Electus (Regnum Series Book 1) by K.M. Link Read Free Book Online

through the events of last night. Even though she spent a majority of her free time physically preparing for this event, Tia wonders if she will be able to recover from her blunder the previous evening. Not only did she freak out on stage, she vomited in front of the audience, leaders, and anyone else in the viewing area. Tia is afraid that no amount of physical endurance, or high ranking scores in school, can assist her in erasing that image from the leaders’ minds.
    After she showers, Tia decides to hunt down some sustenance. In the refrigerator she spots eggs and some milk. This will work , she thinks.
    There is a knock at the door.
    “Of course,” she mumbles, and opens it to find Quade. “What?” she snaps.
    Quade, without a word, enters her room. He is already dressed and prepared to go downstairs. His temper is hanging on by a thread. Tia shuts the door, waiting for him to explode. “Look, before you say anything...” she starts, and he cuts her off.
    “No, you look. I need you to just cut the attitude, Tia. I’m serious. For too long I’ve been hung up on you. Finally, I accept that nothing will happen between us. Then, yesterday, you just...act…like...all...jealous.” Quade’s arms are flailing around as he speaks. Tia stands far away, as to avoid injury.
    “Jealous? Ha!” Tia’s anger piling up inside of her. I really don’t have time for something so trivial right now. I have a fight to prepare for , she thinks.
    “Yes!” He approaches her, shoving a finger in her face. “Look me in the eye and tell me you are not jealous.”
    She glances up at him. His eyes are glowing red, hers pink. Why do we always end up like this?
    “Fine. Maybe a little jealous. But admit that you are trying to make me jealous.” She places her hands on her hips.
    “What if I am? It’s the only way to get the truth out of you!”
    In a huff, she stomps into the bathroom.
    “Where are you going?” he quizzes, following her.
    “Excuse me if I don’t want to stand around and argue in my bath robe when we have to be down in the lobby in forty-five minutes.” She slams shut the door to the bathroom.
    “Oh, slamming the door. Real original, Tia! Haven’t seen you do that before!”
    She flings open the door. “If you are going to stand here in my room, could you at least make us breakfast? The eggs are in the fridge. I have to dry my hair,” she requests, calmly, then gently closes the door, a second time.
    He stands there, for a moment, not sure what he should do.
    “Okay! But only because I’m hungry! Not because your demon eyes demand it!” Next thing Quade hears is the hair dryer. He walks over and makes some scrambled eggs.
    After five minutes, Tia exits the bathroom, fully dressed, her hair now pulled up in a pony tail.
    “Smells fantastic,” she comments with a smile.
    “Thanks,” Quade returns a grin, forgetting, for a moment, his anger with Tia.
    “I’ll make toast,” Tia declares, as she walks over to the toaster with some bread.
    They stand in the kitchen for a moment to finish preparing their meal. Tia’s demeanor is calm, as she butters the toast for the two of them. Then, the question that haunted her all night comes out.
    “Did you have sex with her?”
    He waits to respond, focusing on placing an even amount of eggs on each plate. “No, she was a little upset with me when she left. I was able to calm her down, but I don’t think we will attempt it again for a while.”
    “Attempt? You almost had sex with her?” Tia pries, flinging butter as she gestures with her hands, and forgetting that she is holding a knife.
    “Well, you thought we did. Why is attempting worse?” he squawks, adding the last bit of eggs to his plate, to make his pile slightly larger.
    “I didn’t think you would actually try to. I asked, because I figured, I already knew the answer was no.” Tia goes back to her task. Then realizes something. “Wait, why didn’t you?”
    He sighs and grabs his piece of