Page 21 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

“Returning so soon?” she cooed.

Reed cursed under his breath and spun to face her. “You’re a stealthy one.”

“And it would seem you’re not.” Dulce pursed her lips.

He smirked just before his face softened. “Yourhusband tried to murder you?”

“Ah. A thief and a snoop.” She folded her arms, regarding him. Reed seemed genuinely concerned over what he’d heard. Shocked, even. “If you must know, yes. He tried to poison me.”

“And so you stabbed him, repeatedly.” He nodded in understanding that truly wasn’t understanding at all.

“On the contrary,” Dulce started, wondering at how flippantly the thief spoke of murder. “I only gave him a little scare. It was his own cowardice that got the fool killed.”

“Sounds as though he deserved it anyway.” Reed shrugged, frowning up at a Pesquet’s parrot that squawked.

“Yes, well…” The thief was even more handsome in the daylight, but Dulce had more important matters to attend to that involved life and death. “Why are you here, Reed? Did you not get to help your brother?”

“No, Philip is healing perfectly, thank you. However, I, uh”—he folded his arms and leaned against the tree—“the thing is, I was arrested. Because of the jewelry you gave me.”

Dulce gasped, her eyes widening. “Did you tell the enforcers I’m alive?” Sudden fear coursed through her at the thought of the witch learning that she lived. That the woman would know Dulce would try to stop her curse.

“I happen to be a gentleman of my word.” Reed pushed from the tree with the heel of his boot, the movement graceful as a dancer. “But perhaps you can go to the jail and tell the enforcers yourself that I am no graverobber.”

No graverobber indeed, she thought.

“I would love to help you.” Dulce smiled. “But the thing is, I can’t. Just yet.”

“And why is that, Majesty?”

“Since you left, I have … learned of much more pressing matters.”

His deep brown eyes fixed on hers, Reed arched a brow, his white hair falling across his forehead as he scowled at her, making him somehow even more handsome. “And may I inquire, if it’s all right with Your Worship, how long do you estimate these pressing matters will take? Not to be an inconvenience, but with every enforcer in the vicinity after me, I find that I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

This man was a stranger, and yet, even though it meant danger to himself, he had kept her secret. He had saved her life by freeing her from her grave. He had helped her when she was weak and hungry, dying of thirst. She felt bound to him in a sense—she had to admit this, even if only to herself. And now, they were both in hiding. For different reasons, yes, but hiding all the same.

He had escaped capture and clearly knew more about the dangers of the world than she did.

Maybe, just maybe, they could continue to help one another.

“Last night after you left, I discovered a witch here with Cornelius. They’d gotten ratherclose, it seems, and she put a spell on my land.”

“A witch.” His gaze was full of skepticism as he ran a hand along his jaw. “Cast a magic spell.”

“Yes. I saw her with my own eyes,” she insisted. “I’m not mad—there’s no reason to look at me like that.”

Reed continued to look at her exactly like that.

Dulce warred with herself. Should she tell him everything she knew? If she wanted his help, she would need to trust him with something of the truth.

“There are five trees across the territories whose magic helps to give our world its vitality, its life,” she confessed. “If their power is disturbed, which the one on my land has been, thanks to this witch, it will be very bad.”

“Very bad…”

“Yes, there will be catastrophic consequences. If the trees turn to stone, life can no longer be sustained here in Moonglade or the neighboring lands. The foliage and animals will also become stone, our water sources will turn undrinkable, and our air unbreathable. The sun will disappear, shrouding this entire region in darkness. My tree’s roots already show signs of sickness!”

Reed blinked, seeming to not understand what a dire situation they faced.

“Total annihilation.” He nodded. “Got it. Not exactly what I was expecting you to say as your reason for not telling the enforcers you’re alive and that you gave me your jewels, but… Wait, whyareyou hiding?”

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