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When I leave Penn’s room, I realize I’m panicking again. My heart is beating fast in my chest and I feel as sober as I did before I went to Keon’s room. The only thing that’s different is how heavy my body feels, each step more difficult than the last.
I walk out of the room and find Keon standing outside. He’s still wearing that damn robe, but now he genuinely looks concerned.
If he’s worried, I’m fucking terrified.
“She’s not here,” I say.
He nods. “Maybe she went for a walk,” he says. It sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. “She probably needed to regroup after what happened.”
I take a step toward him. I’m close enough to him that I can drop my voice, but I’m aware all the guards can hear me. “Are you sure?”
“No,” he replies. “Not at all.”
“We need to sound the alarm,” I say. “We need to make sure to find her before anything happens.”
That’s shorthand for hurting one of my people, but it’s also going out there by herself. Joya is beautiful and the surrounding area is full of stunning nature, but it’s also tricky terrain with unpredictable weather. Right now, it’s a beautiful night. I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way. Keon seems to understand straight away.
“We’ll send search parties out,” he says. “Do you want to lock down the villa?”
“Yes,” I say. “And…let’s make sure to find her quickly, okay? I need to speak to her.”
He nods, fear in his eyes. Keon can read me well. He probably knows that I don’t just need to talk to her.
I need to protect her. If she’s hurt–as competent as she is, this is an alien world with no guidance, and she’s my wife in practice, which means there’s a target on her back–then I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.
Because Keon might’ve said that Penn was falling in love with me, but as my stomach continues to twist while I worry about her safety, I know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that I’m desperately, madly, terribly in love with her.
She has never been more dangerous.
And I’ve never been more scared.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
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CORVUS
This was my last shot at a place in the Diavolo Family.
I’ve been after Atlas for well over a year—getting close to him, learning his patterns, ingratiating myself to him. I even orchestrated a fake assassination attempt for the sake of saving his life a year ago, making myself invaluable.
Still, I wasn’t able to get to him.
It’s that damn shield, the one he keeps on at all times. I figured he would let it down at some point—and I would be there, ready to strike.
But he sleeps in the damn thing.
So when the Ganivet Family started talking about passing on Atlas’ Gift, I knew it was time for me to make my move. I was never going to be able to get under his skin, but his wife? She would be able to. So I leveraged the Diavolo relationship with the First Wave, and I brought Penelope Lykaios to Aelydon.
But ever since she got here, nothing has been as I expected. For one thing, she’s incredible—and I hate that. I hate that I like her. I hate that I’m jealous of my mark.
And most of all, I hate that I’m starting to like the Ganivets.
Before now, I never visited the Ganivet Valley. I didn’t realize their brides were free.
I’m going to tell Penn all of this and more.
And I…well, I might just be fucked.
