Page 210 of Blade of the Nightking

He opened the curtain and held it for me while I ducked out. He made to join me but Elyndra caught his arm. “Please,” she begged. “I may have your gratitude”—she looked up at him through full, white lashes—“but let me earn your forgiveness as well.”

Rìan's gaze moved over her face, and I found myself wondering how he wasn't squinting. Her beauty was like staring into the sun.

His attention shifted to her still-dark hair, a mirror of my own. Slowly, he reached up and gathered a thick lock between his fingers, the gesture so unexpectedly gentle it hurt to watch.

He nodded.

My stomach dropped. “Rìan—” I started.

“Go back to the room.”

He buried his hand in Elyndra's dark hair. A soft sound escaped her as she leaned into his touch, her own hands fisting in the front of his shirt.

“But—”

“I said go back to the room.” The words cracked like a whip.

Before I could argue further, he disappeared into the alcove with Lady Elyndra. The curtains settled back into place behind them.

CHAPTER 44

Iwas absolutely livid.

Livid, and yet... this anger hurt. It sat heavy in my chest, dense and suffocating, as I stared at the curtains rippling faintly near the floor. I couldn't hear what was happening beyond them, but then again, it was impossible to hear much of anything over the chorus of moans and cries saturating the air.

I hadn't anticipated this. That Lady Elyndra had once been his lover. That they so clearly still carried something between them. And that this quest of ours to break this damned bond would somehow include a stop at a brothel so Rìan could scratch a three-hundred-year-old itch.

I wanted to scream.

Why should I care what he did with Elyndra? Who wouldn't want something to do with Elyndra? Gods, after five minutes in her company, even I’d nearly been tempted.

I drew in a slow breath, then another, trying to steady the furious pounding of my heart.

I had to be sensible. I forced myself to focus on the useful part of all this.

Rìan had carried me across the wards because Lady Elyndra had altered them so he could pass. She'd betrayed the Full Circle—which made her an enemy of Elantis. I'd stumbled upon a traitor.

And that traitor was most likely entangled with him at this very moment.

I ground my teeth so hard that something cracked in my jaw.

I couldn't stop thinking about the way she'd touched him. The way he'd wound her hair between his fingers, something raw and aching crossing his face—an expression I'd never thought him capable of.

“Alright, poppet?” a breathless voice called.

I spun around.

The female who'd shown us to the room—or at least, I thought it was her; it was hard to tell beneath the veil—was pinned against a wall, a male pressed against her. Her robes were shoved up around her hips, one smooth leg hooked around his waist as he drove into her, his trousers bunched around his ankles. She made a theatrical show of moaning before rolling her eyes and winking at me.

I had no idea what to do.

She seemed to be waiting for an answer, but I couldn't think past the wet, rhythmic slap of flesh.

“I... I...” I stammered.

“He found a companion?” Her eyes flicked toward the curtain and back to me, visibly disappointed.

“I... yes.” A lump formed in my throat.