Page 132 of The Stars are Dying

Drystan was yet to notice I was awake, and I kept deathly still, only peeking, as he leaned forward. The woman angled her neck, and my skin blazed at what I was about to witness. The prince’s teeth sank into her neck with the ease of a ripe apple. She tensed against him for only a few seconds before she relaxed andmoaned, pressing into him and moving her hips as if it aroused her.

I twisted around, my breath spiking as I pushed up, scrambling for a way out without being noticed.

I was too late. Drystan’s low groan rattled through me, and I stared at him through a mirror I couldn’t avoid. He caught my eye, and his were only wild for a blink before he let go of her neck and eased a slow, wicked smile.

My skin torched. Yet I couldn’t break his stare.

He wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his lips with his thumb. His tongue swept over it too.

Stop staring.

Was he trying to look so dangerously seductive?

“You’re awake,” he said, his thick voice coaxing the woman off him. “Good.” He gave those around him a look and a nod of his head, and they didn’t even glance at me before they left.

“Where did you take me?” My cheeks were burning. I tried to look anywhere but at him while his clothes were disheveled, the open top of his shirt revealing a muscular chest. I had no business seeing him in this state. Clearly, I was interrupting his pleasure, and there was no way I was going to give the impression I would continue what he’d dismissed.

“The Scarlet Rose. The establishment you followed me into the other day,” he answered.

“What time is it?”

“Almost dawn.”

I scanned myself, relieved to find nothing had been taken from me. I still wore my cloak and boots ready to walk out of here. “The castle gates will be opening again; I’ll be able to get—”

I stopped myself. I felt fine. In stark contrast to how weak and helpless I’d been at twilight. A soft purring drew me to a black cat, always around at the most unexpected of times. I was surprised they’d let it in here.

“Your handmaiden happened to be outside the gates with your pills. I assume that’s what had you so worse for wear. Truly, you had me worried for hours. I thought you’d touched or eaten something you shouldn’t have in The Poison Garden.”

I blinked, stunned, and wondering how Davina could have known. It didn’t matter right now. I would find her later for that explanation. All I could be glad for was that she had been there.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Where else was I supposed to take you?”

“A separate room from your…affairs would have been appreciated.” I got to my feet, and Drystan approached me with a glass of water I took eagerly. When I finished, he held me with a studying look I turned stiff at. Even when his hand rose, I didn’t stop the brush of his thumb against the beads of water on my lower lip. “I should get going,” I rushed out, sidestepping him, but Drystan mirrored me.

“Pull out your map.”

I blinked at him. “What are you—?”

When I didn’t oblige, he seemed to think it appropriate to do so himself. I caught my breath at the proximity as he reached a hand into my cloak, knowing exactly which pocket held my map and overlay. He didn’t look at it, instead fixing them together and holding them out to me. It didn’t take me long to see and realize…

“I happened to remember this was marked in your destinations.”

The tiny scroll appeared over another circle on the overlay: The Scarlet Rose.

“You’ve done well. But I happen to know Draven is collecting his final piece now. Enver is dead. Rose is heading for her final. And as for Arwan, he’s been difficult to track, but I wouldn’t underestimate he could be close to the end trial too.”

It seemed I wasn’t making headway against the others as much as I’d thought. “How did Enver die?” I asked. This was news to me, and I blanched at how casually he mentioned it.

“Draven. There is no such thing as an ally in a game with one winner.”

“He stole his key.”

The prince nodded, and my blood ran cold.

As my mind reeled, I didn’t register Drystan’s advance. My breath turned sharp when my hair was tipped over my shoulder, and he stepped closer. I meant to protest and put some distance between us, but my gaze turned to his face. He didn’t meet my eye. Though I was fully covered to the top of my neck, Drystan’s attention lingered on my neck.

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