Of Royal Blood: Part One (Courting Magik Series Book 1)

by Michele Barrow-Belisle

“Just putting in my private number.”

  I gasped. “But…I live here now, remember? I know where to find you.”

  “And I know where to find you. But now, you can call me whenever you need a friend.”

  “Except, we’re practically strangers.” Intimately connected strangers.

  His eyes narrowed as he handed me back my phone. “Not really. I remember you now. From before.” He pointed a finger at me. “Your sister, she used to work here, right?”

  Oh, god. My stomach crashed. “Yeah, she did.” I was torn between launching into an apology, or a speech on how we were nothing alike, but neither were necessary.

  “I liked her. And you used to come to pick her up.”

  I bit down on my lower lip, my gaze sliding to the floor. “Guilty.” I nodded, unable to meet his eyes. Not with memories of the last night I saw him flooding my overactive imagination. My skin flushed with heat.

  “Right,” he said, with a sharp snap of his fingers. “The library. You used to spend time up there. The old dusty one that no one uses anymore.”

  I screwed up the courage to look at him. “I’ve always thought it was beautiful in there. So much history and knowledge. If the books could speak, the stories they’d tell would be...” I remembered what Anabel had said about people thinking it was haunted, and added, “Of course, never once heard a ghost whisper my name, so...” I shrugged. At least not there.

  “Want to visit it again?”

  “Um… I mean, I guess we could?”

  Ethan grinned, then motioned for me to follow him. We strolled past a second entrance to the common room, where the queen overlooked an engrossing game of chess with two of her councilmen.

  “Your Grace. Fancy a match?” A man called to him.

  Ethan chuckled as he stepped into the room. “Perhaps later, Uncle. Any chance I get to whoop your ass, I’ll take it.”

  I followed Ethan inside and set down my glass of punch, aware that I hadn’t drunk even a sip of it. Immediately I felt the queen’s eyes on me, tracking my every breath. Facing her, I curtsied and then inched back toward the foyer. Not fast enough.

  “Katriana.” Queen Zara approached me, and again I was forced to offer another awkward curtsy, which resulted in another pained expression on her part.

  Her gaze stabbed me with cold. “I’m surprised to find you here. The staff meet and greet ended over an hour ago.” She spared a glance at her diamond crusted watch. “Shouldn’t you by now…oh, I don’t know,” she shrugged dismissively, “prepping for Princess Charlotte’s studies? That is what we hired you for.”

  My mouth fell open a little as I searched for a reply that wouldn’t have me immediately sacked.

  But Ethan interjected, “Sorry. My fault. I was holding her hostage.”

  Queen Zara gave her son an icy smirk that made me wonder if the woman was even capable of warmth.

  “Now Ethan, you should know better than kidnapping the help,” she said, glancing casually in my direction. “Remember what happened with the last one you took to…id did not end well.” Then she gestured toward a side door, a servant’s door, which was promptly opened for her. Or rather, for me.

  “Off you go, dear.”

  I winced a little because the word ‘dear’ was thrown like a dagger dipped in poison. With a quick and clumsy curtsy, I headed in that direction, making a mental note to stick to bowing which was harder to mess up.

  I’d barely taken a few steps toward my grand exit, when Ethan’s hand rested on my shoulder. “Don’t mind her,” he whispered. “Her bark is worse than her bite.”

  Somehow, I doubted that.

  “Have you been up to the fourth floor?”

  I frowned, confused. “You mean today? I just got here this morning, remember?” It was hard to concentrate with the queen’s cold glare still boring into my back.

  “Come on, then.”

  He was already taking strides toward the door on the opposite side of the room. He paused at the threshold to glance back at me. “Are you coming?”

  I hurried after him. “Where?” I half-whispered, because he was starting to turn a few heads, and that went against my stay invisible plan.

  “The library?” He chuckled, then without warning, he grabbed my hand and tugged me out into the hall with him.

  I was acutely and agonizingly aware of the fact that the prince was holding my hand. And, I didn't have to look back at the room to know that hadn't gone unnoticed.

  CHAPTER 9

  When we reached the double doors on the fourth floor, Ethan let go of my hand. He cocked his head, trying to read me. But I stowed my emotions and aimed for a carefully neutral expression.

  “What’s up?” He squinted. “You’re quiet.”

  Dust motes floated around us in the dimly lit hall. I nibbled my lower lip, eyes cast downward. If only that was a question I could actually answer.

  He stepped around me to open the door to the library. It had been a secret hiding place for years. No one ever came up here…a forgotten space forever coated with a thin layer of dust. I loved that about it, that the wood wasn’t rubbed to a high reflective polish like everywhere else. Here, it was quiet, vacant, wild even, and still my very favorite place in the castle.

  “Are you going to tell me? Because clearly, there is something on your mind,” he pushed.

  His eyes shone in the light from the library window. The way it highlighted his features made me picture the girl I’d walked in on with him. The way she’d moved beneath him, the way he rhythmically drove into her. “I’m fine,” I said, and slipped past him, inside.

  He followed, and shut the door behind him. There was no reason to lock it, since we were in a forgotten part of the castle, and yet this time, he did.

  “Is it Zara? It’s Zara.” He nodded, running a hand through his tousled hair. “I told Mother to lay off.”

  Panicked, I turned. “Please, tell me you didn’t.”

  “She has no right to speak to you that way, Kat. I won’t let her.”

  My insides went to war…the side that was terrified of his mother’s retaliation and the side that thought it was incredibly sweet of him to stick up for me.

  He leaned his back against the door, casually, his arms crossed. He looked irresistible. “I’ve got your back. You know that.”

  “Good to know.” I turned away, because one can only stare for so long before it becomes obvious. Being here alone with him, it broke another half-dozen rules, but apparently, I was going for a record on day one, and honestly, being away from everything and everyone was exactly what I needed right now.

  The room was eerily silent and had that same musty smell I loved. Though I could have sworn I heard the books whispering their stories this time. Just the wind. I told myself, brushing it off.

  I trailed my fingers over the banister and mounted the steps to the nearest bookcase. “How long has it been since anyone used this room? Every book in here has to be centuries old.”

  “No idea. But, it’s a great place to hook-up, if you ever bring that guy here.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you ever think about anything other than sex?”

  “What’s his name? The guy?” he asked, ignoring me.

  “Guy? What guy?”

  “The one from the donut shoppe. He mentioned you two were… close.”

  I glanced over at him. “Wha— you mean, Jeremy?” I laughed. “Puh-leese.” It did cross my mind that for him to have met Jeremy, it meant he’d been in the shoppe more than the two times I’d seen him there.

  “Please what?” He followed me to the next bookcase, then parked himself in front of me, leaning a hand against a shelf lined with ancient tomes. “Come on, you know you want to do it somewhere like this. You might look kind of like the vanilla type, but I think there’s a little bit of red hiding in there if you’d let her out.”

  My mouth fell open a little and I felt my skin flush. He must have caught it because that dimple danced to life as his eyes sparked. He poin
ted at me. “In bed, missionary position. Am I right?”

  I crossed my arms. “No. You’re not right,” I snapped, lifting my chin. It felt weird to discuss something so personal with him. But we were in our little sanctuary away from reality, so it felt safe. Plus, there was the odd connection that floated between us. As if I’d known him far better than I did. It was strange.

  Ethan chuckled. “Oh, I’m so right. I can read you, Kat... you’re an open book. Pun intended.”

  “There hasn’t been a bed, or a missionary position. Because there hasn’t been a guy. So, you’re wrong. I win.” I flashed a sharp grin that disappeared just as fast when I realized what I’d revealed.

  He stopped laughing. “Wait, what? Are you…you’re not seriously telling me you’re a virgin? With your body?”

  I turned away, feeling overly self-conscious. “Well, apparently, having a body doesn’t automatically mean you use it for sex.”

  I pulled one of the massive books from the shelf and lugged it to the nearest table. The cover had a strange star, like a cross between Celtic cross and a Wiccan star. I opened it. It was a grimoire. A spell book. Wow. This was the last place I’d expect to find a book like that. Just laying out in the open. No wonder they didn’t want anyone in here.

  “Doesn’t it?” Ethan teased.

  “Well, I know that’s not how it worked with the hallway blonde that night, but…”

  Oh, shit. I sank my teeth into my lip. Crap-crap-crap. So didn’t mean to let that out, either.

  His eyes darkened, then narrowed. I turned to hurry away, but he caught my forearm. “Hold up. What do you mean, the hallway blonde? How did you know about that?”

  “I, uh…” I fidgeted with the tips of my hair, unable to meet his gaze. “I heard you, okay? I heard you.” I said in what scraped by as being a civil tone. “And by the way, you might want to consider keeping it down if you don’t want the whole castle to hear you. Or, well, her mostly.” Another rush of heat swam over me. I’d give anything to disappear right now. Was there a spell for that in here?

  I managed to screw up enough courage to look him in the eye, but what I saw there wasn’t what I was expecting. I’d expected laughter, teasing, maybe even annoyance at having his privacy invaded. But what I saw was something else entirely.

  I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand to avoid smearing my face with dust. Apparently, I’d failed. Ethan stepped in closer, meaning there were literally inches separating us. Then he reached up and stroked his thumb across my forehead. It was possible my heart might have stopped beating. Just for a moment.

  We stayed there, his hand trailed down my cheek, over my shoulder, and down the length of my arm, before falling away. Only then did I take a breath. I cleared my throat, certain that if I stayed here a second later, I might throw myself at him, or worse.

  The grimoire was a powerful distraction, I turned to it, refocusing my attention, carefully turning one brittle page after another.

  Katriana. The whispers returned. So faint I almost convinced myself I hadn’t heard anything. I looked around, careful not to make it obvious, but it was hard to hide the fact that you were either losing your mind or hearing ghosts. Was that to be my power then? Communing with the dead? Couldn’t it be something cool, like I don’t know, invisibility? Or supersonic speed?

  As my fingers trailed over the page, I felt them tingle. My ring heated, blooming an uncomfortable warmth through my fingers. The familiar heat travelled up my arm, growing hotter along the way. Fear rippled through me.

  “I, uh— we should probably get back. I forgot I need to check Charlotte’s previous test scores before morning,” I said, still unable or unwilling to close the Spell book.

  Ethan raised his eyebrows in inquiry. “Kat, wait. What it is?” He tried to pull me back to him, but I gently broke free.

  “No, I seriously have to go,” I said, rushing to the door. My trembling fingers barely managed to unlock it before he caught up to me. Then the book slipped from my hand, falling to the floor with an echoing thud that released a cloud of dust motes.

  The pages flew open as if someone else’s hand was flipping through them. My mouth gaped as I stared at the page it landed on. The scripted words scrawled across the top started to glow. Fiery red, like it was written in flames, were the words Soul Contract. I blinked, taking a step away from the book.

  “Oh, my god. Are you seeing this?” My gaze lifted to Ethan’s… but a blinding flash of light flamed between us. I felt the heat of it slam into my chest. Images flashed in front of me. A guy and a girl, and then…death…a tower of bloodied corpses, piled so high I couldn’t see the top. I screamed, but it was grave-silent. A voice reached out to me from the madness…a voice I recognized, even though I didn’t. It was my grandmother. But I couldn’t hear her, couldn’t focus. All I could do was gasp for breath as the searing power of it torched me from the inside out. The last thing I remembered was feeling as though my insides had cindered to ash, as my body crumbled to the floor.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Kat. Kat. Talk to me. Are you all right?”

  My eyelids fluttered open, straining against the light. It faded and Ethan’s concerned face came into full focus.

  When I lifted my head, I could see the worry lines etched in his forehead.

  “What the hell happened.” He was peering into my eyes, but I couldn't hold his gaze. He was so close. Too close. And he could see all of me, when all I wanted was to be invisible.

  “I—I don’t know,” I whispered, struggling to sit upright.

  He wrapped a protective arm around my waist. “Here, let me help you.”

  When I was safely back on my feet, he cocked his head, but kept his hand firmly supporting the small of my back. His frown deepened as his gaze panned down the front of me. “Is that blood?”

  Panicked I grabbed at my shirt, pulling on the hem as I stared down at it. Oh. My. God. “Yes, I— I think so,” I whispered hoarsely. “But…not mine.”

  Ethan dragged a hand through his hair. “Seriously, Kat, what the fuck happened?”

  I shook my head, still unable to form words. I didn’t know what happened. I had no answer to that question. I was only a bystander, and the fact that it happened through me, was not my fault. None of this seemed plausible, and yet fragments of my memory came back to me. Someone had died, and I, or some version of me, was responsible. Was it a premonition? A nightmare? A bad burrito? A bad burrito didn’t leave blood stains. I shook my head, feeling my hands start to quiver.

  I ran my hands down the front of my shirt, then examined the faint damp stains on my palms.

  “I'm taking you back to your room.” Ethan whipped his sweater over his head, giving a glimpse of the taught ab muscles beneath before he straightened his T-shirt. He wrapped it around my shoulders. That's when I realized my entire body was shaking. From cold. Ironic when I felt so damn hot.

  He walked me back down the long empty halls. I was grateful for that. If word were to get out that I’d been escorted back to my chambers by the prince because I was unwell, Queen Zara would sever my job and then my head. But no one passed us as he walked me back.

  Ethan opened the door, led me inside, and straight toward the bed. Then he moved to my wardrobe to pull out a robe. “Here, take that off …” He eyed the blood splatters on my shirt once more and again frowned. “Put this on,” he said, unable to finish his first thought.

  I did as I was told, not giving a moment of consideration to the fact that I was disrobing in front of him. He turned away to face the window, and only looked back once I was done.

  His brow furrowed. “Okay. So that was some crazy shit.”

  I managed a nod. Understatement of the century.

  He moved toward me. “But, I get the sense it’s not the first time something like this has happened.”

  If I hadn’t already been so freaked out, his insight might have pushed me over the edge. It was unnerving to be seen so clearly by someone you scarcely knew. />
  His eyes travelled over me, landing on mine. “It was you that day,” he said with quiet knowing. “I've felt the energy, that nebulous thing zipping between us. I thought it was physical. It's so much more...”

  Invisible. I just wanted to be invisible, but that apparently wasn't my fate. I felt everything that happened all over again in the pit of my stomach. Settling in, making itself at home, as if to say, get used to it, Kat, there's more where that came from. I got a fire message. A fire message from a dead grandmother I never knew. I had magik and Ethan knew it.

  I glanced down at my shirt, wadded like a crimson stain on the pristine carpet. Blood. So much blood. Whose was it?

  Ethan crossed over to me and took both my hands in his. “Kat, I'd feel a lot better if you'd say something. Should I fetch the doctor? Or Hannah, perhaps, to bring a tonic?”

  “No,” I blurted the word louder than either of us expected.

  He nodded. “Okay. Then talk to me. It’s just us.”

  I wanted to tell him. Tell him everything I knew…which wasn’t much. And everything I feared. But the words lodged in my throat. I shook my head. “I—I don’t know what happened back there, Ethan. I can't...I don’t know what to tell you.”

  His expression had disbelief written all over it. “Start by telling me how it is you have blood on your shirt. Someone else's blood. When there was only you and I in that library.”

  I felt emotion swell in my throat. My eyes burned with unshed tears. “I don't know.” That was all I said. All I could say. I moved away from him and sat down on the edge of the bed. Laying back against my pillows, I curled up on my side, tucking my head to my knees.

  “Get some sleep, Kat.”

  I heard him sigh, move around the room, and then heard the soft click of the door as it closed. He was gone. It was only then that the tears I'd been holding back fell, sliding silently down my cheek onto my pillow, before I drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  Daylight had given way to night when I awoke. Was it the middle of the night? Nearly daybreak? I had no idea. I unfolded myself, stretching from the cocoon I'd slept in as I made my way into the small sitting area. The lamp was on, and I could see legs outstretched from the tub chair in the corner. The hint of a smile came over me, and I bit down on my lip, shaking my head. Ethan was still here. He'd stayed.