Chapter 15: By Memory
"You... you painted this from memory?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"I couldn't get the image out of my head," Zion said, stepping into my personal space until we were barely an inch apart. He reached out, and this time, he didn't pull back. His gloved thumb traced the line of my jaw, a touch so light it was almost a suggestion. "The way you looked at me... it wasn't like the others. There was no worship in your eyes. Only a challenge."
My pulse spiked, a frantic rhythm against my ribs. "I’m not here to be your muse, Zion."
"I know what you’re here for, Diana," he whispered, leaning down until his lips were a hair’s breadth from mine. I could smell the faint, sweet tang of the rose petal I had eaten earlier, or perhaps it was just the scent of the garden clinging to him.
The air between us felt electric, a storm waiting to break. I should have pulled away. I should have struck him, or laughed, or made a joke to shatter the spell. But I stayed. I leaned into the heat, my lips parting instinctiv
"Do you?" I breathed, the words a challenge and a plea all at once.
"I know you’re a mystery," he murmured, his gaze dropping to my mouth. "And I’ve always been a very patient man when it comes to solving them."
He didn't kiss me. Instead, he pulled back just as the tension reached a breaking point, his hand dropping from my face. He offered a small, knowing smile—the kind that told me he knew exactly how much power he held over me.
"But we shouldn't keep the kitchen waiting," he said, his voice returning to its regal, detached tone. "Dinner is being served. And I believe Angela mentioned you have a fondness for the honey-glazed quail."
As I followed him out of the solar, my legs felt like lead and my mind was a chaotic blur. He was playing with me, weaving a web of silk and art and honeyed words, and I was walking right into the center of it. I looked back at the unfinished portrait of the girl in the woods—the girl who was supposed to be a spy.
In the painting, she looked like she was drowning. And as I stepped into the hallway, I realized I was, too.