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There was nothing I could do. Her need for revenge was like mine—insatiable.
She turned away.
I did the only thing I could. “I’ll do it.”
She slowly turned back to me, one eyebrow cocked.
“I lost sight of what’s important. I will do this.”
Geralt gave a growl. “She’s mine. Queen Rolfe has already given her to me.”
I ignored him and kept my eyes on hers.
She studied me. “I’m glad you’ve come around, Huntley.”
The breath slowly left my lungs, along with the panic. I would spend the evening in her cabin, but she would be in the bed and I would be on the floor. No one would have to know.
She turned to her guard. “I’m sorry, Geralt. I prefer to keep it in the family.”
He sighed before he returned his sword to his hip and his shield to his back.
She came back to me. “Go.”
I took the order like it was any other and prepared to leave.
“And Huntley?”
I halted, my eyes on the bonfire.
“I will check.”
TEN
Ivory
I was back in the small cabin, the fireplace cold, the mattress made of old hay. With no windows, the darkness grew deeper and uglier. There wouldn’t be another opportunity for escape until Huntley took me to assist him with whatever animal needed my help, so I crawled into the fireplace and looked up the flue.
It was really narrow, but I might be able to squeeze through…
The front door flew open, and the sound startled me, making me bump my head on the stone. “Ouch…”
The door shut.
I crawled out and dusted my dirty hands on my breeches. “A knock would have been nice.”
It was Huntley. In one hand was a tray of food, and in his other arm were a couple pieces of firewood. He looked pissed off—like always. He stared at me for a while before he regarded the fireplace. “You’ll get stuck and suffocate.”
“Worth a shot…”
“No, it’s not.” He set the tray on the bed then set up the firewood in the hearth.
I was starving, so I took a seat and scarfed everything down.
He got the fire going, bringing it from red embers to powerful flames. Soon, the fire illuminated the entire room, casting shadows on the walls from the bed and the armchair in the corner, and the cold scurried away through the crack under the door.
He draped his cloak over the back of the chair then took a seat like he intended to stay. With his eyes on the fire, he addressed me. “How’s your face?”
“It didn’t seem like you cared about it when the queen went to town on it.”
“You killed one of us. If you thought there wouldn’t be repercussions, you’re stupid.”
“If I’d known there would be repercussions, I wouldn’t have come back with you.”
“You’re under the impression I would have given you a choice.” His hands curled over the armrests, and he made an old creaky chair look like a throne. With the fire reflecting in his eyes, it was like ice being on fire, blue flames.
“I don’t even feel it anymore, so whatever.” It had stung for a while, but the cold numbed it pretty good. I watched the fire as I ate my dinner, day-old bread, assorted fruit and nuts, and a piece of meat. I didn’t know what kind of meat it was…because I didn’t recognize it. I was in a world without mattresses, without servants, without hot stones between my sheets to make it warm before I got in.
I didn’t complain about it, but it did suck.
He lingered, eyes still on the fire, and I assumed he was waiting for me to finish eating.
When my plate was clean, I left the tray on the edge of the bed.
He still didn’t move.
“What are you doing in here?”
After a long pause, he shifted his eyes to me.
He stared—long and hard.
It was a look I hadn’t received in a long time, an intense stare that was powerful and cruel. I’d never met anyone who could make eye contact the way he could, to have such confidence in his visage. “I don’t need a reason.”
There was something different in the air now, a tension that was hot on my skin. The relationship between us was different, but I wasn’t sure what had changed. Just yesterday, I was ready to let him die so I could escape, and now…I didn’t know.
The stare continued without a blink, without a break.
A man had never stared at me like that before.
It wasn’t hostile, but it was intimate.
It made my heart skip a beat. Made my breath come out shaky. It felt like that charged moment before a kiss, before the guy leaned in and pushed you up against the wall. But Huntley was clear on the other side of the room—but felt right next to me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” My voice came out weak, when it hardly ever did. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t angry. I was just provoked, provoked by that stare that had the power to move mountains.
