Heart of Fire

Chapter Thirty Two

I slept the best I had in a while last night. It was pure bliss.

Kenton is still asleep, bare chested in all his glory with a lazy arm slumped across my waist. It's well past the time I usually get out of bed, but I can't seem to find it in me to leave his comfort. I only look at his calm face, his features that I've never quite understood they're perfection and effortlessness. It's sickening really, but in a good way.

"I can't tell if you're staring at me in admiration or if you're doing it to be creepy." He mumbles with his eyes still closed, his voice raspy with sleep.

A laugh escapes my lips, "Both. Is there a problem with that?" I ask playfully, resting my chin on his chest to look up at him.

He cracks one eye open to look at me, a sleepy smile crawling up on his face. I shriek as he flips us over, keeping one arm around my waist and putting most of his body weight on top of me.

"You can look at me whenever you want, sweetheart. As long as I get to do this," He says, pressing his lips to mine.

Kenton may not have been my first kiss, but he is most certainly the best one, my favorite one. Even with Hudson, I didn't feel the connection with him that I do with Kenton. Kenton isn't a distraction for me, something I needed to take my mind off of things for a moment. He is more than that, he's more than a silly hookup to me.

"We should probably get out of bed." I say as he pulls away, earning a grunt from him. "We need to figure out what we're going to do about what Zehra told us." I counter.

"Or we could just run away from our problems by staying in bed all day." He offers, batting his eyelashes.

"Nope, not going to work on me. The group is most likely biting their nails waiting for us."

"You told them?" He asks, perking up slightly in concern.

"Not exactly, but I told them something was wrong. They deserve to be included in this as much as we are." I say sitting up, bringing the sheet to my chest.

He sits up as well, however he doesn't cover anything. I have to avert my eyes to look at his face. "I'll remind you, they are your friends, not mine. Therefore I don't have to tell them anything, nor do I have to get out of this bed."

I give him a stern look, but I can't conceal the smile that comes up. "Maybe not, but you're right, they are my friends. I want to tell them, I want their help, and I want you to come with me."

"Fine." He says, rolling his eyes.

A huge smile breaks across my face and I steal one last kiss from him before getting out of bed to get ready.

***

"Finally, you're here." Hudson sighs in relief, opening his door to let Kenton and I in.

It took longer than I was expecting to get ready. Kenton was...distracting me slightly. Nonetheless, we made it to the group, who is currently scattered across Hudson's room looking very bored. Even Brooks is here, looking much more alive than last night. They perk up as we enter the room, looking expectantly at us.

"Sorry we took so long, I...slept in late." I mutter, my cheeks heating up.

"Oh my god." Amelia says, her mouth gaping open in shock.

"No. Not a word." I demand, pointing at her. She throws her hands up in mock surrender, not bothering to contain her laughs.

"Anyway, what the hell happened with Zehra?" Brooks asks.

Kenton and I look at eachother, silently communicating. I give him a nod, letting him take the lead on this.

"She told us there wasn't an heirloom, at all, it doesn't exist. My father lied, set the entire thing up, even Adira's kidnapping. We don't know what else he's hiding from us, but I'm sure there's more to it." He says, averting his eyes to the floor.

"What? That's crazy, why would he do that?" Hudson asks, his eyes wide.

"Zehra said he wants more control over me, but I think it's more complicated than that." I say, biting the tip of my nail. "Which is why we need to find out what else Bastian is hiding."

"Yes, alright, even if he is hiding more, how do we find out?" Fyn asks, logical as always.

"We need to break into his office." I say, as if it's simple.

"That's next to impossible, Adi. His office is locked and guarded at all times, we always got caught when we tried to get in there as kids." Hudson says.

I nod, "Exactly. We were kids, Hudson. Now we have an entire group to help, we're smarter and stronger. All we need is a solid plan."

The group is hesitant, I can tell just by their demeanours. Even Kenton seems on edge.

"Or maybe it's foolish, I-"

Amelia cuts me off, "No, I say we do it. We find out what this twisted bastard is hiding from the kingdom and we go from there." She says. I look at her in appreciation, thankful that someone wants to figure this out just as bad as I do.

"We might fail." Hudson adds.

"Maybe, but if Adira is in danger, or hell, even the kingdom, I'm willing to take that chance." Kenton says, determined and unfaltering.

I smirk at the group around me, my friends. My family. "Let's unravel the king, kids."