“I’ve been hearing about how well you’ve been settling into life at Regency Mount,” Magnus says as we have breakfast on one of the garden terraces. It’s in the middle of winter but he heats the air around us to make it pleasant enough.

I can’t help but remember that only a few months ago, we were sitting in this very same place. Magnus telling me that I was about to be shipped off to a boarding school full of royal brats and me wanting more than anything to go back to Earth. But now … now, things are undeniably different. In that relatively short space of time, I feel like I’ve lived more than I had in all of my seventeen years on Earth and I know that it has something to do with something I’m certain Magnus knows nothing about. Or more accurately, someone.

But the way that Magnus is eyeing me, makes me wonder. Jethro told me at the Fall Ball that he had eyes and ears all over Regency. I wonder if that’s the case for all the Dynasty heads.

I find it hard to meet Magnus’s eyes as he studies me across the breakfast table.

I grasp for something to say to distract him from just how well I have been settling in at Regency.

“You mentioned that you’ve been heading a lot of missions lately—does it have anything to do with what you told me before? About Earth not being safe for me anymore?”

That does the trick, because Magnus becomes instantly wary at the question.

“Yes,” he replies simply.

“Care to elaborate?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow and now I really do want to know. I’ve been so immersed in all the drama at Regency, that Magnus’s warnings from when he first dragged me through that portal have fallen by the wayside. In hindsight, I see how warped my priorities have become—life in danger or guy drama. Which is more important? But Magnus’s determination to keep me in the dark has made the threat feel so distant, that it’s easy to forget that it exists at all.

It also reminds me just how much my life has changed these past few months. I feel like if I look in the mirror right now, really look, I might not even be able to recognize myself. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I’ve yet to decide.

“You know I can’t,” he says flatly.

“But it’s my life that’s supposedly in danger there—or were you just saying that to keep me here? Because when I—” I stop abruptly before I let slip that Raph had stolen the St. Tristan key so that we could take a little forbidden field trip to Earth just to spend an afternoon at the beach. I know that Magnus would be furious, but nothing happened while we were there. Not a single hint of danger. Something gnaws at the back of my mind, as I remember that feeling of being watched. I brush the thought away just as I had that day, because like I told myself then, it was clearly nothing more than paranoia.

Magnus looks back at me expectantly. Waiting for me to finish. Dammit.

“Because I don’t see any danger from where I’m sitting,” I finish lamely.

“That’s as it should be. It is essential that state threats are dealt with sensitively and confidentially. As I told you before, this matter in particular, is something that not even the other Dynasties know about.”

Alarm whispers through me at those words. State threats? That sounds pretty serious.

“One day, when you’re dealing with such matters, you’ll understand.”

I scoff at that.

“Just because I haven’t tried to run off back to Earth yet doesn’t mean I’m now ready and willing to take up the mantle as heir to the Evenstar Dynasty or whatever else you want me to be.”

Something flickers in the depths of Magnus’s eyes and I feel myself bristle at what I see there.

“When the time comes, Jazmine, you will have little choice and I have every belief that you will be ready.”

I roll my eyes. These people and their propensity to take away choices.

“Then I don’t think you know me very well,” I retort.

Magnus’s eyes grow thoughtful.

“No, I think it’s quite the contrary—it’s you who doesn’t know yourself very well.”

I stare back at him blankly. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

“You’re destined for great things, Jazmine. In time, you’ll realize that.”

I think he must be talking about his hopes for me to succeed him as the head of the Evenstar Dynasty, something I can’t even imagine myself doing. But there’s something about the way he’s looking at me which makes me think there’s more to it.

“Care to elaborate on that one, too?”

“Yes.”

My optimism at his words is short lived.

“When the time is right.”

I let out a groan of frustration.

“Do you always have to speak in these mysterious riddles?”

He flashes me an amused smile, and I take that as a cue to ask more questions, although I don’t think Magnus is likely to answer them.

“How about swapping some of those riddles for the truth?”

The amused look disappears instantly.

“The truth, when revealed at the wrong time, is a dangerous thing, Jazmine.”

His words aren’t entirely wrong, but the look in his eyes makes me think that there are far more dangerous things on the horizon than just some wrongly timed truths.

* * *

“What are we doing here?” I ask Magnus later that afternoon as we stand at the center of a large courtyard on the palace grounds, overlooking the wide expanse of rocky coast beneath.

“I’ve been hearing great things from Professor Roman about your progress with elements training, so I’d like to see for myself,” he replies.

“You’re a natural it seems. Just like I said you would be. Hardly surprising given your heritage. Your father was certainly the best in his generation.”

I feel my body bristle at the mention of my father. I haven’t really allowed myself to dwell on it since arriving on Eden and I’ve made it pretty damn clear to everyone around me that it’s not a topic for conversation. But I know it’s something that I won’t be able to avoid forever. I’m just hoping to delay the inevitable for a while longer, I guess.

Magnus gestures to the center of the courtyard expectantly and I gape at him in response.

“You want me to duel with you?” I ask, which earns me a bemused smile.

“My dueling days are long behind me, I’m afraid. But I would like to see how your powers have developed and help you along, if I can.”

It’s clear from his expression that he has no idea exactly who is responsible for my progress to date and I keep it that way, because something tells me that he won’t be pleased to learn the truth.

I take a deep breath and make my way towards the center of the courtyard, with Magnus walking beside me.

We start with unleashing shadows, Magnus letting me show him what I know before he precedes to show me how to hone my skills.

I see from the flashes of pride in his expression, that he’s pleased with what he sees and despite myself, I feel a strange rush of warmth at that. It’s been such a long time since I’ve felt anything like it. Before my mom died, I remember feeling something similar whenever she used to gush over my drawings, but I’d been so young then, the memories merely ghosts in my own mind.

“You have raw power. In fact, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Magnus says, as we take a break from the latest round.

“But you’ll need more than that in a duel. You need to control the shadows instead of letting them control you. The darkness should be at your beck and call, ready to act on your command.”

I feel my brow furrowing in response. What is it with everyone here and dueling? Magnus seems to have the same enthusiasm for it as Raph does and while admittedly, I’ve come to enjoy dueling, I still don’t see why everyone here seems to think it’s so important. I suppose it’s a way of displaying power. But I’ve never been one for showing off.

Still, I can’t deny that Magnus’s tuition is already helping. Raph may be the best in this generation, but Magnus’s experience and wisdom is invaluable, and while Raph’s training has been instrumental in my progress, Magnus is able to teach me to perfect the powers that Raph himself doesn’t possess. Namely the power over the night. The power of our bloodline.

“Again,” Magnus says, gesturing for me to continue, but this time, with a tighter leash on the shadows.

We continue to train for what feels like hours and I lose all track of time until the sun dips low into the horizon, signaling the shift of day to night.

I look up at the sky above as Magnus allows me another pause. The ghost of the crescent moon and the stars above grow more prominent in the darkening sky, and I feel the familiar call in my veins.

Magnus is silent as he stands beside me, but I know he can feel it, too.

“Take my hand,” he says as we stand there, side by side, looking out at the horizon.

I feel his power flow into me and my own flowing into him as we silently paint the horizon with night.

It’s not like that night at Rockford Cape when Raph and I shared our powers. This connection completes some other part of me in a different way.

As night descends on this part of Eden, in that moment, I feel the connection to the only family I have left in the entire universe and suddenly that universe becomes a little less lonely for it.

* * *

“It’s been okay so far, I guess. Magnus trained with me earlier and he says that he wants us to keep training together while I’m home for winter break.

“But he’s being his usual cryptic self and every time he looks at me, I get the feeling that he knows exactly what’s been going on at Regency these past few months ...”

I’m sprawled out on the big ass bed in my equally big ass bedroom, talking to Dani on my cell later that night.

“You mean about you and Raph?” Dani supplies.

“Yeah, Magnus has this all seeing, all knowing thing about him that gives me the creeps sometimes,” I reply.

Dani snorts in response.

“Does it matter if he knows?” she asks me then.

I can’t seem to answer that straight away. Raph’s words to me on that last day of semester has floored me and has changed everything between us. But it doesn’t make things any less complicated between us. Quite the contrary, in fact, and I’m not about to plunge head first into the mess that is surely to follow once Jethro St. Tristan finds out. I have a feeling that Magnus would be less than thrilled, too. Despite wanting desperately to hear those words from Raph, I knew from the moment he said them what the fall out would be and I guess I’m just afraid of the consequences. For him more than for myself.

I thought that once everything was out in the open, and I knew where I stood with Raph, things would be clearer, easier. But it seems like as soon as we get past one hurdle, another one just appears in its place. As soon as one question is answered, another more difficult one is posed. I wonder why everything has to be so hard when it comes to Raph. I tell myself that it’s because it’s worth having. But I wonder for a second whether I’m just fooling myself again.

“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully, letting out a long breath.

Dani doesn’t push it, and I change the subject quickly.

“So, how’s things with your folks?” I ask.

“It’s great, I’ve missed them, so it’s nice to be home,” she replies. She goes on to tell me about her jam sessions with her dad. Apparently, he’s an amazing guitar player and taught Dani all she knows about music.

I lie back and listen to her talk enthusiastically about home and her family. I’m reminded of my own memories with my mom, her teaching me how to pick up a paintbrush for the first time, how to mix colors and the wonder that I felt when she showed me all those things. I feel a pang of wistfulness, but I don’t feel bitter. If anything, hearing Dani talk about her family is strangely comforting. It reminds me that loss isn’t the only thing that exists in the universe.

“Have you seen Baron around?” I ask after a while.

“No, the Aldebran estate is pretty big, so I doubt I’ll bump into him,” she replies. I hear a pause in there somewhere but I don’t read anything into it. Why would Dani need to lie about bumping into Baron?

“You seeing Raph tonight?” she asks then.

“Yeah, he called earlier to say he’s coming later tonight.”

My cell vibrates against my ear then, telling me I’ve got a message. Speak of the devil.

“Gotta go, Dan. Raph’s here,” I say, as I climb off the bed and head out of my bedroom.

“Okay, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she replies breezily.

“Likewise,” I say almost absently.

Dani lets out a weary sigh, but we’ve both hung up before I can make heads or tails of it. Weird. I make a mental note to prod her later.

I text Raph and tell him to meet me by the side entrance. It’s late, so Magnus should be asleep, as should most of the staff. But I don’t want to risk anyone seeing Raph waltz in through the main entrance hall.

He has a wry smile on his face when I greet him at the east wing entrance.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were sneaking me in,” Raph says.

I roll my eyes in response.

“Just get in here.”

He drops a lingering kiss on my lips, which suddenly makes me want to get him back to my bedroom as soon as possible. But I pull away after a few moments, fully conscious that we’re still standing in the middle of the service kitchen.

I turn on my heel and motion for Raph to follow me, but I don’t miss his responding smirk.

The good thing about living in a palace is that the place is so damn huge and the walls so thick, that I’m sure Magnus won’t even sense Raph’s presence here tonight. I don’t know where Magnus’s quarters are, but I’m pretty sure it’s not in the same wing as mine. Perfect. I know from Baron and Keller’s complaints, that Raph and I aren’t always as discreet as we like to believe and the thought of Magnus being awakened by the sound of us in the middle of the night is more than mortifying.

When we get back to my room, I flop down on the bed and Raph stretches out beside me. I turn on my side to look up at him as he props his head up on his elbow. My room is dark, apart from the soft glow of the bedside lamp, but still Raph’s beauty is devastating. God, I wonder for the hundredth time if there will ever come a time when I can look at him without feeling like the breath has been punched out of my lungs and he’s looking at me as if he’s wondering the same thing about me.

I notice that his expression seems pre-occupied, though, his eyes a darker shade than usual.

“What’s wrong?” I ask gently.

He doesn’t answer for a moment, reaching out to touch his fingertips to my cheek instead. I lean in to the touch and cover his hand with my own.

Something flickers in the depths of those midnight blue eyes, but I can’t read it and a moment later it’s gone, replaced by that heart stopping smile that always makes my insides feel weak.

“Nothing. I’ve just missed you,” he replies. I search his expression but the earlier troubled look is gone or at least well hidden. I’ve forgotten just how good Raph is at that. When we first met, his face had been as impenetrable as ice, giving nothing away and now although there’s not a trace of that ice in his gaze, it’s just as unreadable. But I don’t know why that surprises me. After all, Raph was raised for life in the public eye—shielding himself, veiling his true emotions is a necessary skill that he must’ve been taught to master from the day he was born.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s up? You look like something’s bugging you,” he adds. I know what he’s doing, but I don’t want to push him about what’s on his mind, if he’s not ready. Now that he’s back home, he must have a hundred different things to deal with and then of course, there’s his father. I know from the nights that we’ve stayed up talking just how much Raph dislikes being around him and the constant pressures he puts on Raph.

I let out a long sigh.

“Magnus just keeps dropping these not so subtle hints about this great big future planned for me as heir or head or whatever of the Evenstar Dynasty. He keeps talking all this crap about me being destined for greatness but of course, he won’t actually tell me what he means, because the guy seems to speak exclusively in riddles and I’m meant to just trust that the truth will come out at the right time.”

Raph’s gaze flickers, but again, I can’t decipher that look. He takes my hand, and entwines his fingers with mine.

“People underestimate just how destructive the truth can be if revealed at the wrong time,” he says quietly. I eye him curiously, but still I can’t read him.

I let out a frustrated groan.

“Not you, too.”

He grins at me, some of that earlier tension I sensed in him, fading.

For a moment, I consider telling him about Magnus’s warnings that Earth isn’t safe for me anymore, even though its meant to be some Evenstar Dynasty top secret. But I decide against it. It’s not like Magnus has even given me enough to go on and Raph already seems like he has a lot on his mind, without me adding to it.

His expression turns serious again as he lets out a long sigh.

“We should talk about the Winter Ball …” He trails off, his frown deepening. I wonder if this is what’s been on his mind. Because it sure as hell has been on mine. I’ve tried not to think about it, but it looms on the horizon like a dark storm cloud.

We haven’t even touched on the subject until now. The proverbial elephant in the room. But we both know what’s expected of Raph. Going to that ball with Layla is a given. Only a couple of weeks ago, the very thought of it would have made me feel sick. But now … now it feels like it doesn’t really matter. Because I know what he wants. I know who he belongs to. I replay Raph’s words to me that last day of semester—I’m certain that from the first moment I saw you on that beach, I’ve belonged to you, and it feels more than enough. At least for now. One step at a time.

Our gazes lock then and the look in those endlessly blue eyes tells me everything I need to know. He would walk into that ball with me on his arm with the entire world watching, without a second thought, if I asked him to.

But I won’t. Because I care about him enough to know he’s not ready for the consequences of that, and if I’m honest, neither am I.

“You know I would—” he starts to say, as if reading my thoughts. But I don’t let him continue.

“I know,” I reply simply, brushing my fingertips against his jawline.

“I know you would.”

He brings his hand up to close over mine and as ever, his touch sears me.

“You don’t need to prove anything to me. Not right now.”

“Jaz—” he begins to object, but I don’t let him.

“One step at a time,” I say.

He’s silent for a long moment, his eyes searching mine.

“One step at a time,” he repeats finally.

I shift to lie on my back, although I keep my fingers entwined with his by my side as we fall into silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

When I turn back to Raph, his expression is clouded.

“You haven’t … you haven’t changed your mind about us, have you?” he asks then. The uncertainty in his eyes tugs at my chest and I want nothing more than to tell him exactly just how impossible it is that I would ever change my mind about him. That I would ever stop feeling this way for him.

But I’m a coward and I can’t seem to make myself say those words. So, I tell him with my lips against his instead. He kisses me back with equal intensity and keeps kissing me until we’re clawing at each other, his hips grinding mercilessly against the softest part of me and I’m gasping at the waves of pleasure coursing through me.

His t-shirt and jeans come off and they join my discarded clothes somewhere on the floor. Then I find myself straddling him, wearing nothing but my bra, although the lacy material leaves little to the imagination.

I hear his breath hitch, as I reach behind me and unclasp the thin back strap. A second later I’m entirely bare. A few months ago, I’d have felt frighteningly vulnerable and embarrassed but with Raph, the want and need that I feel for him leaves room for little else. He awakens a side of me that I know didn’t exist before him. This brazen person that I become whenever Raph’s hands are on me, is someone that he alone seems to have created.

His eyes darken with barely repressed hunger as his hands travel from my hips to my sides, caressing the sensitive skin there with a featherlight touch. His touch achingly tender in contrast to the bruising desire I see in his eyes.

He’s looking at me with that awe and reverence which steals my breath even before he speaks those words which always feel like a punch in the chest whenever he says them.

“God, Jaz, you’re so beautiful.”

His hands finally move to cup my aching breasts and I hear a breathy moan escape my lips at the contact, followed by his responding groan which is sexy as hell.

Even through the thin material of his boxer shorts, I can feel him hard as granite beneath me and I don’t even seem to be in control of my own body as my hips press down on that hardness.

He curses and his hips thrust up to meet mine as I grind against him, desperate to sate the throbbing at my center.

“Fuck, baby, that feels so good,” he grinds out.

It does. It feels so damn good. But it’s not enough. I want him inside me. I want to claw at him until we’re so joined together, that nothing can tear us apart.

I can feel from the way his hard length is throbbing beneath me and the almost palpable waves of desire coursing from him, that he wants the same thing.

His hand moves from my breast, and the absence of his touch there makes me ache for his warmth. But the ache is quickly replaced by a deeper need as his hand travels down, past my abdomen, then lower still. When his finger spears through my tight passage, my skin burns with that need, until I feel like I’m about to burst into flame.

“More …” I gasp out, as the burning need inside me builds, stripping away all sense and reason. Raph’s responding growl is like fuel to the fire raging inside me.

When he adds another finger, the feeling of fullness makes me cry out and my whole universe narrows to the feel of them thrusting inside me at a rhythm which takes me closer and closer to the edge. The way he’s watching me as I take that pleasure that he’s giving me, undoes me completely and when our eyes lock, the intimacy is almost too much to bear.

I can feel the aching bud at my center throbbing with need, swollen and pulsing painfully, burning away any sliver of inhibition left in me. I can see from the wicked look in those midnight blue eyes, that Raph knows exactly the desperation that he’s driving me to.

My breathing grows ragged until I’m panting, whimpering and finally pleading.

“Please …” I gasp out as I grind down on his hand in an attempt to sate the need throbbing at my center.

Raph curses as he pulls me forward, until my body is flush with his, my breasts crushing against the rock hard expanse of his chest. His hands grab the sides of my face and his mouth crashes onto mine. I open myself up to him instantly and his tongue spears into my mouth so deep, it feels as if he’s trying to devour me, brand me, claim me and I’m only too willing to let him.

We’re both gasping for air when he breaks the kiss and his eyes lock directly onto mine, looking into my very core.

“You don’t ever have to beg me for anything, baby. Everything I am is yours.” His voice sounds so guttural, that I can barely recognize it and for a moment, I find it hard to breathe. I want him. I want him so much, that it feels like I might die from the sheer intensity of that desire.

I want to beg him to bury himself deep inside me until there’s nothing separating us, until our bodies are so fused together, that nothing can possibly exist but him and me.

But before I can open my mouth to voice what we both seem to want, he’s lifting me forward in one swift motion until I’m hovering over his face. I don’t even have a chance to object, because a second later his tongue slices through the center of me. My back arches and I think I see stars.

His groan of approval vibrates through my body and I’m utterly helpless against the torrent of pleasure coursing through my body, pulling me under until I’m gasping for breath. My hips move of their own volition, rocking sensually against Raph’s wicked mouth.

That skillful tongue works me to the edge, devouring me like a man starved and when it slips inside me, I can only cry out as I lose every single one of my senses.

When the waves of pleasure finally subside, I kiss my way down the rock hard expanse of Raph’s golden chest, down to his equally hard abs and further down still to the even harder muscle throbbing beneath. I can feel just how affected Raph is by that trail of fire in the way his powerful body quakes under my lips.

My mouth waters shamelessly at the sight of him and in the same way as he devoured me, I do the same. The way that his body rocks under my touch and the sexy masculine sounds that he makes, sends shivers of pleasure through my own body and when he begins to thrust and his hand forms a fist around my hair, I think I lose my mind at the same time he loses his.

Sometime later, we’re lying blissfully in each other’s arms and I wish for a moment that it can always be like this, that the world outside the one that we’ve created can just disappear.

My hand finds its way to the side of Raph’s left rib where the row of intertwined suns is etched into his golden skin.

“What does this tattoo mean?” I find myself asking, as my fingers trace the outline of the intertwined rays.

“It’s a symbol of the St. Tristan Dynasty,” he replies quietly. “I got it as a reminder of who and what my life belonged to.”

I feel a cold chill racing through me at his words, a reminder of who and what Raph is. A reminder of all that is against us.

“But that was before you,” he says.

“You’re mine now, Jaz and … I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you.”

Those luminous blue eyes lock onto mine and when I take in the perfect contours of his impossibly beautiful face, for a moment I feel like I can’t breathe. This guy—this infuriatingly arrogant and complicated, yet impossibly perfect, impossibly beautiful and frighteningly powerful guy is mine. He can have anyone. Any goddamn girl in this entire world most likely, but he wants me—and I want him. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life. And I can’t quite make myself believe it’s real.

Something inside me makes me hold onto Raph tighter, because I can’t shake the strange feeling descending on my shoulders, the thought that nothing this good, nothing this intense can ever last. Even the brightest stars burn out.

Raph seems to sense something in me, because his arms tighten around me, too. He leans his forehead against mine, his hand cupping my cheek and when he speaks, his eyes are locked directly onto mine, those impossibly blue eyes burning into me.

“What are you doing to me, Jaz?” he asks.

I want to ask the same thing about him. But I already know exactly what he’s done and what he’s continuing to do to me. The thought is terrifying, but when I’m with Raph, I don’t feel that fear.

I find myself remembering Raph’s words to me on my first day in Eden, telling me that I didn’t belong here and how I had believed that. But we’d both been wrong. Because whenever I’m in Raph’s arms, the sense of belonging that washes over me is so intense, that there’s no question in my mind that I’m exactly where I belong, that I can finally stop searching for that place to belong because I’ve finally found it and it’s here. With him.

He kisses me again, and because neither of us can ever seem to get enough, we devour each other all over again.