Page 65 of Reaper’s Curse

“It was. Wasn’t it?” Winter pushed off the doorframe and stepped deeper into the bedroom, a crooked stance in his motion to match the crooked grin clinging to his lips.

A soft noise outside the terrace doors snagged my attention. I stole a glance without turning my head. A big black bird, with a coveted rolled message, waited. For some reason I couldn’t identify, my heart did a tiny flip.

I pushed to my feet and rounded the bed, meeting Winter mere feet inside the door. I pressed the palms of my hands into the flat lines of his chest, halting any further forward gain.

“How much of that stuff have you already had?” I lifted my chin, indicating the liquor sloshing back and forth in the decanter.

“Not much.” His lips smashed together with a slight downward curve. “Or just enough. Take your pick.”

“Mm-hmm.” A smile teased my mouth as I began to push him back, out of my bedchamber.

His gaze swiveled to take in where I guided his body. “What are you doing? I thought we could⁠—”

“You heard my lady’s maid. I’m a filthy mess in need of a bath. I’m going to clean up and…should you choose to wait…I shall see to you after.”

“But I came bearing gifts.” He raised the canvas bag.

“Thank you.” I snatched the bag from his grasp then spun and stalked back to the bedroom. “Later, dear prince.”

I closed the door between us, Neive and Lucas’s burst of chuckles a tiny, warm reward.

After a quick glance to verify the message-bearing raven waited for me at the terrace door, I tossed the canvas bag onto the bed, darted into the bath chamber, and began filling the tub. I was in need of cleansing the day from my skin, but the running water also helped mask any sounds made by the bird or terrace doors. Thankfully, both were relatively quiet when I collected the message.

Resisting the urge to unroll and read the letter immediately, I first filled the tub with fizzing soaps and aromatic salts. The awaiting letter had to be from Chace, and after what had transpired between us earlier in the day, or especially because of what had taken place, I wanted to be clean when I read his words.

The dirt upon my body shouldn’t matter. I knew that, but I had every intention of honoring that irrational feeling.

Leaving the scrolled message on the counter near the sink, I dropped my filthy attire in a puddle, slipped under the water, and attempted to rinse away all my crimes and traitorous, sinful thoughts.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“What are you doing in there?” Winter called through the closed bedchamber door. He continued to linger in the outer receiving room with Lucas and Neive. “I heard the water drain over an hour ago.”

“It has not been an hour,” I retorted.

Twenty minutes at most.

I sat on the bed, scrubbed clean, hair brushed, and clothed in an oversized shirt and male’s sleeping pants that Neive had acquired from somewhere. The pieces were baggy but comfortable.

In my hand, I held Chace’s message. I’d already read it several times and was chewing over the lines once again.

Winter scoffed response sounded through the barrier. He was clearly inebriated, a side of him I had not seen before this evening.

“Are you pleasuring yourself? Because if you are, I could⁠—”

“Your Highness!” Neive squeaked.

“Sire,” Lucas cut in. “That was a bit too brash, even for you, if I do say so myself.”

The sounds of them tugging Winter from the other side of the door followed.

“Let Neive take this. Yes. Yes.” A soft shuffle. “We all agree you’ve had enough liquid courage for the night.” Lucas’s voice dropped as if intended for only the prince. “Don’t embarrass yourself any further.”

I smiled in spite of myself. If Winter was drunk, would he be able to reveal necessary secrets regarding the palace, the queen, and the curse?

Pressing Chace’s corresponding parchment flat, I scrambled to the head of the bed and slipped the message into a crevice along the backside of the headboard, right next to the first message he’d sent a few days prior.

If my room were to be searched for any reason, the pillows and mattress would be tossed, drawers pulled and emptied. Every space searched. I hoped the slight slot between fitted wood pieces would stand a better chance of remaining undetected. Still, I needed to find a better location. Just in case.