Heart of the Wolf Prince

Chapter 11b

After minutes of crawling, I finally make it to the little wooden panel that is my exit. I push it aside and squeeze myself into the dark room that Kohl had told me once housed ambassadors from other continents, but has long since been abandoned.

As I emerge into the dark room, I cough at the amount of dust that rushes into my lungs. Somehow, the damn room is more dusty than the crawlspace itself. I can't help but imagine little Kohl trying to squeeze himself through the same hole I just went through when I go to the door and press my ear to it. Assured no one is outside, I push the door open and make my way towards Kohl's room.

As I walk down the many hallways and corridors, brushing rogue cobwebs from my hair, I consider everything I heard. So, they're testing the girls in the Queenstrials for something, and seem to have been assigned codenames if my intuition serves me right.

Before long, I make it to Kohl's room. I hesitate before I knock on the looming, black doors.

One. Two. Three—

Kohl opens it on the third rap, and for a moment, I am left standing there like an idiot. It's as though he was waiting right by the door.

We stare at each other for a few moments, and his stare is so penetrative that heat rises to my cheeks... what the hell?

He raises a brow, and I shove that stupid, fluttering feeling in my chest down. "So? How'd it go?"

I raise my chin. I don't need him to know about the almost-mishap. "It went well," I assert, but his eyes dart to my trembling fingers.

They drift back to my face, his brows his rising further. "I get the feeling you're omitting something."

I sigh. "Okay... it went a little south at the end. Almost got my head cut off."

"Well then... I hope the information was well worth it?" Kohl asks, and part of me feels irritated at the way he brushes off my near-demise so easily.

"Yes. So, it turns out the—" Something grips my chest, and I careen to the side. I clutch the doorframe for support, and Kohl's eyes widen with alarm.

"Agnarys?"

"I'm fine. I just need to lie down. The adrenalin—" I gasp as my heart thumps forcefully. Then again. And again. Right. Adrenalin has just as bad an effect on my heart as over exertion does, and I guess the scare that came with almost getting caught is beginning to catch up to me.

I clutch my chest, trying to even my breaths. Kohl then grabs my waist with both hands, trying to steady me, and any attempt at trying to steady my breathing goes out the window. My skin heats at the contact, and I somehow feel even dizzier as I stare at him.

His golden eyes are alight with debate, and I watch the pride in them extinguish as he curses and hauls me inside his room. Gold fittings and black tiles swirl in my vision as Kohl guides me to the bed, but though my vision unfocused, I am somehow hyper-aware of every shift of his hands against my body.

He lays me down on a plush surface – which I assume must be his bed – and my stomach knots as I realise, I am lying in the Gahndor Prince's bed, all because my heart wants to be a bitch.

Thanks, heart condition.

"Will you be alright?" Kohl asks, though I can't hear any real concern in his tone.

I swallow the dryness of my throat and nod, trying to calm the irregular beats of my heart. They are starting to settle now. "Yeah, I just need a minute. My heart doesn't agree with adrenalin spikes."

Kohl cocks a brow. He is peering at me with a slightly sardonic look in his eyes. "Does it agree with anything?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke or a jab?" I snap, and I don't know if it's my unsteady vision playing tricks on me, but I swear Kohl's lips lift a fraction.