Poison. Whatever is in the air, it’s killing me.
“I may be away from my castle but don’t think for one moment that I do not know what goes on there.” His breath smells like chemicals, as though he’d been drinking whatever they used to clean the laboratory.
Panic starts like lightning, shocking my heart so that it stutters wildly in my chest. It makes its way like a swarm of bugs crawling over and under my skin, through the tunnels of my veins, down to my toes.
“I knew about the assassins. And I hope that you are gentle and forgiving with Basilus when the time comes to deal withthatproblem. Be a better man than me, Merrick. In many ways, I think that you already are. But I would not be a good father if I did not correct you when you stray from your path.” He pats my chest once.
My shoulders meet the wall behind me. It’s like ice against my shirt in comparison to every inch of my skin that feels as though it has been set aflame. There’s a weakness that settles in my knees with every miserable inhale I take. I wheeze and the king smiles.
“I have been busy and neglected my wives of late.”
That hand rushes up to meet my throat. Fingers curl into my flesh and press. With a strength I didn’t know he could possess, I’m lifted from the ground, feet swinging to find purchase and hand clawing to peel away his tight hold.
“Has she told you that she’s carrying another child? I can smell it on her.” He smirks and a whine flees my throat. “If I catch you sneaking around touching what isn’t yours, I will have her publicly beaten, raped, and thrown to the streets where she started. Do you understand?”
My face is hot where I’m sure my cheeks have changed to red and now perhaps purple as my vision starts to go fuzzy at the edges. With a shake that slams my head into the wall behind me and a scream that sends spit flying across my face, my father roars, “Do you understand?”
I nod. Or I try to. I’m not sure that I’ve even moved, but it’s answer enough as my father drops me, and I crumple at his feet. Whatever had filled the air has dispersed, and only the same stuffy, unmoving air that lives in this terrible place makes its way into my lungs. I suck it in, and the room spins under me.
“I am not the only one who knows about your sins, boy.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Violence
A risky plan is better than no plan. I’ve been here alone for a month—or so I’ve guessed, it’s not like I’ve had a calendar to mark the days on—but I finally have enough information gathered and with the Book of Severed Souls for reference, I pieced together some semblance of something.
I didn’t think I needed them until they’d been here for the night and we became a team again. I wish it didn’t have to be all of us. I wish they’d understand how responsible I feel for the two of them. Three if you count the Witch, wherever she may be in this maze of rooms and halls.
My fingers push through Nollix’s hair. He lies against me. His hard body rests between my legs while his head uses my torso like a pillow.
I peek down at him. It’s late. Carver has been asleep for hours, but all I can think about is what tomorrow will bring. Until his pretty eyes meet mine.
The flickering candlelight gleams against Nollix’s gaze while we stare quietly at one another. There’s so much magic in his strange but beautiful eyes. He’ll never know how much I lose myself in his gaze sometimes.
His attention drifts to Carver before he starts to shift against me. He drags his body up mine until we’re face to face. His lips are poised just above mine.
“About what Carver said in the bell tower,” he pauses. His words give an odd sinking feeling within my stomach. “He is like a brother to me. Just as much as Jeriko was like a sister. He loves you...” His eyes drift closed. “Am I a total bag of shit for loving you, too, when I knew he loved you first?”
As much as I tried to avoid it, Carver was my friend when I thought I didn’t have any. He forced that friendship, and I never even realized how much it kept me from slipping into my dark thoughts.
Suddenly, that sinking feeling changes. It’s my heart that’s sinking now instead of my nerves.
My brows pull low as I try to think of something to say. I lean into him, my lips skimming his smooth jawline. “Say it.” It’s a quiet and pleading request that makes him twitch against me.
When I pull back from him, a hesitant smile creeps over his features.
“No.” He studies me as he says the simple rejection.
My eyes narrow on him. I’m all but pouting because he won’t confess his love for me. Always. Playing. Games. Maybe it’s the only way we know how to interact. Or maybe it just feels safe. It’s safer to tease one another than to actually admit anything...
I trace his cheekbones, pressing my lips to the corner of his mouth before I lean close to his other ear. Another sweet kiss is pressed just below his lobe, and he shivers against me. The feel of him weak beneath my touch sends his shaking feelings into my own body.
“Please say it.” My voice is breathy against his skin. His palm slips beneath my shirt and presses to my ribs before stroking slowly down the length of my body. A fiery line of tingles is left in the wake of his touch.
He tilts his head toward mine, our lips skimming but not quite brushing.
“No.” Warm breaths kiss my mouth, and I can’t help but run my tongue along my lips at the feel of it.
