She eased herself further into his lap. “Now? I think fate intervened at the opera. I think she wanted you to protect me.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to her neck.
Rune tilted her head to give him easy access. Normally, she would have recoiled at his kisses. Now she felt nothing. She’d played this game hundreds of times before. It’s how she’d saved so many witches.
Tonight, Rune felt foreign to herself. Like it wasn’t really her sitting on Soren’s lap, nor was it her hands running through his hair. Like this girl was a ghost, and the real flesh-and-blood Rune was somewhere else.
You’ve spun the web,she told herself,now bait it.
Every minute she wasted was another minute of Gideon at Cressida’s mercy.
“Do you remember the surprise I mentioned?” she asked, feigning a small gasp as Soren’s teeth scraped her collarbone.
“How could I forget?” he murmured against her skin.
“It’s a holiday,” she said. “You and I are going to Caelis for the weekend. I’ve booked everything. The dinners, the ballet, the hotel room…”
At the wordshotel roomSoren pulled back. His blue eyes darkened, the pupils dilating. Probably imagining what the two of them alone in a hotel room would mean.
Forcing Rune to imagine it, too.
One day, I’ll have to spend every night in his bed.
Soon, it wouldn’t just be a weekend. Once they were married, it would be the rest of her life.
Her skin prickled.
Soren’s hands roamed freely now. Up her thighs. Under her dress.
I know the Crimson Moth. And she is no caged thing.Gideon’s voice brushed her mind like a whisper.I pity the man who clips her wings.
Rune grabbed Soren’s wrists, halting his progress. “I need you to do something for me.”
His breath shuddered out of him. “Yes?”
“Seal the alliance with Cressidatonight. And then tomorrow, we can celebrate in Caelis.”
Cupping the back of her neck with both hands, Soren angled her face to his. “Fine,” he said, moving in for another kiss. “I’ll find her as soon as—”
“No.” Rune pressed herself flush with him. “Find hernow. And don’t take no for an answer.”
“All right, all right.” Soren chuckled, mistaking her motives entirely. He gave her thighs a squeeze. “Consider it done, my darling.”
Dragging himself away from Rune and the bed, he gave her one last hungry look before ordering his soldiers to stand guard at the door.
And then he locked her in.
SIXGIDEON
“WHO SHOULD I HURTto make you comply?”
Cressida faced Gideon, her willowy frame mere inches from his. Beyond her, Ava stood at the sink, smoothing her hair.
“One of the staff?” said Cressida when Gideon didn’t answer. “One of their children?” She trailed off, thinking about it. Her hands slid down his chest, dropping to his trouser buttons. “Or perhaps Rune Winters?”
She must have misunderstood the expression that crossed his face, because she continued: “The things I’ve done to you can easily be inflicted upon the Crimson Moth. In fact”—she smiled, undoing the first button of his trousers—“you could watch while I do it. Would you like that?”
Every muscle in his body tightened.
