Page 106 of A House of Cloaks & Daggers

Enyd closed her eyes, falling into an almost trancelike state, and sighed. When she opened her eyes again, relief had swept away the clouds of pain. “Your bastard soldiers are holding him hostage downstairs.”

Wren gave her a heartbreakingly beautiful smile and winked. “Can never be too careful.” He turned to me, eyes narrowing. “You, go to your room. The door will lock from the inside.” He didn’t give me a chance to argue before he put his back to me, facing the rest of the assembled guests. “I apologisefor the commotion. Unfortunately, it seems the House has a little pest problem. Please return to your rooms while we deal with it.Withinthe wards around the House, you’ll be safe.”

Enyd scoffed at the pointed look he gave her and gestured for members of her Court to disperse.

Batre made a beeline for me, dodging the body of the staked Vampyr, and took my hand in hers. “I’ll take you upstairs,” she whispered.

I caught sight of Morgoya watching her partner with a furrowed brow, but she turned away before I could grab her attention. Lucais was speaking quietly with a small assembly of his Guard in the far corner of the room as the guests shuffled towards the doorway, and for the first time all night, he felt my eyes on him.

He turned away from his conversation, lips parted around an unfinished word, and shook his head at me gently. I didn’t know what that meant.

While Batre escorted me from the room, our pace lagging as we filed out behind half of the other guests, I mulled over the predicament.

Lucais must have witnessed the tense moment I’d shared with Wren, but he had still shielded me with his light magic, so maybe he could forgive me.

Even though there was nothing to forgive except for the mortifying impression it had left upon his guests. Wren had sobered up quickly when the dead man burst into the room, but he’d been intoxicated when his mouth touched me, and I had simply reminded him that I couldn’t stand to look at him.

The encounter meant nothing.

There is nothing between us.

Even the hatred I felt towards him had dissipated, cooling down into mild indifference again. If Lucais had actuallybothered to look at me before the very sudden end of the party, he would have seen that.

He would have seen it.

But he didn’t. Instead, both the High King and his Court had seen something else. Something that was misunderstood and reflected with horror in their eyes. And after everything we said and did this afternoon, when I’d asked him to stay consistent with me, and he swore he’d see me later…

“It will be okay,” Batre murmured, rubbing her free hand along my arm as she steered me towards the staircase. “He does this all the time. Some things might change, but other things will take some adjustments.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“Oh, you know… The sex and the violence.” She patted my forearm. “Morgoya tried to warn him, but he’s stubborn.”

The pit in my stomach became permanent. My door opened for me as we neared my room, and Batre gave me a reassuring smile, but I was too far gone to attempt one myself.

Sex.

Lucais didn’t meet my eager gaze all night, though he knew that I was there. He must have known that I was there.

The Vampyr had been kneeling between them when I arrived.

What happened before I crossed the room?

Batre’s words echoed in my head as she mumbled something about calling her if I needed her right before the House promptly shut and locked the door between us.

Sex.

The dais was a display for the dancers touching and kissing and moving with one another in the centre of the room.What did they see before I crossed it?

It wasn’t hard to take a guess. He had been left hard as a rock after our activities earlier in the day, though that was hisown choice.Tamewas the display I’d witnessed of the Vampyr girls quite literally sucking the life out of Wren. Something else must have happened with the High King first.

Why else would Lucais have dodged me all night?

Violence, though…

It hit me too late.

I realised far too late that Lucais was planning to go beyond the wards and hunt down the caenim himself. Wren would likely join him, and I hadn’t told either of them that the army was being led by a Malum General.

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