Page 46 of Kneel Before Me

CHAPTER NINE

Daphne

Daphne did not know what to expect the next night in the cave. Her chest felt tight as she traversed the trail, winding through the forest under the bright autumn moon. When she reached the cave Kronos was already there. He stood with his arms crossed, his jaw set.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

His eyes narrowed. “How was the Showing?”

Daphne blinked. From the way he asked it, it seemed like he already knew the answer. She remembered the sensation she’d felt during the Showing—as if someone was watching her. Was it Kronos? There was only one way to test her theory.

“Why don’t you tell me?”

Tense silence fell.

Daphne waited for Kronos to speak, but he didn’t. In the past, she might have let this go. But this was too important. He was too important. She had to know.

“Kronos,” she said firmly. “Answer me.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Are you commanding me?”

She bit her lip, then nodded. “Yes.”

The other eyebrow rose. This time when the silence dragged, Daphne let it. It wasn’t fair that he would withhold himself from her like this. They’d shared plenty together already—conversations that Daphne wouldn’t have expected to have with a basilisk. She wanted to share more. And if he had been watching her, she deserved to know why.

Slowly, under the protection of darkness, she dared to take a chance. Daphne reached for Kronos, touching just the tips of her fingers to his forearm. Kronos stiffened immediately at the contact, but Daphne didn’t stop. Instead she brushed up his arm, feeling the veins beneath his skin. He was uncommonly warm, almost as if he were burning from the inside out.

When she reached his bicep, his eyes fluttered shut. “Stop.”

Daphne stopped. It was the first time she’d seen him like this: restrained and tense. Up until now, Daphne had thought she was the one resisting Kronos. Now she wondered whether it was the other way around.

“You never answered my question,” she whispered.

Kronos still did not speak. Instead he raised his other arm, placing his hand over hers and holding her against him. They stood together, firelight flickering between them. Finally, he said, “Yes. I was watching you.”

A thrill surged through her. Part of her was ecstatic at the realization that Kronos cared enough to watch the Showing. The other part of her was terrified of the implications. What did this mean? Surely the other basilisks weren’t watching their students. Surely his behavior was an anomaly.

“Why?” she asked.

“To see whether the prince would choose you.”

The thrill intensified. Was Kronos…jealous?

“He did choose me.”

“So I saw.”

“He also took me to the castle.”

Kronos opened his eyes. He narrowed them. “I do not wish to know the details of your date with the prince.”

Daphne’s heartbeat, already racing, increased to what felt like a single, continuous thrum. “Why not?”

His gaze dropped to her lips. Slowly, his hand moved to her throat, his long fingers wrapping all the way around her neck. Daphne felt immediately calm. Kronos whispered his reply, his breath fanning against her lips. “You know why not.”

But she didn’t. Not at all. Kronos had not made his intentions clear; he was an enigma she did not yet understand. All she knew was that he was her teacher; all he’d told her was that she needed to compete for Maximus’s hand. If there was something deeper brewing behind those deep golden eyes, Daphne was not privy to it.

“I only know what you’ve told me.”