“I keep telling you?—”
“Never mind.” She’s told me everything she knows. There’s no point in questioning her further. I twist the iron key in the lock and open the gate. “There’s a clean dress for you on the guard’s stool. I’ll be up the stairs, waiting for you to finish.”
“Soap!” She raises the pink cake to her nose and inhales deeply, then scowls. “Why did it have to be rose-scented? You couldn’t have brought lavender? Or lilac? Orange blossom? Anything but stinking roses?”
I shrug. “It’s not like I went to the market especially for you. I filched it from Briar’s maids. Take it or leave it, Iz.”
I’m not even three steps up before I hear a splash of water and a deep sigh.
A smile tugs at my mouth for the first time since we left the forest. She’s half-mad, but I like her.
An hour ago, I was ready to forsake everything and steal Briar away on her wedding night. Let them hunt us. Let them try. We could hide in the forest of thorns. Reign as queen and king of the beasts.
But I can’t take her back there if I’m dying. Or worse, transforming into a beast myself.
I shove my sleeve up and study the wound like an ink stain spreading beneath my scarred skin. It pulses with the beat of my heart, pumping poison through my blood.
Punishment for touching Briar.
Worth whatever’s coming for me—but right now, I’ve got a few regrets, and a lot of unanswered questions.
28
Briar
Pretending I’m distraught over a dragon attack becomes actual distress as the evening wears on and there’s no sign of Killian. The maids fuss over my minimal wounds, insisting upon calling in a healer to make the scrape on my knee disappear.
I watch it return to its pristine state with a pang of sadness. I’m not a statue. I earned that scar. I wanted to keep it as a memento. But no, I must be perfect for my big day, even though no one will see my knees beneath that fluffy horror of a wedding gown.
My body already isn’t my own. After tomorrow I’ll be Alistair’s property. Locked in a living nightmare for the rest of my life.
Seducing Killian was an act of rebellion. A reclaiming of my autonomy.
But where is he?
He said he would come, yet it’s nearly midnight and he isn’t here. The maids finally left only after I pretended to fall asleep. Now that they’re gone, I kick back the covers and try the door.
Locked.
The windows are similarly sealed, their shutters nailed closed from the outside. Even if I could unlock the casement, I can’t push it open.
Stymied, I flop back into bed to wait.
Even the history book isn’t enough to lull me to sleep tonight. I’m too upset to sleep. I don’t want to believe that I was some sort of conquest, yet the longer he leaves me trapped in this tower, the harder it is for me to hold onto hope.
I shouldn’t have said I love him.
Outside, wings beat the sky.
Why do they follow me?
I’m not as afraid as I was before today’s encounter with the dragon. Still horrifying that my wedding will provide fodder for them.
A quiet tap at my door brings me bolt upright in a rush of breath. My heart batters my ribs as it cracks slowly open.
Not my maids.
Killian.
