I swallowed once as the sword left my throat, and grumbled, “Thank you.” I stepped the rest of the way up, standing in front of him, and held out the piece of paper. “I do appreciate you meeting with me in private.”
Head tilting back to stare up at me, shorter, chin-length rolls resting gently on his harshly handsome cheeks, he murmured, “For someone so young, you definitely have balls coming in here and demanding my time in front of everyone.” His voice quieted to a mere whisper. “Especially someone who won’t look me straight in the eyes, as if they’re ridden by guilt.”
I cleared my throat and shook the paper. “Private meeting, remember?” I sniffed covertly in his direction, realizing his smell was another obstacle the Walker hadn’t achieved. The One’s scent was apparently hard to duplicate, because he smelled of spiced stars—something I hadn’t been able to smell five years ago without my powers. It wasn’t at all an unpleasant fragrance, and it was more than a bit unnerving.
Ever so gradually, he lifted his hand. As soon as his fingers brushed the paper, I quickly let go, not doing a very decent job of hiding the fact I didn’t want his fingers grazing mine. But at least he took the damned thing, even though he stalled when he noticed my further unease. He rested back on his throne and started to open the sheet right there.
I jerked forward, snatching it out of his hands.
He blinked in a sluggish fashion, his hands still raised. Slower still, his intelligent eyes flicked to mine, and I quickly stared at his nose again. There was a beat of silence, then he drawled, “I’m confused, Ms Jules. You wanted me to take the paper and read it.” He paused, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a bit of humor in his lazy tone. “Yet you take it away when I actually do as you unprecedentedly demand.”
I flicked a finger to his shapely accessory. “Not with Lissa reading over your shoulder.”
That was where I quickly realized I made my first mistake. Because even though I wasn’t staring directly in his eyes, I still saw them sharpen further on me. This man was most definitely not the Walker, his aptitude shining brightly in his eyes no matter what he did outwardly to try to mask it. He purred softly, “You’ve met Lissa before, have you, Ms Jules?”
I froze for a few moments, but I quickly recovered. “I haven’t really met her myself, but when I was here at the Temple before, I saw her once and overheard her name.”
He cocked his head slightly on his throne. “And when were you here last, Ms Jules?”
“A few years ago,” I stated offhandedly. I held the paper up, waggling it. “Now, back to business. I want only your eyes on this sheet.” I seriously didn’t care if I offended his shiny accessory.
“You mean the eyes you won’t meet?” He was taunting and teasing me, and this humming tone was not one I knew at all.
There was no point in lying, since I still didn’t have it in me to look him in the eyes. “Yes, those would be the ones.” I lifted my gaze to bright green narrowed eyes and asked on a soft whisper to his pretty-pretty accessory, “If you don’t mind, could you park your ass somewhere else?” My smile wasn’t kind as her face flushed with anger at the—um—somewhat unkind question. “This is Ruler business. I’m sure you’ll understand, hmm?”
“Leric,” she hissed, still a drama queen. My initial thoughts five years ago about her had been accurate. Lissa placed her right hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. “Do something about this unacceptable blemish.”
I couldn’t help but stare for a few ticks at where her hand was, utterly frozen. A rush of jealousy, uncalled for but because of the fucking Walker, flooded my system. I quickly averted my gaze and decided to keep my mouth shut because, honestly, they could be married for all I knew.
The One eyed me and then patted her hand. “Lissa, be a dear and go stand by Roselle for a few moments while I take care of business.”
“Leric…” she whined quietly.
I sighed deep inside, staring over his chair while waiting patiently for him to take care of the drama queen, which he did expediently, taking her hand from his shoulder. Whatever look he gave her had her moving instantly to Roselle’s side, so I lowered my eyes again to his nose. This time when I handed the paper over, I made sure to hold just the bare edges so he couldn’t touch my fingers. But I was pretty sure my covertness was a lost cause because he, again, watched my hand closely as he took the paper.
The One opened it slowly. He asked dryly, “Is it safe to read now?”
My lips pinched at being as secretive as I was, but it was needed. “Yes.”
More dry words. “Thank you.” He read the names and his eyebrows rose. He snapped the sheet closed, and he asked in a lazy tone, “Is this really needed, Ms Jules?”
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”
His thumbs thumped on his chair. “I’ll grant your request for a private meeting.”
Chapter Nineteen