Page 128 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

Lessia dared a quick glance his way, and sure enough, his eyes clashed with hers again.

Squeezing her shoulder, Amalise got to her feet. “I’ll go see what’s up with Ardow, and I suggest you go over there and talk to the man. The Lessia I know isn’t afraid of anything, least of all a man. Have some fun tonight—you deserve it!”

When Amalise left the room, once again ignoring Zaddock, who tried to stop her, Lessia sucked in a breath. Every nerve inside her sparked as she turned Loche’s way, a fire igniting inside her when she found him already on the way over.

As he reached her, he jerked his head toward the bustling dance floor. “Will you join me for a victory dance?”

Nodding, she let him pull her onto the dance floor, allowing herself to stop thinking as he spun her around, even letting herself rest her head against him when the music slowed, melting against his broad chest.

Chapter

Fifty-Five

By the time she pulled out of Loche’s arms, sweat dripped down her back. As they headed to the drinks table for refreshments, Zaddock intercepted Loche, his expression tight as he whispered that he needed to speak to him immediately.

Her eyes trailed them as they walked out of the room, and she wondered what had raised Zaddock’s shoulders so high and turned his expression so serious. The anger coiling his muscles reminded her of Merrick, and she realized she should probably check on the Fae.

He’d seemed exhausted when he came to the debate, and she doubted he’d eaten.

Grabbing a plate and heaping it with meat and potatoes, Lessia ventured out of the room.

As she was about to take the first step up the stairs, angry whispers reached her ears. Her name drifted over the muffled music, and she spun around, searching the dimly lit hallway.

The voices came from one of the alcoves beside the spiraling stairs down to the cellars.

With a hand on the railing, she hesitated, but when her name was mentioned again, she tiptoed over and hid behind one of the white pillars beside it.

“Loche, this is serious! You can’t be seen with her like this! What are you thinking?”

Zaddock’s low voice was urgent, and he must have slammed his hand on the wall, given the loud bang that followed.

“Calm down, Z. We danced, so what?” Loche drawled.

A groan followed, and Zaddock hissed, “So what?You’re risking everything, and you know it! You can’t do this—not when we’ve gotten this far.”

A guard walked out into the hallway, and Lessia slipped farther into the shadow of the pillar, staying out of the flickering light from the chandelier. A dusty gold tapestry tickled her nose as she pressed herself against it, and she held her breath until the guard disappeared up the stairs.

Her heart thundered in her chest when Loche raised his voice and an icy edge laced it. “Remember your place. I have it under control. She means nothing to me, and everyone knows it. I have been vocal about the need to collaborate with the Fae, and I need to show leadership in accepting them. She is just the means to that end.”

A sharp pain jabbed her heart, and Lessia stumbled out from behind the pillar.

In her rush toward the stairs, her foot snagged on the thick carpet covering the stone floor. As she tried to catch herself, the plate slipped out of her hands, clattering to the floor, the sound piercing the stone-walled space.

Steps rang behind her, and she abandoned the plate and the stairs. Spinning around, she slammed open the castle doors without daring to look behind her.

Lessia was met with a bone-chilling breeze that blewstraight through her wool cloak as she stormed down the castle courtyard, but she barely felt it as a hollow ache spread in her chest.

With the wind roaring in her ears, she sprinted away from the castle toward the towering cliffs and the meadow where she’d last met Kalia and the rest. Swearing to herself as she slipped every few feet, she ignored the darkness that loomed ahead, fixing her gaze on the moon hanging low over the upset sea.

The crashing waves mirrored the turmoil inside her, and she cursed again as she thought of how stupid she’d been to read into her interactions with Loche.

Ardow was right.

She was cleverer than this.

Pretty promises and heart-stopping looks shouldn’t have her act like a mere child.

Still, it was like her heart had cracked in two, every breath she drew feeling like a shard of ice making its way down her lungs.

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