I’m up. He is talking to someone. I keep my eyes closed. Who is he talking to? A maid?

  Shit. I open my eyes.

  The lady looks back at me with a hatred I recognize from my first night in the Onyx Court. The room drops in temperature, and I shiver.

  Kai causally places his hand over my knee, providing even more heat. More relief.

  “That is no way to go about this,” he’s saying.

  Who is this lady? Kai squeezes once.

  I swear I catch a few shadows slithering away.

  “I see no other way fit. It’s the only way,” he finishes.

  “I see,” he says. And the servant leaves, frustrated by something.

  “You let me sleep?” I squak.

  “You didn’t have any bad dreams,” he states.

  I think about it, “No. Why?”

  “No reason.”

  I raise an eyebrow. The light that filled the space looks like it has long ago set.

  He transports us to the bedroom we’ve been sleeping in with the two beds. I automatically lay down on my bed and fight with my blankets to get over me so that I might sleep.

  A thought occurs to me then, “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t need much sleep.”

  I crinkle my nose, “You’re lying, right? Rulers still need sleep. You still…” I stop, “You didn’t eat today.”

  “Neither did you.”

  I crawl out of bed and downstairs to the dining area. He follows me to the empty room, so I go to the kitchen. I’ve never seen a place so full of food.

  “What do you want?”

  “Nothing, we can sleep.”

  I pull out everything to make fish and rice, and start making it.

  “You don’t have to cook for me.”

  “Who said it was for you?” I tease.

  But I serve him most of it. He switches our plates, and I scowl at him. But I can’t eat very much anyway. My appetite is not there.

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  “Bedtime?” He asks as soon as our plates are finished.

  “Yes, please.”

  He transports us right up there, into the room, and I lie in bed and look at him, “You start sleeping by lying down. You should try it.”

  He sighs, “I won’t sleep for a while.”

  “Why not?”

  “I just can’t.”

  I lay down for a while, but I’m not having any luck either. I’m trying to rid myself of the stupid idea, but it keeps playing in my head. There is something about that power; I want more of it.

  I look across the room again and meet his eyes, “You’re curious?” He starts for me.

  “How’d you know?” I tease, then I realize it might be another power.

  He shakes his head, probably guessing where my thoughts are going; however, he does it.

  I sit up, “How do you do the heat thing?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just something that my power does.”

  “That servant made me feel cold, and I think you felt it too. Why don’t I have one if I have a power?”

  He smirks, “You actually do have one.”

  “And you didn’t tell me? What is it? Cold or heat?”

  “Come here.”

  “What?”

  He waits, so I very slowly make my way to him. He acts less patiently, grabbing my waist and pulling in into his bed. He sets me on top of him like we do this every night.

  My face flushes with embarrassment, my body locking into a stiff position.

  “It’s not an easy thing to describe, so we’ll see if I can get you to see it.”

  “How would you do that?”

  I am suddenly too curious to care about the proximity.

  “May I?” He reaches for my hand. I hesitantly give it to him. The heat returns, and I cannot help but sigh.

  “Using me for my power?” He teases.

  I pull away, “This was your idea.”

  “I know,” he reaches for my hand once more. Again, I feel the comfort of the warmth. I try to think about what mine might be, but that doesn’t do anything.

  “Here,” He grabs my wrist instead, and very slowly puts my hand to his heart on top of his other one, which he slowly removes. He shudders, as if he hates this, he but does it anyway.

  First, he closes his eyes, then sighs as I did. I see it then. I see color… It’s… My color? Or rather, a beautiful swirl of them, each carrying an emotion.

  “It is your color,” he says quietly, “I’m drunk off your power.” He motions to my hand still on his chest.

  I start to move it, but he stops me.“ It feels like this,” he reaches out his hand, and it finds my heart.

  “Oh,” the breath is knocked away from me.

  His heat is a mere whisper compared to this. It’s everything. His emotions, little bits and pieces of himself that I cannot decode. And in it, I find my color, making him happy currently. I view it from a distance, confused about how it came from me.

  I force my eyes open, and I understand what he means by drunk. I feel the ultimate high from him. I close my eyes again, drinking it in.

  He laughs, “It feels good,” I hear him say, before I get lost in his emotions and mine again. He’s confused now, too, and I can feel all of his emotions. Is this what having power is like? He doesn’t answer. And both of us stay lost in each other.

  “Why can I feel your emotions?” I say quietly.

  “I can feel yours too.”

  “I thought you said that you couldn’t?” I remove my hand from him.

  “I can’t. Not until now.”

  “Oh.”

  His power is still going through me when he leans in closer, “You have to lie down to sleep. You should try it.”

  I roll my eyes. But then I realize that he means it.

  Nervousness fills me, and I know he can feel it. Shit. This is not going well. I glance at the other bed.

  He grabs my shoulders and has me lie down right on top of him. He finds my hand and carefully moves it to his heart, all while keeping his hand over mine. His power rocks me to sleep. I even try to fight it, but I cannot win. The very heat is wrapping around me and tucking me in.