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Sitting against the window frame with one booted foot perched on the floor and the other upon the wooden sill, the intruder cocked his head. “I’ve been looking all over the countryside for you.”
Not a bird. I wished it had been.
A wolf.
“Well?” Beneath the hood of his cloak, his eyes gleamed, roaming over me in a quick, assessing sweep. “Did they steal your tongue? I hope not.” His mouth curved. “I am rather fond of it.”
“You,” I breathed, my heart finally restarting with a painful thud.
His smirk widened into a grin. “Me.”
I scrambled back over the clothing, hands slipping on silk and chiffon. “No.”
He watched from his perch, a brow poised high. “No?” His cloak absorbed the starlight as he tilted forward. “No, what?”
“You’re… you’re him, and you killed him.”
A low laugh fell from sin-shaped lips, the roughened sound lighting his eyes. “Sunshine, though I do find your befuddlement amusing, you’re making very little sense.”
“My father.” I climbed to my knees, my gown in tangles beneath and around me. “You killed him,” I seethed through my teeth, each word fire, “and you ate his heart.”
The blood king’s lips pursed. “Oh, that.”
A heavy silence fell like a noose to wrap around my neck, freezing my desire to scream for help, to alert the guards below the stairs that the enemy had breached their walls. That he might kill me.
“So it was you,” he murmured, so soft, too soft, and I ground my teeth against the fluttering inside my empty stomach. “The black swan.”
“What swan?”
“Don’t even attempt it.” Throwing his hand at me, he said, “We both know you were there.”
About to call out, my intentions wilted when the king tutted. “I wouldn’t do that. You’d hate for someone else to die because of you, now wouldn’t you?” I swallowed, my eyes shuttering. “It wasn’t your fault really. Sheltered, shrouded in a bubble of i
He hummed, receiving confirmation he hadn’t needed when I said nothing. “As I was saying, even if you hadn’t been guileless, how would you have known who I am?”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to alleviate the guilt that weighed my every breath or cause it to spread like a forest fire.
“Those from this side of the realm who have seen me rarely live to tell the tale.”
“Why?” A useless, stupid question I shouldn’t have set free.
“Why what?” Midnight rippled over his black attire, the breeze flowing around him to kiss my burning skin. “Why did I deceive you? That should be obvious.” His words carried a dry humor I wanted to wring out of him until he begged for me to stop. “Why did I kiss you? Well, my pretty little broodmare, that should also be obvious by now being that—”
“Enough. Why did you kill him?”
“You’re a little rude. Has anyone ever told you that?” He contemplated the thought, his tongue skimming his upper lip, and I directed my eyes to my shaking hands. “Perhaps you’ve been too spoiled in that lovely kingdom of yours. Ma
I nearly laughed at the absurdity, hissing, “You’re the barbarian, a savage with no heart. Where were your fucking ma
A smile entered his voice, but I kept my attention fixed on my twisting, squeezing fingers. “We’ve all the time in the world for stories, but unfortunately, that time has not yet come.”
I looked up when his other foot dropped to the floor with a controlled thump so as not to alert anyone to his presence. “Where are the others?”
“Who?” he asked, rising to his feet.
I didn’t stand, didn’t care that a monster was two steps away from looming over me even though I should have. “Your beast warriors. You’re here to invade and conquer, are you not?”
“Not yet, sunshine.” He erased those two steps, then crouched down before me. “Not yet.”
His scent ran rampant, a flood of stained air I wanted to eradicate, and when his finger reached my chin, tilting it up, I snatched his wrist and glared into those wasted pretty eyes.
He smiled, breathtaking in a way he did not deserve, those dimples exposed. “There she is.”
“Don’t touch me.”
“I do believe you’re touching me.”
Releasing him, I shifted back, and his eyes fell to the carpet. “Did you have a tantrum with your belongings?”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I rose to my feet and headed for the door. He was there, a gathering of shadow that formed a tall, broad-shouldered male in a second, blocking the door. “Enough dallying, tell me why you’re here.” He sighed when I stepped back and turned away. “Is it to marry the human toad?”
“You deserve nothing, and you will get nothing from me ever again.”
“Opal,” he said, right behind me, and I jumped a little when his breath washed over my neck. “Answer the fucking question.”
I whirled, our chests nearly meeting as I seethed up into his face, “Or what? You’ll murder me, too?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’d have been dead weeks ago if that were my intention.”
That shocked and cemented something I didn’t want to pay any attention to. “Just go.” My voice broke on the last word, and I lowered back to the ground, dizzy once more and lacking the energy to parry with him, let alone alert someone to his presence.
“I didn’t eat his heart,” he said after a heavy moment, still behind me, his gaze burning into the top of my head as I tugged a gown over my legs. “I mean, usually I would, but I spat it out.”
I snorted, my throat and chest too tight. “Because that makes the fact I will never see him again easier to bear.”
He could say nothing to that, the silence stilted as though he was at a loss for what to do. Then he rounded me, and asked in an edged tone, “What are you trying to do?”
“I must weave gold into all these”—I lifted the dress—“and I’m tired, so please…” I whispered, exhaustion overlapping my fear and hatred of him. “Just leave already.”
He bent low. “I will when you tell me why they’re making you do such a thing.”
I didn’t, and I let him deduce from that what he would.
He didn’t leave. He watched, eyes transfixed on my failing hands. I pulled away when he reached for one, and he said, “Trust me.”
I almost laughed. “Never.”
He nodded once but took my hand regardless, and I was too weak to fight him as he lowered to the floor across from me and said, “Try again.” When I gaped, he gri
Frowning, I did and gasped as gold thread not only wove through the fabric but danced along the hem and neckline with such speed, the dress shone with it within a handful of stuttered breaths.
Blinking at it, then up at his contemplative expression, I asked, “How?”
“You did it. I merely… assisted.” He released my hand and tugged the cloak free of my leg, placing it on my lap over the gown. “Again,” he said, a cold demand.
I wasn’t sure how it was happening or why I allowed him to touch me once more. I only knew it was happening, and I was grateful. Not to him, but just… relieved.
Within minutes, the entire trunk of clothing had gold spun through every thread of stitching, and with a feral grin, the king of wolves gazed at me beneath his long lashes. “We make a good team.”