AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Devoted to the people she watched over, Raina made up her mind, much to her lover’s dismay. She would depart from the world during the hours of light, returning when the moon graced the skies. This way, she could stay with the man she loved while still bringing life to the people who worshipped her below.
I paused here, a sudden pang of warning shooting across my chest. I could predict how this tale would end—in heartbreak or death. The scars hidden by my gloves throbbed as if in agreement.
Raina’s love abided by her decision for many years, and she granted him the rare gift of everlasting life in return. This way, he would never grow old and die, and they could live out eternity together.
But as the years progressed, the mortal grew discontent. He grew greedy.
By this time, he had made a name for himself among the people. Quickly rising through the ranks of the Guard, he found himself in the company of the king. As he was clever and sharp, the king used his abilities, keeping him as an advisor.
Raina watched with a heavy heart as her lover grew more and more power-hungry with each passing sunset. One night, as she drifted down to earth, her lover was waiting for her—
“What are you doing in here this late?”
Just as it had in the library, the tome went flying out of my hands, tumbling to the stones, inches away from the pool’s edge.
Turning my head, I found the commander, his face unreadable, an extra change of clothes swaddled under his arm. He must’ve been late for his bath. I hadn’t even heard his footsteps.
“I was reading.” Scrambling to recover the fallen tome, my gloved fingers wrapped around the wrinkled spine, yanking it protectively to my chest. “I couldn’t light a candle in the dorms,” I added softly, the commander taking a cautious step in my direction.
We hadn’t spoken since that day in the pool, our words cutting and teeming with frustration and insecurity.
With feline grace, Jude placed his clothes beside the pool and glided over to where I rested, my back pressed against the damp chamber wall. He didn’t stop until he was hovering over me, forcing me to crane my neck to meet him.
There was no emotion in his depthless eyes, nothing to give away what thoughts consumed him. I held my breath in wait, for once choosing silence over my forked tongue. Ironic how the very man I once thought I despised now rendered me speechless.
Crouching, his elbows digging into his muscled thighs, Jude cocked his head, his attention drifting to the moss-green book still tucked to my chest like a newborn babe. His trenchant stare wholly unnerved me. Unable to hold it for much longer, I glanced down.
That’s when I noticed the speckles of red covering his hands.
Blood.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, about to reach for him, but Jude shoved his hands away, inching back on his heels.
“I’m fine,” he ground out, his biting tone relaying that he was anything butfine.
Jude was shutting down before my very eyes, his features glazing over, his stare cooling to ice. I had to stop it.
“Well, you interrupted me right when it was getting good.” I lifted the book. “Though I’m surprised such a serious man as yourself owns a book of gods and myths. I’d have assumed you’d prefer texts about combat strategies or how to properly brood while staring off into the distance.”
The tautness of his face relaxed ever so slightly, and a gentle grin spread across his lips, shocking me. I would have fallen over had I not seen him smile before.
Serious Jude was handsome. But smiling Jude? He was absolutely mind-numbing.
Our petty fight fell to the back of my thoughts. I imagined he ignored the lingering awkwardness as well.
“Is that so?” he inquired, his right eye shining a brilliant honey. I couldn’t stop looking at it, the way it changed hue with every blink. “Though, according to Isiah, I have mastered brooding already.”
The tall Knight he was always seen with. Were they actually friends?
Clearing my throat, I adopted a visage of nonchalance, ignoring Jude and what his ever-changing eyes did to me. “How long have you known him?”
Jude settled against the wall, only a foot separating us. “Since I was fourteen. He’s more like an older brother at this point. Anannoyingolder brother.” Something soft flickered across his face. It had me leaning closer, even though my heart twinged in my chest. I missed my own brother fiercely. He, too, was my only friend.
“I’d keep reading if I were you.” He angled his chin to the book, changing topics before I could ask more about his life. “Sometimes the best part is the middle…before the ending can ruin it for you, that is.”
“Was this yours?” My focus rested on what my hands clutched so dearly, a finger lovingly tracing the spine. I asked because his eyes sparked with interest whenever he saw it in my hands.
“It stillismine.” His uninjured eye glinted roguishly in the torchlight. “I never said you could keep it.”
