeezing him to me.
"Thank ya," I say. My voice full of emotion.
He doesn't have his mask on and he rubs his face against mine. Before I can close my eyes and welcome sleep, he turns me around and takes my hands.
"Ya've wanted to see my face since the first day we met." He lifts my hands to either side of his face. "Now ya can."
The air around us thickens with heat. He stares at me, it's so intense that the heat swirls around my stomach.
I close my eyes and with a hesitant breath, move my hands over the outline of his face. My fingertips trail the shape of his nose, eyes, full lips, chiselled jaw. When I'm done, we are both out of breath.
"Ya're really handsome," is all I can manage. It's the truth.
He closes his eyes for a second, thanking someone.
"Thank ya." My words are weak, a whisper.
In response he pulls me against his chest and it doesn't take long for our heartbeats to find rhythm. The perfect harmony. I don't know what I want but I do know I don't want this moment to end. I know it's not possible.
His lips are on my forehead. The touch is electrifying.


Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The profanity pulls me out of my slumbers. It's still so dark and I try to pull back my wrist from D'ziko. What is he doing? Holding my wrist like that? Pain shoots through me. He doesn't seem to notice that I'm awake. He's busy. I flicker my eyes open and sleep wipes away from me so brutally. I'm fully awake now.
This is not D'ziko.
This is the Essence Thief.
He drops my wrist and I stay still, only moving my eyes to trail him. He goes to my sword. My non magical sword. My Fake Bakantwa Sword. He holds it at the hilt, flicking this way and that. He becomes even more frustrated as the seconds pass.
Is this how he steals the magic? So easily? Then I'm glad I haven't collected mine yet.
I wish for light. If the sun would lift just a bit more then I'd see his face but something about his posture is familiar. The way he walks. It's slow and arrogant. I know it but my mind fails to put a face to it.
He's muscular and doesn't seem to be wearing anything other than a t-shirt. And my steels. Is he a royal? My steels all have one thing in common. The word Blacksteel. I see it now, engraved into the side.
Only a handful of other people can afford my steels.
The Essence Thief is a royal.
Is it just one royal? Are the royals working together to overthrow me? Is it because of my deceit? Because of the power they think I have. Is it because I'm the Goddess?
The time on my clock reads 6:45. Why is it still so dark? Immediate understanding makes me flash my eyes back to the Essence Thief. He's extended night.
Still though, why would he be so comfortable being in my room with so many guards here? With so many people that want him dead? And besides, how did he get past security? And most importantly why hasn't someone heard him? Why isn't he worried I might wake up? Even when I moved he didn't panic. He didn't even try to see if he might've startled me awake. It's like he was sure I was asleep. That I won't wake. Like he'd hypnotised me.
I sit up at that. "Guards...!" I scream to my lung's capabilities.
The Thief drops my sword. A hot potato.
He tears through the door and I give chase. "Guards!"
In the hall way it looks like a slumber party gone wrong. They all sleep. Snoring so loud I'm surprised I'm the only person awake.
I chase him down the stairs, through the second floor hallway. There he takes the lift. I wait until I see the G for Ground floor to fly down the stairs. He arrives first and he darts between the carraiges and dragons and out through the backyard to the garden. I don't stop until he enters the forest. The trees are too close together that I lose sight of him immediately.