Page 19 of The Heart Trials

“Be still,” he whispers, and his breath warms my ear, sending a shudder deep into my bones. The longer we stay here, the harder my heart pounds.

“It’s clear,” he says when the voices outside the door are quiet.

I pull away from him, shoving his arms, his body, his scent, all of him away. It’s suffocating. I grope for the handle of the door and ease it open. When we spill out into the corridor, I can breathe again. He stares at me insistently, repeating his question.

“I don’t want any more trouble than I’m already in,” I say.

“Lucent told me to trust him to handle the logistics. I did. I see it was a mistake.” His jaw hardens.

So they were planning something together. “Logistics for what, exactly?” I ask.

“Where do you steal the Heartfillers from?”

I fold my arms. The Heartfillers are my only leverage to get out of here. Without that, I am useless to him.

“You have no idea how much danger you’re in,” Caelus continues. “You should want to cooperate. Outside those servant doors is the second-most secured gate to the Citadel. You would have walked into a dozen Mercyenforcers who are probably looking for you right now.”

“You were about to let me.”

“You can’t be sure what I was about to do, Axira Merreri.”

I move farther away from him.

“You don’t know anything about me,” he says. “All you know is what you see from outside these walls. Pretending like you can handle yourself on your own in the Citadel will get you killed.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s advice.”

He isn’t what I expected.

I glare at him, but he doesn’t flinch, looking at me as if he’s drinking in my gaze like I’m drinking in his. As if this novelty of shared glances between a prince and a Saltblood is making his heart pound harder too.

“I need to look into what you’ve said about my cousin,” he finally says. “Then I’ll decide what I’m going to do with you. For now, you’re coming with me.”

“You’re going to take me to a safe exit like we agreed!” I say.

“No, I never was. But now I’m considering it.”

There is no hint of question in his eyes. He is not asking. I boil with frustration and spot a short blade on his hip. I dash for it, quicker than he can blink, snatching it off his waist and laying it at his throat.

He might be stronger, but I’m faster.

He doesn’t flinch. I glance at the servants’ doors, considering running for it. But he is the only real help I have inside this fortress. He may be my best chance to see Serafina and Miss Omon again and make this mess right.

I press the blade firmer to his neck. “I’ll go with you. But don’t ever think I am your prisoner.” I drop his blade.

He catches it, mirth glinting in his eyes. It threatens to drown me.

Walking beside the prince through the Citadel a little while later, now disguised as a highborn servant, I feel like a piece in some great game I didn’t ask to play. I changed in the broom closet into a simple highborn dress tied by purple ribbon, which Caelus provided, before grabbing some cleaning supplies. Then Caelus made me follow him, saying only that, for a time, I’ll need to be “locked away.” My mouth chain is firmly in my hand so I can put it back on the second I get to my cell. My tongue keeps roving along the inside of my mouth where the chain is missing.

I keep three feet away from him even though he doesn’t insist on it. I have more regard for his father’s rules than he does. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.

When he starts up the stairs instead of down, I freeze. “But the cells are underground,” I say.

“Mercyenforcers would execute you before sunrise. I need to hide you.”

My pulse picks up. “So where are you taking me?”