Bryce stops abruptly, ripping the woman’s head to the side, turning her. He kneels behind her and nudges her knees wider. He reaches around her body and rips her dress down the front, playing with her breasts. His gaze locks on us and he winks at Harlow.
Harlow tears herself free from my grip and turns back down the path we came from. A night-splitting scream of pleasure erupts from somewhere behind me. I ignore it. Hunt night is full of those sounds.
I trail behind Harlow, aware of several sets of eyes that have been on us the whole time. Everyone wants to know how my new wife will react to the wild nature of Mountain Havenians.
She stalks back toward the house with impressive efficiency. I can’t believe how well she’s oriented herself.
I follow close behind her like a wraith. I wait until we’re out of the woods, through the ceremony circle where musicians still play, and into the courtyard of the house before I speak.
“You were supposed to stay in your room.”
She ignores me as she reaches for the manor door handle. I press my hand against the dark wood so she can’t pull it open.
“That was dangerous,” I whisper.
She turns on me and juts her chin, somehow managing to make it feel like she’s looking down on me. “I am not some docile wife to be kept locked away in your creepy tower. I will know the customs and ceremonies of this place, and I don’t need your permission.”
“Your pride is boring. It will get you killed or worse.”
“Then at least it will save you the trouble,” she counters.
I take a step back. Did she overhear someone she shouldn’t have, or does she just have her own suspicions about what my family wants? I wouldn’t be surprised if she overheard people grumbling about her presence around the fort, but I don’t need to make it any harder for her to trust me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she snaps.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re forgetting to hate me. Like you’re concerned.”
Her words spear me. I’m forgetting myself because I’m tense. Because I’m tired and hungry and trying to wrangle this woman is already a bigger task than I anticipated. Why couldn’t she have been a pretty, coddled moron?
“Don’t you have a bodyguard who should be keeping you from doing things like wandering into the woods alone at night?” I ask.
She shrugs a shoulder.
I glance up at the house. I’m going to have a word with Gaven. How is it that she ducked him so easily in the city to go on her murder sprees and here to go to a feast night?
Unless he’s snooping and she’s just a diversion. I hadn’t considered it before—so busy worrying my wife-to-be will be the one burying a knife in my back—but now I see that the two of them are a team.
“Do you need an escort or can you be trusted to make it back to your room alone?”
Her eyes flash with mischief. “Only one way to find out.”
She chops her hand at my elbow, releasing my weight from the door, and ducks inside before I can scold her. The door slams closed behind her, and I turn to head back to the hunt, trying to ignore the scent of her perfume on my clothes.
18
HARLOW
I’m not sure what possessed me to sneak out to see the hunt last night. Perhaps itismadness that made me think following a stranger into a dark forest during some sort of sex game was a good idea. But it’s not madness alone. It’s also seeing the annoyance on Henry’s face when he realized I won’t be so easily contained.
I had an idea of what it would be like here, but none of the stories I heard as a teenager could have prepared me for watching Henry’s friend with that woman.
It was reckless to wander. I could have just as easily been scooped up by someone other than Henry. I need to stop treating this place like I know the dangers the way I do at home in Lunameade. There’s a whole new set of rules I need to familiarize myself with so that I know how to skirt them without getting myself killed.
The Havenwood House library seems the obvious place to start. I should be looking for secret tunnels or hidden books, but instead, I’m searching for a book on marriage rituals because no one has told me a thing about what to expect.
This morning, I woke to two women knocking on my bedroom door. They rudely barged in despite Gaven’s protests and proceeded to fit me for my wedding gown and ritual clothing.
