Reign and Ruin by Mallory Wanless

Author:Mallory Wanless [Mallory Wanless]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mallory Wanless
Published: 2023-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

36

Elena

Elena stepped into the room and quickly shut the door behind her. Niko was in a state and she didn’t want the guards gossiping about him. She didn’t want people to think that the new King had lost his mind.

He might have, El. Look at him. Agon’s concern was justified, although his words seemed harsh.

Niko was pacing anxiously around the sitting room. His hair stuck out at odd angles, as though he’d been repeatedly pulling at it and running his hands through it. His normally warm coppery skin looked pale and clammy. Niko looked deranged. But he’d just learned that his mother killed his father and now he was King of Waverly. Elena assumed that sort of jarring news and paradigm-shifting revelations would have thrown even the strongest individual.

“Niko,” she said, trying to conjure up the same calming tone he’d used with her just hours ago, when she’d wanted to murder that soldier.

Niko said nothing. He continued his wild pacing, as though he’d already forgotten she was there.

“Niko.” She repeated his name a bit louder and more firmly. Elena took a few steps into the room, walking into the middle of his path and forcing him to either run into her or stop pacing. Thankfully, he chose the latter. Elena caught his face gently in her hands and drew his gaze down to hers. “Niko, you need to breathe.”

His heart was racing. She could feel his rapid pulse beneath her hands where they rested on his neck, just below his jaw. His unfocused eyes seemed to stare off into nothingness.

What had he said in the stables…? Elena tried to remember the exact words he’d used when he’d helped to calm her from the state of panic she’d experienced after escaping the Queen’s prison.

Elena tightened her grip ever-so-slightly, gently rubbing her thumbs up and down his racing artery. “Niko.” She kept her voice mellow. “What do you smell?”

Her question seemed to confuse him, but Niko’s eyes fixated on her for a moment as he took a deep breath.

“Wood smoke. Melting beeswax. Your lavender soap.” He kept his eyes on her as he spoke. Elena smiled up at him.

“What can you hear?”

He blinked slowly, letting his eyes stay closed for a moment while he focused on her words. “My heart racing. Your steady breathing. The guards shuffling in the courtyard.”

“You’re doing great, Niko.” Her thumbs stilled on his neck. “What do you see?”

Niko opened his eyes and looked down at her. “I see the most amazing, beautiful, thoughtful creature on the planet. And her rodent.” His cocky grin spread back across his face, but he didn’t move from her grasp.

Elena’s face heated at his compliments. She knew she should look away, let go of him, and put a little space between them. But her body didn’t listen to the logic of her mind. Instead, she took a step closer, closing the distance. Niko placed his hands gently on her hips, waiting to see if she’d object. She did not.

Elena felt a sudden coolness at her throat and realized that Agon had slipped away.

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