Ruler [Blood Magic, Book 3]

Chapter 49: Kiss Me

My father had been somewhat wrong in his assessment. I had been giving Keel a chance. It's why I wasn't swatting his hand away when he tentatively tested the boundaries of our friendship or shoved him off the mornings I found him wrapped around me. It was also why I was frequently siding with Ephraim during our magic lessons. If His Majesty needed me to toughen up in certain areas, he needed to do the same. We couldn't accept the gift of great power if we had no competent way to use it, and like learning to fight, wielding magic took practice, practice, and more practice. And the more we practiced and the more he touched me, the more my nerve endings awoke to our shared electricity and the more I felt drawn to him. The bond's noose tightened. There would come a day when both "no" and "wait" would be rendered obsolete. Yet that eventuality still scared me.

Even my father understood the dangers of how Keel could hurt me, he'd relayed that in the elevator. It was the price of this bond. And the only thing that stood between me and that fate was time.

I needed to talk to Lucia. I needed her cold, hard common sense.

When I arrived back in the royal chambers, Keel was at his desk poring over compound spreadsheets. He acknowledged my presence with a curt nod and then returned to his work. I walked to the desk and placed a hand on his shoulder. He dropped his pen. He may have taken to touching me but until now I'd mostly been keeping my hands to myself.

"Did you and Bruce finish setting up the computer so Lucia and I could video chat?" I asked.

"We did."

"Do you think I could go upstairs and talk to her?"

Keel swung his chair around and looked at me. "Now?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Unless it's not a good time."

"Is this about the meeting you just had with your father?"

"Yes," I said again, fully expecting him to ask for details, but he didn't.

"Okay, let's go," he said, standing, leaving his work open and abandoned on his desk.

Keel shed his royal robes and walked with me up to the surveillance room, once there he gave me a quick tutorial on how to access the software I'd need and how to navigate the additional encryption and security measures that were supposed to prevent any sorcerers from spying on our chats. It wasn't entirely foolproof or without danger, Keel explained, but the danger was mostly on Lucia's side and he had a pair of Nosferatu keeping watch over her.

"The same ones you threatened would snatch her if I screwed up?" Even now, I found my brain going to the darkest place first.

"Yes," he'd confirmed, before assuring me she was no longer in any danger from his soldiers or himself. "We've moved past that."

This time I believed him. Keel and Bruce had put a lot of work into opening up this channel of communication for me, when snatching Lucia and bringing her here would have likely been at least ten times easier and several times cheaper.

Keel stood behind me as I opened the chat window he'd shown me earlier and typed Lucia, are you awake?

We both watched the box and waited for a response.

Suddenly, a yes appeared below my question.

I grinned and put my fingers back on the keys. Want to try a video chat?

Sure, Lucia replied, but I'll need to talk quietly. Don't want to wake up Mom.

I clicked from the chat window to the video conferencing software Bruce had installed and told it to dial Lucia, the only number in the app's address book. It barely rang once before a black square appeared in the centre of the screen, resolving itself into the familiar face of my best friend a moment later. I wasn't prepared for the pang of homesickness that swept over me and my breath hitched. Keel's hand settled on my shoulder and a feeling of calm moved through me, spreading outward from where he touched me.