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“And the king hasn’t even noticed us,” Luis said with a smirk. “He’s all yours now, Your Highness.”
At my nod, they began to file past me back up the stairs. El clamped a commiserating hand on my shoulder, his expression wry.Give him hell from me for evading his guard,it said, and by the Blessed Five, I planned to.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmured, and just as I felt my face heat up at the implication, he continued, “for I have Xio’s son to rescue.”
“Take Aitor with you,” I suggested. “He’s good with a sword, but needs to build his confidence.”
It also wouldn’t hurt to have the man away from the palace when Ren learned of his complicity in Morales’ and Vidrio’s ratherunorthodoxinterrogation of his king consort.
“Oh, and Luis,” I whispered, and the guard paused on the steps above us. “You have the night off.”
“May I ask why, sire?”
“You may not thank me for it when you find out,” I said, knowing how exuberantZovisasha and Lilia could be. And with Alondra in the mix… “Just be careful, yes?”
He grinned, his white teeth flashing in the gloom. “Always.”
The door at the top of the stairs closed to leave me in the dark. Parvan would wait up there for us, guarding the entrance, but for the first time in the whole damn day, I was alone.
Well. Alone with the one person I wanted to be with.
I stepped forward, the toes of my boots brushing the edge of the lantern light as it pooled across the floor. Ren, too engrossed in his reading, still hadn’t turned around.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding, husband,” I said.
*
Chapter Twenty-One
Startled, Ren dropped the book he was holding and his foot jolted out to knock over the lantern. He lunged for it before our only light could be extinguished, with his other hand coming to rest over his heart.
“Dios mío, Nat!”
“I hope you don’t expect me to say sorry,” I told him, wandering closer to where he was sprawled on the floor. “You deserve a small scare for the huge one you’ve subjected me to today.”
He frowned and looked around. I realised he was hunting for a window that didn’t exist when he asked, “is it time for citizen appearances already?”
I stared at him.
“Itwastime,” I said. “Nine fucking hours ago.”
Ren had the decency to look abashed. He pushed up to his feet, wincing and stretching, and ran a hand through his tangled hair before pulling a face at the state of it.
“I’ve…been busy.”
“I can see that. What are you doing down here?”
Glancing at me, he made a terrible attempt at summoning his usual cheerful grin. “I was…”
Then Ren gave a sudden hiss, closing the distance between us and cupping my face between his hands. “Who hurt you?” hedemanded, using his fingers to turn my face from side to side, and I belatedly remembered all the blood on it. Vidrio had arranged for a healer to fix our wounds – the ones I’d caused the both of us on the stairs, and my ripped cheek from where Morales had held me against the wall – but the Touch didn’t get rid of blood that had already left the body. Perhaps I should have been less blasé about leaving it there, because it was sending my husband into a wolf-like frenzy.
His eyes were wild, his lips drawn back over his teeth, and he looked seconds away from murdering someone. His breath came out in short, harsh pants.
“I’m fine,” I said gently, but he barely seemed to hear me.
“Fuck,” Ren muttered. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I didn’t let you come with me, Icouldn’tlet you come with me because I knew what they would say and I didn’t want you to hear it from them, but I had to find an answer, you see? For both of us, Mathias, but for you. Because I’d do anything and I’d even leave this all behind if that’s what it took to protect you, but you got hurt anyway, and fuck-”
“Breathe,” I pleaded, making it into an order. “Ren! Fucking breathe!”
