Purest Corruption - The Darkling [General Kirigan]

• Chapter 29 •

Song of the chapter: Glitter In The Air by P!nk

Play when you see the **

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Rest did not come easily that night, nor the night after that. I know the reasoning behind why, but I don't know if I'm ready to admit it yet. I had already told myself that I'm falling for Kirigan, but admitting that I can't sleep well without him in the room now...I can't take that step without knowing what he's feeling.

His undershirt is the only thing that helps me to get through the long nights I've endured, and I don't doubt that I will continue to endure.

This morning my eyes had flown open to the realization that today is the day I show my powers to everyone the King has invited. I don't know the exact number of people there will be, but I don't doubt it will be enough to cause my nerves to be extreme.

I had worked with Baghra nonstop yesterday. We only had one day to perfect what I would show everyone, and she thinks it to be enough, but I'm not so sure. What we had practiced feels simple and definitely not the eye-catching spectacle I thought I would be expected to perform.

I was extremely stressed trying to come up with something that would prove to people I'm enough. When I'd spoken to Baghra yesterday, she'd been impressed with what I could do after being gone for so long, but she had told me of the whispers she'd heard.

There were very few people who believed that I could tear down the fold if I couldn't rescue myself from Elijah's grasp. And even though I hated to admit it, I doubted myself too because of that very reason.

I sat up in the large bed that had become as unfamiliar as it had been the first night I'd slept in it. Pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around them, I tried inhaling the scent of Kirigan that his shirt held. It had faded throughout the three nights I've had it, but his smell was still subtly there.

An air of comfort wrapped around me as I sat there breathing in what was left of him, but a knock pierced the veil of silence I'd been enjoying. I sighed, removing myself from the bed and walking across the cold floor to the set of doors that led out into the palace hallway.

I opened the doors, fully expecting to see Genya with her kit to begin getting me ready, but instead, I'm met with a face I knew all too well. A face I haven't seen since he walked me to my room the night we returned.

**

"May I come in?" Kirigan asks, and I notice the not-so-subtle smirk which graces his lips as his eyes fall to the black undershirt that was once his.

I feel heat creep up my neck and onto my cheeks as I turn my face away from his, "Yes, you may."

His large hand grips one of the doors right above where my smaller one is, so close his thumb touches mine. My gaze turns to the shock I feel jolt through my skin that his own caused. My mind buzzed with the question of whether or not he had felt it too, but I don't get my answer by looking at his face like I'd hoped.

He was always so good at keeping his emotions hidden when he wanted to.

I shook my head, taking my hand off the door and walking back into my room. Once I was far enough away from him, I let out a shaky breath that didn't calm my nerves one bit. Every time he's around, my entire body is on edge, wondering what his next move will be.

"Baghra tells me you're ready for this evening." His voice comes from somewhere behind me right after the sound of the doors shutting, alerting me to the fact that I am now alone with him in the room where so many things have happened.