Suddenly, a sick possibility occurred to me, and I did another sweep of the room. But...no Althea. Not even anything of discernible value, like Vick had speculated. Just half-rotted, moth-eaten luxuries, the remnants of a life cut short.
Kyven went to the vanity and ran a finger through the dust. “The seneschal must visit sometimes.”
My gut squeezed.Thatlittle tidbit only fueled my impatience to get in and get out. If Olivian found us in here...
Seven hells. I’d rather be caught outside in a nightmare.
“Then let’s make this quick.” I hurried to the standing screen and peeked behind, then patted down the hanging dress for hidden pockets. Kyven went to work, too, rifling through the vanity’s drawers.
The minutes stretched like hours. My stomach cramped with urgency, yet as I flipped up an area rug and hunted through the dusty nether regions of a chaise longue, a dark hole opened inside my chest.
Useless. This was all useless. The next nightmare would come and I’d be no closer to freeing Zephyrine, and?—
“Lioness.”
I glanced up to find Kyven standing by the door, one ear cocked.
“Did you hear that?” he said.
I curled my lip, prepared to tell him just how unfunny I found his little joke, then choked on my reproach. Footsteps sounded in the hall, so heavy and lumbering they could only belong to one person.
My heart flung itself up my throat. “Oh no. No, no, no. You’vegotto be kidding me.”
Kyven burst into motion, crossing the room in two strides and taking me by the arm. Panicked as I was, I didn’t resist, just let him propel me toward the bed, where he motioned for me to get underneath.
“Hurry,” he hissed. More footsteps, closer now.
I threw myself onto the carpet and wriggled beneath the bed-skirt. Darkness swallowed me up, so complete that only the dust stinging my nose assured me I still existed.
Kyven must have snuffed his candle, because no light accompanied him when he squeezed in beside me. He settled so close that his body heat warmed my arm.
The footsteps stopped in the hall. A key grated in the lock.
My pulse roared. Would Olivian realize the door was already open? Smell the tang of the extinguished candle? Notice the dust smears we’d left behind?
A whimper snuck from my lips. Kyven inched closer, pressing his chest against my side. A warm hand landed across my mouth.
“No sound,” he breathed, so quietly I couldn’t even call it a whisper. “If I have to, I’ll go out and face him, but no matter what you see or hear, you stay here. All right?”
I nodded, knowing he could feel my agreement, even if he couldn’t see it.
We lay like that, unmoving, hardly even breathing, while the seneschal trudged inside. For long moments, Olivian just...stood there, not three feet from where the bed-skirt hid our shoes.
A tremor took up residence in my limbs. Did he know? Did he suspect?
Kyven must have felt me trembling, because he curved closer, his breath stirring my hair.
Out in the room, a match scraped. Faint light rimmed the bed-skirt. Kyven’s hovering face came into focus, the dimness leaching his irises of color.
He glanced pointedly at the hand covering my mouth, then raised questioning brows. When I nodded, his fingers left my lips. He planted his hand beside my head.
There was hardly any space under here. Just enough that he could brace himself over me, assurances in his eyes. I clung to the promise I found there, to the steadiness he radiated.
Then a growl broke the silence. “Show yourself.”
My heart rammed against my breastbone. Shit. Shitshitshit.
“I know you’re here.” Naked fury rode Olivian’s every syllable.
