Page 128 of Heartbreak Prince

When he has left the room, I slip my arm through Vawn’s. “That was kind of you.”

“My reaction to those pictures wasn’t his fault, and he shouldn’t suffer for it,” Vawn responds, covering my hand with his. “My sweet protector, I do hate letting you out of my sight, but you’re the only one I trust to get him safely to the border. Once you’ve dropped him off, you’ll come right back?”

“About that.” I wince. “I’ve been thinking… there may be a better plan.”

As I expected, Vawn hates my plan, because it involves us being apart for a while. I hate it too—and yet it’s the option that gives us the best chance of taking out the Exemplar and his Redeemers.

We argue about it during a meager dinner with Jillia, Cordall, and Inaya, and then we continue the argument on the way to Vawn’s chamber. Inaya made his room a priority after the Twins’ passing, and it has become semi-livable, although clearing out the hoard revealed numerous unsightly stains and several ragged holes in the walls. The holes have been boarded up, but I still hear things scritch-scratching inside them at night, when I’m lying next to Vawn.

He and I haven’t fucked more than a couple of times since our reunion in the cottage, partly because of the decrepit state of the palace. It’s difficult for me to stay aroused, what with the smell and the stains and the scratching. Even Vawn, who gets hard if I so much as wink at him, has a thorough disgust for the place, which he voices often.

As we enter his room, he continues complaining about the strategy I’ve devised. “You’re going to leave me here. Alone. In a strange country, without anyone to protect me. You don’t care that I’ll miss you terribly.”

“We’ve been so busy we barely get to spend time together anyway,” I counter. “Whenever we aren’t dealing with visiting leaders, you’re painting glyphs on Tularesk soldiers. With me gone, you can focus your attention on that task.”

“I don’t like the invisible paint. It disappears within a minute of its application, which is extremely annoying and makes it impossible to paint anything but the simplest glyphs. It’s been terribly difficult.”

“You’re pathetic.”

“That’s why you love me. Because I’m so pathetic and I need you so badly,” he says. “What if I use a silencing glyph on the rats in the walls tonight? Will that ease your mind enough for love-making? I promise I’ll make you forget that you ever wanted to leave me.”

“Vawn, please.” I face him, exasperated. “You are clever enough to know that this plan is the best one. You’re reasonably safe here. The Stewardess likes you, and so do the guards. You’re everyone’s best chance to get out of this kingdom alive, so they won’t harm a hair on your head while I’m gone. And as much as you like to pretend that you’re utterly helpless, you’re not. Who carried me through Zeletas at night, when I was paralyzed? Who beat the second bounty hunter into a pulp? Who beheaded that rapist in the cottage?”

“I only do heroic things on occasion, to protect you. I must have my beautiful bodyguard with me, otherwise I am useless.” His playful pout shifts into something darker and more desperate. “Otherwise, I am lost. Darling, if something happened to you—”

“It won’t,” I assure him. “I’ll be playing the role of Cordall’s assistant, and I’ll have a very specific set of glyphs, the exact ones I need to accomplish this. Besides, you won’t be alone—Severin will come back to you. He’ll be able to sense me when I call. I’ll say his name every night so you’ll both know that I’m still alive, and he can tell you exactly where I am.”

“I’d rather you say my name every night.”

“How about this… If I outlive you, I’ll put my memories of you into a magic carpet and moan your name while I ride him all night long.”

“Such a filthy, lovely mind you have.” Vawn walks me backward, and I let him press me against the wall, feeling the pulse of arousal between my thighs—but with a sodden crunch and a snap of rotten wood, the plaster surface and the narrow beams behind me give way, and I almost fall backward into the foul interior of the wall. A shocked scream leaves my mouth as several ice-rats skitter away from the hole, fleeing into the bowels of the palace.

Vawn yanks me against him, and we clutch each other, staring at the opening.

“Your Highness?” Inaya’s voice comes through the bedroom door. “I heard a scream, and it didn’t sound like the pleasant kind.

“How perceptive,” Vawn replies. “You may enter.”

She peeks in, then pushes the door wide. “Well… shit…” She presses a hand to her forehead, gazing at the rotted wall. “May I suggest something? I know it’s a bit of a risk, given the state of our terrain—”

“We’re open to risky suggestions,” I say.

“There’s a fine house on a neighboring street, belonging to relatives of mine. It has stood empty since they fled south. The two of you could have it for the night, if you like, especially since Syth is leaving us tomorrow. The rooms are clean, and there are no ice-rats. It’s close enough to the palace that its foundation resides at least partly on the same bedrock.”

“I would love that,” says Vawn. “If my lady agrees.”

It takes me a second to realize that when he says my lady, he means me. The title thrills me, but I can’t fend off a slow chill of dread, too, because there’s a very real chance that this could be my last night with him. If anything goes wrong with our plan—anything at all—we could be parted forever.

We walk to the house in the bitter cold, under a blue-black sky drenched with stars. Vawn unlocks the door with the key Inaya gave him, and we step inside. I lift my lantern and turn in a slow swivel, illuminating the front room.

“A fine place,” Vawn says. “Let’s get the fire going.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Let’s? As in, both of us?”

“Why not?”

“The closest you’ve ever come to making a fire is using the lighter for your cigarettes. I’ve always built our campfires.”