Page 190 of Cursed Evermore

Heart.

Apparently, I still had one, and it seemed to only beat for her.

I shoved the thought away, pushing it to the back of beyond, then kept going, heading toward my room.

I made it to the stairs when muffled footsteps approached on the floor above, muted by the carpet. Garrick met me at the top, his face pinched with worry.

“Wolfe.” I didn't like the way he said my name—with hesitation and an uneasiness that spiked my nerves.

There was also the fact that although he was practically living here while Elariya was in my care, I'd never seen him at this hour unless there was trouble.

“What happened?” I decided to cut to the chase; no point dragging out whatever was going on.

“It's Elariya.”

I froze, my entire body stiffening. “What happened to her?”

Garrick held up his hands. “She's okay. She's safe. It's just that she had a little too much to drink.”

I shot him a look dripping with disdain. “What do you mean, she had too much to drink?”

“Listen, Wolfe, she had a rough day. Or rather a rough couple of days. Maybe you could cut her some slack.”

Heat flared in my chest, and my hands curled into fists. How dare he advise me to doanything? “When last I checked, it was I, Wolfe Nightblade, who was Prince of Galaythia. Not you. You don't tell me when I should cut anyoneslack.”

His jaw squared, and he bit the inside of his lip. “I know, and I meant no disrespect. I just thought I'd tell you why it happened.”

“You should have been watching her.”

“I was. That's why I thought she'd be fine drinking with me.”

Fucking bastard.Hewas drinking with her? Of course he was. Him with his good-natured mannerisms and charm had probably wined and dined her as if they were on some kind of date.

“She was absolutely fine, until she started drinking the hard stuff. I didn't realize she had any until it was too late. She thought the wine was strawberry ale. Liqueur here is stronger than that of the mortal lands.”

“Damn it, Garrick. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“It was an honest mistake. But she'll be okay. She just needs to sleep it off.”

I turned to go to her room, but he caught my arm, stopping me. “She's not down there.”

I leveled him with a hard stare and gritted my teeth. “Where is she?”

“Your room.” His shoulders slumped, and he released me.

“Myroom?” Of all the rooms in this big old house, she had to be in that one.

Garrick nodded.

“What is she doing in there?”

“She started casting spells on things. I didn't want to bind her in case I messed with her powers, and it was getting a littledangerous. Your room is the only spell-proof one in the house, so I thought it was best to put her in there.”

I groaned. Fuck. The room was spell and power-proofed as an extra layer of security in case anyone tried to attack me while I slept. If they did, they'd get a nasty surprise when they found it didn't work, or that I was the only one who could bypass my security system.

I barged past Garrick and marched down the hall to my room. He followed in tow, our steps echoing loudly down the corridor.

I reached my room door, pushed it open, and the world stopped moving.