Raising his hand to my mouth, he strokesmy lower lip with his thumb.“You’re cut.”
My tongue dartsout to lick the tearhegavemelatelast night.It toucheshis finger,and I suck in a breath as a jolt of arousal lights me up inside.“Yeah,”I stammer.“It got caught on your piercing.”
And thatisnotan image I need in my head right now.But withevery inhale, I’mbreathinghim in.And now he’s fillingmy lungs, my body, my heart, leaving me craving and wet.My eyes closing, I lean towards –
He dropshis handandstepsback.“I’ll go with you.”
I blink.“What?”It takes me a second.But thenhis wordssinkin.Oh, no.No, no, no.My last moments, however longtheyare,arenot going to be filled with him.Lifecan’tbe that cruel.I open my mouth, then close it again.“You?”
Hisheatedstare turnsdry.“I do not take pleasure in repeating myself.”
“But…”
Turning from me, he walkstowards the dresser.It’s more like a mini-room up here rather than a study,and I wonder if he had the mezzanine added so he could sleep in it or if it was part of the original design.
“I can take the time to re-cement our treaty with King Openhai while we’re there,”he says as heopensthe seconddrawer and pullsout ablacktunic.He wrapsit around his backandunder his wings.Then he slipshis arms into the sleevesbefore tyingit at the front.
“But he doesn’t live there,” I point out in desperation.“He’s a couple towns away.”
“I’ll have him meet us there.”
“But –”
He turnsaround to face me, holding a black leather belt folded in half.“We will leave inthreehours to give him time to arrive.I’ll send someone to get a list fromFabiaabout what she wants.”
“Can’t she come with?”And then wecanescape, and Iwon’thave to die and –
He smilessoftly.“No.She’ll stay here as collateral.”The belt uncoils, its length reaching to the floor.
Snagged, my eyes follow it.Thoughts of him using it on me… Of me using it on him…
“Isthere anything else you want?”my kingaskssoftly, dangerously.
My pussy screamsfor me to say yes.
Luckily, my brainspeaksfirst.“N-no.”
“Then you’re dismissed.”
Twenty-Five
Agood brownie never commits murder.
Is that a hard and fast rule?Or is that one of the ones that is okay to break?-Arienna
I stumble out of the studyon shaky legs.As the guardsleadme back to myroom, I try not to panic over what’s about to happen.Richardisgoingto my house.To my wasp-infected house.Myvenomous, aggressive,wasp-infected house.
As Ienter mychambers, I find half a dozen jumpsuits and acouple ofdresses waiting for me.I guess Ella took the initiative and got herself that raise.The guards shut the door behind me, and I walk over to the pile of clothes in a daze.
Mindlessly, Itake a shower and thenputon a plum-coloured jumpsuit with a silver cape sleeve.A good brownie wouldtellRichardwhat he’sgoing to be walking into, but alittle voicetellsme not to.That allI haveto do to fix my current predicamentiswithhold a bit of information.
And it’s not likethere’sanything in the rulebook thatsayswecan’tkeep secrets.In fact, rule two hundred and fivesays, ‘A goodbrownie always keeps another’s secretsif they’re asked to’.
And the wasps would ask me if they could speak,I’m sure,considering most people want to kill them onsight.So really,I would be a bad brownie if Ididwarn himabout them.
Not to mention, by staying silent, Iamactively trying to stop someone from committing a murder – my murder.So according to the rules, I would be a bad brownie if I didn’t try to ‘accidental death’ him before I died.
Right?
