Page 8 of A Rising Hope (The Freckled Fate #3)

8

ZORA

Northen Manor. Present.

O rest was leaning against a tall arched entryway across the door to my room, in the exact same spot where I had left him fifteen minutes prior when I went to change for dinner. His primal gaze reached me to my bones as he scanned my body from head to toe. I could feel his craving. His desire turned my blood into simmering lava, my core turning molten at his lingering look.

“You’ve been following me all day now.” I folded my arms tightly, steadying my racing heart.

“Have I? I hadn’t noticed.” He gave me a stiff smile.

I rolled my eyes, shoving away the wicked thoughts that rushed into my mind as I brushed past him speeding down the hall. His alluring smell poisoned the ironclad reason I prided myself on having. My sick and twisted mind conjured images of how easily he could pin me down, how he could lift me up against the stone wall with no effort at all and take me for everyone to see until I was completely spent.

I was sick.

I needed to get as far away from him as possible. But he followed me a step behind.

I needed to put an end to this.

I abruptly stopped, turning to face him, only to crash into him.

Gods, curse them all. I swallowed hard.

I was too close.

My heart skipped a beat as he didn’t back away, letting my nose dig into his chest as he stood still, his hands forcefully clasped behind his back.

“This—” I took a step back, hoping the motion would hide the uneven breath I took full of his scent, hoping it’d rein in the most senseless, terrible yet most pleasing thoughts racing treacherously through my head. “This—” I swallowed hard, pointing with my chin to him now a few steps away. “This is following me.” I pierced him with my glare, fighting for whatever anger and irritation I could summon to hide the sinful lust within.

“Perhaps.” He shrugged, completely unbothered, taking a step closer to me. His long stride quickly closed the little distance I had managed to put between us. “Though if I were indeed following you, I’d be doing a rather terrible job, being discovered so quickly,” he reasoned.

“I never said you were doing a good job at it. I just said you were following me,” I countered, ignoring the way my heart was ready to jump out of my chest at his presence.

“And even if I were, would it be so terrible?” he asked. His tone, lost somewhere between a whisper and a deep growl, as if a spell sending my body into a frenzy.

Focus, Zora, for fuck’s sake ! I shouted at myself. My fists clenched, knuckles turning white. I was hoping my wrists would snap before my knees would buckle.

“So, what now?” I squared my shoulders, giving him a scornful look. “Are you just going to follow me everywhere all day?”

“Today, tomorrow . . . forever, if I deem necessary,” Orest stated, unwavering, commanding .

“And if I oppose such a frivolous and foolish decision?” I argued, clenching my jaw tight.

“Your request will be considered.”

“Well, then I oppose.”

Orest tapped his forefinger on his chin thrice, as if contemplating, before replying, “Your request has been considered and most definitely denied.”

“You are being ridiculous,” I scoffed, twisting on my heels to resume my march down the hall. He, yet again, followed. “Completely unreasonable, wasting your precious time on these silly games,” I hissed under my breath. “You are second in command, Orest. You are Gideon’s right hand and instead of figuring out how in the hell we can kill Insanaria . . . ” I paused my rant as a few other Destroyer soldiers passed us, their grim faces sobering my mind quickly. I turned to face him once again—a grave mistake—my mind chanted his name, craving to taste his body on my lips. “Orest.” I tried to reason with him, with myself. “The Queen killed an entire battalion of Destroyer soldiers. She fucking kidnapped Finn without so much as a blink. Now Gideon is gone too . . . ” My stomach twisted at that truth; my mind was not quite ready to process or comprehend any of that yet. “I am sure there are a lot more pressing items on your list than”—I motioned to the bit of space between us—“whatever this is.”

“You call me unreasonable, but you precisely stated all of my reasons, Zora.” His gaze was firm, and though I knew I had long lost the battle, I still muttered spitefully.

“Yes, because the Mad Queen is going to snatch me up next. After all, she’s always wanted a fireless Destroyer as a pet,” I mocked him, hoping he’d realize how ridiculous this was.

“Whether she will or not, only time will tell. She is the Mad Queen after all, and I am not leaving it up to chance.”

“For fuck’s sake.” I shook my head, but he didn’t budge. “Fine. Be difficult.” Now it was me who took a step closer to him as I spat out, cold and heartless, ignoring his heated gaze. “Let’s say she shows up to take me. What is it you think you’d do? She is a fucking Shadow Walker, Orest. She can literally walk through shadows. And even then, we cannot kill her without unleashing her wild magic and killing the entirety of humanity.”

Orest didn’t back down. Of course he wouldn’t. He never did.

His previously roguish smirk turned into something threatening and dark as he leaned into whisper, “And I am a Truth Teller, Commander. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.” His lips brushed my ear. Thrilling goosebumps covered my body at the touch. “I’ll fucking claw you out of her hands if I need to, Zora, but you are not leaving my sight.”

He straightened, adjusting the ends of his tied sleeves, before motioning for me to resume my walk.

And I would have. If I could remember how to walk.

The warmth of his breath still lingered on my skin, making me burn with so much fucking desire I was sure I would drown.

Gods, love, lust, whatever it was, this man had consumed the entirety of my being, my thoughts, my soul.

I pulled on the harsh restraints I kept myself in, the comforting and familiar cage, and took a step away from him, choking on the air in my lungs as I forced myself to inhale.

“Besides”—Orest followed a few steps behind me, his tone returned to a casual and calm cadence—“who says I can’t follow you and tend to my duties as one in command?” He shot an almost untraceable smirk, content to see my acceptance of this unfortunate defeat. His arm reached above my head, opening the doors to the dining hall, where crowds of worried soldiers gathered, waiting for his direction and command. “After all, I am well versed in multitasking,” he added suggestively, as I watched him enter the room.