Ch. 23 Clay POV | Arcadia Rayne

Chapter Twenty Three

Clayton

The second her feet stepped onto the marble floor, my eyes were open, as if even in my unconscious, I was attuned to her.

I listened carefully to her movements. She didn’t come out to greet me. With light steps, she made her way to the bathing chamber and closed the door quietly behind her, the sound of water following. I sighed, replaying the night before in my mind.

I never should have let her walk back into that gym alone.

I’d been so distracted, so fucking hard after I’d had her pinned underneath me, that fiery rebellious look in her eye focused on me, that I hadn’t been able to think straight.

And then Rankor had mentioned swimming, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her body wet, her hair dripping over her full breasts…

I had let her walk into a disaster and she’d barely come out of it alive.

What a fucking mess this had all become.

Iris padded out not long after Thea woke, her hair at odd angles and dark circles lingering under her eyes. She glanced at the couch I’d attempted to sleep on, the hint of a smile playing on her lips.

“That could not have been comfortable.”

Pulling myself up, I rubbed absently at the kink in my neck. “I assure you, it wasn’t.”

She fell down heavily next to me, concern evident in the tension of her shoulders. “We should go get dressed.”

“I’m not leaving her alone.” The words escaped in a rush, sharper than I had intended.

Every dragon instinct in my body was forcing me to stay, to protect her now since I’d failed her last night.

Iris’ eyes found mine, and there was no teasing on her face. She simply nodded. “Well, I’m going to go change at least.”

With a heavy sigh, I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as my mind continued turning over everything that had happened last night—and everything that needed to happen now.

A second attack on a future Council member was not going to sit well with my father. He was going to be on the warpath today.

I could predict his plan of action. Any interrogations would be done in secret, behind closed doors. But nearly an entire wing of the castle had gone up in flames last night. That couldn’t be hidden.

Which meant he would force Thea to face it whether she was recovered or not.

“We’ll need breakfast,” I said softly. “It will be a long day.”

Iris nodded and stood. “I can take care of it.”

There would be a briefing in front of the court. He would want to project strength, want her to project strength. She hated those things, and after last night, after she had fallen apart in my arms, I knew she wasn’t ready to stand tall in front of a crowd of people.

She needed every ounce of confidence I could give her right now.

I reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her before she could leave. “Thea will need a dress.”

Iris rolled her eyes and motioned toward the bedroom. “She has plenty of dresses now.”

I felt a rush of embarrassment fall over me at what I was about to request. My cousin was never going to let me forget this moment. Iris watched me as my jaw opened and closed, as I struggled to figure out how to phrase it. “I actually had a dress commissioned for her a few days ago that might be appropriate.”

Iris’ eyebrows rose so high they nearly touched the line of her hair, a twinkle of humor wrinkling the edges of her eyes. “You did what?”

I shrugged as if I could brush aside the implications of the gesture. Though I wasn’t entirely sure if I was trying to convince her—or myself—that it was meaningless.

“It was meant to be a gift ahead of her ascension to the Council.”

“Do you buy clothes for all the Council Members?”

My fingers twitched, claws threatening to extend. Iris noticed but didn’t say anything. Her lips quirked slightly as she failed to hide her grin.

“So, you would like me to go get the dress that you personally commissioned for Thea, without telling anyone, so that she can wear it today?”

“You’re making this more significant than it is.”

“Did you design it? Please tell me you designed it.”

I turned away, feeling magic rush up my fingertips into my forearms. “I made… some minor contributions to the concept.”

Like the color.
And the fit.
And the selection of the lace pattern.

Once I’d made the decision to get a dress more suited to her style than that of the court fashions, the image of it had come easily. Even now, I could imagine it draped over her fair skin, the Mark of Hyrax a stark contrast to the white of the fabric.

Iris squealed, and I steadied a glare on her. The last thing I needed was Thea coming out of the bathing room and hearing any part of this conversation. The last thing I needed was anyone hearing this conversation.

“Just get the damn dress, please.”

She began to back toward the door, that grin becoming more obvious with every step she took. “I’m just glad you’re following my advice.”

“And what advice was that?”

She winked. “The quickest way to a woman’s heart is through a new gown.”

She left before I could make the empty protest that I wasn’t concerned with Thea’s heart.

Alone, I ran a tired hand over my face, brushing back my uncombed hair from my brows.

What the fuck was I thinking?

Thea was insufferable. She was obstinate. Stubborn. Too idealistic.

She never knew when to simply shut up and mind her place. It was going to get her into trouble. It already was getting her into trouble.

If I was a smarter man, I would have gotten up from that couch, left the room I never should have allowed myself to stay in, and simply waited to see her at the inevitable court briefing that would happen later in the day.

But I wasn’t a smart man when it came to her.

And every time I even thought about leaving, the image of her nearly unconscious in my arms, concerned about whether or not the fire would burn me, flashed in my mind. The sound of her begging me to take her home echoed in my head. The feeling of her tears coating my arms flooded over me once more.

Gods help me.

Minutes felt like hours as I sat on that couch in silence, waiting for her to come out, needing desperately to see her alive and well. To confirm that the spark I hated that I loved was still in her eye after the attack last night.

When she’d finally cried herself to exhaustion and allowed me to carry her to bed, she’d looked so frail. Broken.

Terror had lingered on her.

I’d seen Thea face down my father’s anger. I’d seen her fight against me both in the sparring ring and with her fiery tongue. I’d seen her face the interrogation of a Truthseeker, even when she didn’t understand what was happening.

Last night was the first time she’d seemed genuinely afraid.

And that had somehow managed to truly scare me.

Eventually, a letter was delivered that the court was assembled and Thea’s presence was needed. Iris returned with a tray of breakfast foods and Thea’s gown shortly thereafter. Kent, Rankor, Camilla, and Lorelai followed her in.

Rankor clapped a hand heavily on my shoulder before sitting next to me.

“Does anyone know I was here?” I asked.

There was no way I would have stayed anywhere else last night, but the optics of me staying overnight in her room weren’t just terrible. They were forbidden.

Rankor shook his head. “We kept things quiet.”

I nodded my thanks as I stood, nervous energy pushing me to pace back and forth.

“We have to stop who’s doing this,” Lorelai mumbled to no one in particular.

She was right.

This attacker needed to be found and stopped before any more violence could occur—not just because Thea was from a royal family.

Because she was her.

She was one of us now. One of our misshapen little family.

And I was her prince.

It was my job to keep her safe.

And I was failing at it.

“How are you feeling?” Kent asked suddenly, pulling my attention. I glanced at him, but he was attuned somewhere else.

I traced the line of his eyesight and my eyes landed on Thea as a jolt ran through me.

Her blonde hair was loose, still damp and curling at the ends. One side was tucked behind her ear, but the other cascaded in waves of golden perfection.

My fingers twitched at my sides, the need to go to her, to fist my hand in that hair, and claim her nearly animalistic in its strength.

The man in me wanted to be sure she was safe because that was my responsibility as her ruler.

The Dragon in me wanted to make her mine, regardless of the many reasons that was an impossibility.

She wore a thick midnight-blue robe that brought out the darker hues of her eyes.

And although my thoughts briefly flickered to the sliver of her bare thighs that peeked through the part of her robe as she walked, my attention snapped to the purpling bruises along her cheek and collarbone.

Heat rushed through me, sparking at every nerve ending, and I rolled my shoulders awkwardly, trying to relieve the ache beneath my shoulder blades—where wings threatened to break free.

I’d grown accustomed to the bursts of anger that sometimes surged because of my powers.

But this?

This wasn’t just a need to punish whoever had done this to her.

This was something else entirely.

This was a slow, methodical craving to carve their agony into their bones, to make them beg before I granted them the mercy they would have denied her if they had their way.

I turned away, forcing myself to breathe before this line of thinking made me lose control completely—before I shifted right here in front of my friends, right in front of her.

Kent arranged a plate for her, which she took with a grateful smile before sinking onto the couch next to Lorelai. Lorelai smiled warmly, rubbing a hand affectionately up and down Thea's back as she picked at her food.

“After the attack or after Rankor’s workout?” she quipped.

Her voice was light, teasing. But I wasn’t fooled.

Rankor winked at her. “Just wait until the next one. Now that I know you can handle your own with a Dragon, I know I need to step things up.”

I shifted uncomfortably, the memory of her pinned beneath me flashing vividly in my mind.

The way she had looked with her arms stretched above her head.

Back arched. Chest heaving.

I clenched my jaw. “She cheated.”

Thea didn’t acknowledge me.

Something in my chest tightened at that.

I needed her to look at me.

I needed to look into her eyes and get some sort of confirmation that she was okay.

That she was going to recover from the horror of the night before.

That she was still her.

“So what’s next?” Thea asked. “This is the second attack by a Witch. Surely, that won’t go unpunished.”

Her cheeks were flushed, her grip on the silverware a little too tight.

I clenched and flexed my fingers repeatedly, unhappy at the slight hint of fear lingering under her words.

She was trying to hide it, but I could tell she was scared.

“You have no proof a Witch is responsible for this latest attack,” Camilla pointed out, rolling her eyes.

The gesture irritated me more than it should.

I never should have slept with her.

Our friendship hadn’t recovered from it, and I doubted it ever would.

She still looked at me with lust in her dark eyes every so often, and I was beginning to suspect her dislike of Thea had more to do with me than it did the Hyraxian Descendant.

But despite the history between us, I hated to admit her line of thought was logical.

“She’s right,” I said. “An explosion like that could very well be from a Detonator of House Arto.”

Which meant there could be multiple houses involved in this conspiracy. Gods, we needed to get this under control before foreign powers sensed weakness within our lands. Promissa would jump at the opportunity to claim our territory if they could.

Iris shifted her weight on the balls of her feet, her mind piecing together the information she had just as I was.

“Two attacks on a Royal Family cannot be overlooked. It’ll reflect weakness in the ability of the Dragon to protect his own castle. He’ll be firmer in his investigation moving forward.”

I glanced at Camilla, knowing she was smart enough to read the hidden meaning behind Iris’ words.

My father would use this as an opportunity to have her back in his clutches.

She looked to me, and for a moment, any animosity between us disappeared.

I nodded reassuringly, and she sighed in relief.

I wouldn’t let him hurt her again.

“The court has already been assembled,” I announced, returning my attention to Thea as I stood. “You’ll need to speak this morning to show the world that this attack has failed and you are stronger than ever.”

Finally, she met my gaze.

It was possibly the first time she had looked directly at me all morning.

And now that I was staring into those eyes—those sharp, defiant, incredibly alive eyes—I never wanted her to look anywhere else ever again.

“I assume this means I’ll need to wear another one of those ridiculous gowns.”

I thought of the dress I’d had designed for her.

The detail and thought that had gone into it.

A small, almost unmentionable part of me was nervous about what she would think when Iris showed it to her.

Still, I couldn’t fight my grin. “I had something delivered while you bathed.”

Her eyes heated ever so slightly as she stared up at me through dark lashes.

Her full, pink lips twitched slightly, considering what to say.

Gods, she really was far too fucking beautiful for this realm.

“I’m sure you did,” she whispered, the words meant only for me.

Rankor cleared his throat aggressively, and our friends stood, excusing themselves even while Thea and I kept our attention locked on each other.

When she finally broke away, looking down—her long golden hair falling forward over her wrists—I turned to Iris.

“Will you help Lady Moore get prepared?”

Iris’ back was to Thea, so she didn’t bother hiding the suggestive wiggle of her brows. “Of course. I’ll take care of Thea as carefully as if I were you.”

I rushed out of the room before she could make things any more awkward.

*****

I stood outside her door, inhaling deeply before lifting my knuckles to the frame and tapping lightly.

The knob twisted.

The door opened.

And while I had been entirely prepared to see Iris, I had not expected to meet her sparkling eyes.

My gaze trailed over her, drawn in despite myself. I took in the elegant twists of her hair and the glimmering diadem folded into it catching the light. The line of her collarbones gleamed with delicate powder, disguising the bruises beneath like an artist’s touch, as if even pain itself had bowed to her beauty.

And the dress— it was everything I had envisioned and more.

It fit her like a second skin, the lace delicate against her midriff, the neckline dipping just low enough to be tantalizing. The shimmering cape draped effortlessly off her shoulders, trailing behind her gracefully.

She looked more like a queen than my stepmother ever had.

She didn’t move at first, didn’t speak.

She gave me the same unabashed appraisal I had given her, and I savored it—the slow sweep of her gaze over me, the way her lips parted slightly, the glint of something unreadable in her expression.

More than anything, I relished the fact that she no longer looked as frightened as she had this morning.

I waited for the attitude, waited for that sharp, snarky mouth to fire off a jab about the crown on my head.

But the quip never came.

Instead, without breaking eye contact, she lowered herself into a curtsy, bowing her head ever so slightly.

Something knocked loose inside my chest.

The sudden jolt of surprise washed over me, fading into something warmer, deeper—a thread of respect, of admiration, of something I dared not name.

When she lifted her gaze to meet mine again, I found myself bowing my head to her in return.

“You look beautiful,” I said, the words spilling out before I could stop them—before I could wrestle back the dozen other things I wanted to say, things that were entirely inappropriate.

“Thank you for the dress.”

The corners of her lips curved into a small grin, as if we were sharing some private joke, something meant only for us.

Gods.

I would buy her a dozen more. A hundred. I would fill her entire suite with gowns if it meant she would look at me like that again.

I extended my arm, needing to feel her, to ground myself in the simple act of touch, even if a touch of her hand on my arm was all I could ever have from her.

“It was an investment I do not regret, Lady Moore.”

She folded her hand into the crook of my elbow, her fingers light but steady. I led us out of her rooms, down the hallway of House Hyrax, and into the open corridors of the palace.

Through it all, she kept her chin lifted, her gait confident.

I’d felt many things for Theadora Moore since the day I met her.

Suspicion. Irritation. Amusement. Lust. Affection.

But in that moment, watching her walk beside me, a vision of defiance and grace, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride.