“Maz?” The fear leaked out of me at the surety it was him, and not a raider who had broken into our home. I released a relieved breath.
But anger quickly replaced it.
“What are you doing? I nearly threw my dagger at you! Don’t surprise me in the middle of the night like this, I could have killed you.”
He stepped forward then, and I saw his features clearly—hair like he’d been through a windstorm, dark shadows lining his eyes, and a hint of stubble across his jaw. His clothing was askew—which never happened—and instead of his usual black-and-gold outfit that signified he belonged to the emperor, he wore a simple tan kurta with loose trousers and his scimitar in a sheath strapped tohis belt. Mud was splattered across his lower half, and he looked as if he’d waded through quicksand to get here.
I curled my lip. “You look terrible.”
He huffed out a laugh that I could tell surprised him, as if he hadn’t expected to laugh tonight. Then he came to the bed, the mattress dipping with his weight. I moved over to give him room.
My pulse sped up for an entirely different reason than fear. Maz had never been in my room in the middle of the night before, and my treacherous mind was thinking all sorts of treacherous thoughts.
What did his skin feel like under my fingers?
Would he still smell like pine and a mountain rainstorm lying beside me?
Would my name sound the same if he whispered it in my ear?
What sighs would he make if my hands threaded through his hair?
I exhaled and curled my fingers in the thick quilt on my bed. Then I forced myself to shake the thoughts from my head.
At this close distance he looked even worse, his eyes bloodshot, a bruise forming on his chin I hadn’t noticed before. Normally, he was impeccable, crisp jacket, combed hair, face so clean it was as if the outside elements didn’t dare touch him.
But there was something different beyond what he looked like. He carried an air of heaviness that weighed down the whole room. My eyes narrowed on the bruise.
Anger rose tight and abrupt in my chest.
“What happened? Who did this to you?” My voice was like a harsh knife slicing through the weighty silence, but it seemed to shake him loose.
“How do you know something happened?” His dark eyes met mine, and the moon illuminated the bits of gold flecked in the iris.
“You look awful, and you showed up in my room in the middle of the night, which means you rode at dusk and through the valley in the dark.” I cocked my head, looking again at the bruise. “You wouldn’t do that if something hadn’t happened. Something bad.”
A breath eased from him, but I could tell it wasn’t one of relief. He was steeling himself for something. Then he turned to me, and this time the glint of moonlight caught the whites of his eyes, causing the darkness in them to stand out. For a minute, he didn’t look like my Maz, but rather someone darker, wilder. Someone capable of doing unspeakable things.
My Maz.
That thought jarred me. Since when had I begun thinking of him asmyMaz?
“Dani.” He breathed my name and lifted his hand to my face. I held my breath, suspended in the moment as the callused pads of his hands rested on my cheek. Something caught in my chest, a wild bird struggling to get free. A hawk soaring from a great height, taking an exhilarating dive toward its prey.
“Tell me something true.” His voice rasped the words out, a deep scratch like he’d been swallowing sand.
“What?” I shook my head, clearing it from the feel of his hand.
“Tell me something true, something real.” He looked at me earnestly, almost desperately, his lips pressed firmly together and a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I need something true right now.” He lowered his hand from my cheek, but I still felt the heat of him on my skin.
“Maz, what is going on? You aren’t acting like yourself.”
He touched his forehead to mine, and my heart pounded between us, so loud I was surprised he didn’t look down and see it beating against my loose cotton kurta.
“Vahid killed my mother.”
I sucked in a breath, the air whistling between my teeth. If my fingers weren’t still gripping my quilt for dear life I would have reached up and given him the human contact he looked like he craved.
But we weren’t that to each other. I wasn’t sure if he even wanted that.
