Page 34 of Blade of the Nightking

“The Warden⁠—”

“I will tell the Warden,” Aedric cut in dangerously. “Not a word to anyone.”

“Yes, my Lord,” she murmured. She closed her fingers around the brittle orb, gathered her skirts, and hurried out.

Hamish shut the door behind her.

The silence left in her wake was unbearable.

I stood there breathing too fast, my chest rising and falling as though I were winded. The room felt stuffy, too small, the air heavy and stale in my lungs. My ears rang, a dull rushing sound that swallowed everything else, even my own thoughts.

This had to be a nightmare.

That was the only explanation. A fever dream. A punishment for believing, even for a moment, that I was safe.

Aedric couldn’t look at me. His head was turned away, tilted slightly down, his mouth set in a hard line. I yearned to reach for him, to bury my face in the crook of his neck. The tension in his jaw was so severe it looked painful, the muscles standing out as though he were doing everything in his power to hold himself together.

And then I felt it through the pull between us. Distress. Turmoil.

Hamish stared straight ahead, a silent soldier guarding the door. I wished he would spare me even a single comforting glance. Some softness in his eyes would have been enough to tell me everything was going to be all right. But he didn’t look at me either.

I didn’t dare move. I didn’t dare reach for the towel to cover myself. I simply stood there, naked and waiting. Waiting for the axe to fall. For Aedric to shout, to lash out, to show me the full force of his anger.

I shivered, goosebumps prickling over my skin despite the warmth of the room.

“Aedric—”

“Did you know?” His voice was low, more growl than speech, something animal beneath it.

“N—no,” I stammered.

“Don’t lie to me.”

The words were barely louder than a murmur, but when he finally turned and his gaze locked onto mine, it felt like being burned alive. Worse than the dragonfire.

He’d never looked at me like that. Not even at his angriest.

“Aedric—” I tried again.

“You’re bonded to a monster.”

Hamish shifted, watching Aedric from the corner of his eye. The movement was minuscule, but it spoke volumes. His fingers twitched near his belt, where his iron blade hung sheathed.

“When?” Aedric demanded, his fists curling tight at his sides. “When did it happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Think!”

“I am thinking!” Did he think I wanted this? That I would ever choose something like this? To be bonded to the most monstrous being ever to walk Elantis? The male who had brought endless suffering to the Fae when he reigned?

“He tricked me,” I whispered. “I didn’t know⁠—”

Aedric bared his teeth, his body wound so tightly I thought he might spring at me. The fury pouring from him was so intense my magic stirred in answer. It surged protectively from my core, spreading hot across my chest and down my arms as sparks flickered at my fingertips.

He saw it.

His lips pulled back slightly. “You want to fight me?”