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“Stay back!” I pull my dagger from the strap at my thigh, and he laughs.
Graves isn’t afraid of me. If I look as frail as I feel, I can understand why. But I’m not frail. I’ve killed every man in his troop, all thirteen of them. I stabbed them in the heart and watched as the life faded from their eyes. I’m going to do the same to him. He just doesn’t know it yet.
“You can’t kill me,” Graves says. “I'm the Commander of the Crown’s guard now, right hand to the king.”
“And I’m a Lady of the Court,” I spit back. “You can’t hurt me either.”
“Can’t I?” Graves steps forward until the tip of my dagger presses into the armor at his chest. “I caught a Cerise in the castle, returning to the scene of a crime, where you murdered how many royal family members?”
Graves grabs my wrist and twists it, forcing me to drop my dagger. Iknow how to get out of a situation like this. I trained for months, learning to defend myself so no man could get the upper hand on me again.
But Graves’s hands on me trigger something.
The past wraps itself around me like a snake and squeezes. Graves’s stomach presses me against the wall, and it’s like I’m in Emberfell again. I feel every touch of Graves’s fist and claw from his hand along my body. I feel the sting from his blade when he bled me to the point of submission and the burn from his loins as he tore and stretched and took something that was never his.
Graves watches the color drain from my face, and the look of satisfaction glinting in his eyes has me trembling again. He leans in and whispers, “I can do whatever I want to you, witch, and no one would ever know. For all His Majesty cares, you died right here, with all the others like you should have the first time.”
A tear rolls down my cheek when Graves’s thumb traces over the line on my neck where a scar we both know should exist would live. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of my pain, but I have no control over the demons leaking out of me.
“Remarkable,” he hisses, with a wicked grin. “It’s like that beautiful night never even happened.”
“There you are!” Riot’s voice echoes in the ballroom, and I’ve never been more grateful to see him. He strides across the room, avoiding the mess of bodies with quick steps, stopping close enough to see the stain my tears left on my cheeks.
“Sir.” Graves stands at attention with one hand behind his back, the other still holding my wrist. “I intercepted the Cerise responsible for tonight’s tragedy.”
“That’s a bold accusation,” Riot says, his gaze falling to where Graves’s fingers wrap around my wrist. “What proof do you have?”
“Proof? Sir, look at her.” He yanks me forward. Had I still been in heels, I would have fallen to my knees.
“I am looking, and all I see is your hands on a potential queen of Arcane. I suggest you let her go.” Riot’s voice is commanding yet calm. He embodies the essence of tranquility, but I sense a storm brewing behind the facade.
I’m not an empath. I’ve never been able to read people’s thoughts oremotions. I can’t explain how I know Riot is one word away from ripping Graves’s throat out. But I do.
“Queen?” Graves says through a throaty chuckle. “You can’t be serious?”
“I asked you nicely. Make me repeat it, Commander, and it won’t be a request. I have the same authority over every member of the guard as His Majesty Sebastian. I will detain you, and when the prince learns of how you handled one of his brides, he will strip you of your title and bury you in the dirt.” Riot steps forward, and there’s something animalistic in the way he moves.
Graves notices the warning, or at least senses the danger in the room, and releases my wrist. I bring it to my chest and rub the sore spot, knowing it’ll bruise for a few hours, but then the mark will disappear. All physical traces of what he’s done to me will be gone, but the wounds I wear inside will still bleed.
“Lady Khiara is innocent. Neither you nor any other member of the guard will lay a hand on her unless you can prove otherwise. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Graves says through gritted teeth.
“Come, Lady Khiara.” Riot extends his hand and it takes every ounce of restraint I have not to run to him. “I shall see you to your room.”
I take his hand, expecting him to escort me like a lady, but he wraps his arm around my waist and holds me close.
I let him.
I let him support me when my legs nearly give out in the hallway, and let him whisper comforting words I tune out as we walk the halls.
I don’t even try to track where Riot takes me. My mind is stuck on a loop, trapped between the past and the present, feeling Graves’s phantom hands touching me, tasting the blood that dripped from my nose down my throat, mixing with the saltiness of my tears. Tears that are falling freely as I realize he’s here.
Stars above, Graves is here!
In a place Ican’tkill him, even if a chance presents itself. All eyes would fall on me once I fled, and every death tonight would be tied to me. Families from each territory of Arcane were present tonight. My face would be wanted in every province. Nowhere within the Arcane borderwould be safe, and I doubt I could find passage on a ship to take me away. I’ll be dead if I leave.I’m dead if I stay.
“Khiara?” Riot says, but his voice sounds so far away.
