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He held the key up to me. “I have a copy, of course.”
I nodded and took it.
“You’ll find her dinner in the kitchen at seven. Good luck.”
He turned to leave, and I let him take a few steps before stopping him, wanting to make my question sound like an afterthought.
“Can the housekeeper find her some clothes? You’re right, I saw the state of her and the room. I can fix it, and I don’t need much.”
“Fine. Whatever you need.”
I waited for him to disappear up the stairs, then I shook my head and started pacing the room again. I needed to calm down. Now that I knew what kind of person he was, his mere presence activated the fire in my belly. The raging one.
Golems didn’t feel and express emotions like humans did. Instead of feelings, we had fire that heated us up from the inside.It was as if a sort of alchemy process happened in our bodies as a reaction to what others did or said, or to outside events that were out of our control. The fire started in our belly if we hated someone, and in our heart if we felt pulled toward someone. The fire of the belly was all about rage, defiance and action, and the fire of the heart was about love, compassion and gratitude. The heat radiated through our organs, our muscles and our stone skin, and it could scorch an enemy, or envelop a loved one in soothing warmth.
Lockwood made the worst kind of fire roil inside my belly.
I’d gotten what I wanted from him, though. The key was in my possession, and I could go in and out of Maya’s room as I pleased. She needed someone to take care of her, and that was going to be me. There was something about her. Something more than her needing my help because she was innocent. When I’d touched her, she’d stirred the fire of the heart within me. It was for a fleeting moment, but I wondered...
Could it be that she was the one? The woman who could make my fire burn with such passion that it would be impossible to put out? Could she be my mate?
Mates were rare. For golems, it wasn’t impossible to find one, but it certainly wasn’t a guarantee. My brother hadn’t married his fated mate. I knew because he’d told me. The night before his and Kara’s wedding, I’d asked him about the fire of the heart, and if she made it burn brightly in his chest. His words were,
“Sometimes, she does. There is heat there, I can feel it. It’s undeniable, yet it’s not what you’d expect.”
“So, she’s not the one,” I said.
He shook his head. “She doesn’t have to make my heart consume itself for me to love her. Those stories about fated mates... Eh. I don’t think I believe them anymore, Mason.”
It had saddened me that Kara didn’t make Goliath’s heart explode like fireworks, but maybe my brother was right. Maybeit didn’t have to be fireworks or liquid fire to be real and amazing. Seeing him and Kara build a family made me forget about fated mates. They were so rare, anyway. Why would I get one when my brother hadn’t? He was just as deserving as me, maybe more.
Now that I’d met Maya just an hour ago, I was feeling differently already. One touch had been enough for me to feel heat in my heart. I couldn’t help but wonder...
What would a kiss do?
Chapter Ten
Maya
The sound of the key turning in the lock made me startle and scramble to the farthest corner of the room. I let out a breath of relief when I saw it was Mason. Still, I didn’t think I could control my reaction the next time. He was bringing me dinner.
“You shouldn’t be forced to live like this a second longer,” he said. “Tonight, when everyone’s asleep, I’ll go look for the information you want. And then we’re getting out of here.”
“Okay.”
He placed the tray on the ground and turned to the bucket in the opposite corner from where I was standing. I blushed to the tips of my ears, and when he took it to empty it, I felt like crying. I fixed my gaze on my shoes and didn’t look up until he returned. He had two buckets, one empty, the other filled with water, and clean clothes draped over one arm.
“You can wash and change,” he said. “If you want, you can use the bathroom in the other room.”
“Lockwood might come in at any moment and catch us,” I said.
“That’s true.”
“It’s fine. I can make do. Thank you.”
“Do you need help?”
I thought about it for a second. I felt weak, and every bone in my body hurt. But I didn’t know Mason well enough to let him help me with something that was so vulnerable and intimate. Even though I felt an inexplicable pull toward him, I had to keep a clear head.
