Page 129 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

“Don’t call me that,” I muttered.

“You’re being especially stubborn at the moment, though.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

He sighed, but the sound wasn’t an annoyed one. It was almost as if he were amused. “What’s your question?”

Biting down on my lip, I stared at the shadowy outline of his chest beneath my palm. “Did your heart beat like a mortal’s once before?”

“Yes.” He yawned.

I curled a finger against his skin. “Why doesn’t it beat like that now?”

“Because I . . .” His hand moved idly over my lower back. “I lost theny’chora.”

“And what is that?”

He didn’t answer for so long that I thought he might have fallen asleep on me. “Everything.”

Everything?I waited for him to elaborate, but there was only silence. “Are you still awake?”

“No,” came the response with a soft laugh.

The corners of my lips rose, but the small grin quickly faded. I swallowed. “Would you prefer that I . . . that I return to my chambers?”

His arm tightened even more, pressing my stomach to his. “If I preferred that, you wouldn’t be in the bed with me.”

“Oh.”

He shifted, somehow managing to tuck one of my legs between his. “Na’laa?”

“Yes?”

“Go to sleep.”

“Good night, Your . . .” I closed my eyes, heart feeling . . . light. It had never felt that way before. “Good night, Thorne.”

He didn’t answer, but as I drifted off to sleep, I felt his lips brush against my forehead, and I thought I heard him whisper, “Good night, Calista.”

CHAPTER 28

When I woke, the space beside me was empty, but the soft, woodsy scent clung to the sheets and to my skin. I placed my hand on the bed, feeling the warmth of his body heat that still lingered.

Thorne.

There was this vague memory of waking in the gray light of dawn to the touch of his fingertips along the curve of my cheek, the brush of his lips along my brow, and the sound of his voice. “Sleep well,” he’d whispered. “I’ll return to your side soon.”

I opened my eyes, my chest . . .swelling.The feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant but was wholly unfamiliar, and it scared me, because it felt like a promise of something more.

Bringing my legs up, I tucked them against my chest. There couldn’t be a promise of anything more, even if I wasn’t sure exactly what the idea ofmoreactually entailed. I knew enough. More went beyond pleasure shared in the darkest hours of night. More went beyond the physical. More was a future.

And none of those things were possible with a Hyhborn, let alone a prince. Especially the Prince of Vytrus.

But he claimed to have saved Archwood because he had found me.

Rolling onto my back, I shook my head. He couldn’t have been serious about that, no matter what he thought of my supposed bravery.

But Hyhborn couldn’t lie.