Page 77 of The Nightmare Bride
Well, who knew, but appealing to Merron wasn’t right. I could not,wouldnot, hurt that man any more than I already had.
I snatched my hand away and hurried onward.
Upstairs, on the rooftop, cool night air brushed at my cheeks. The rain had cleared, revealing stippled stars, and I stood at the roof’s edge, my blanket wrapped tight.
Tomorrow, the heat would return with a vengeance, but for now, the swamp glowed beneath a cloudless, moon-chilled sky. Out on the lawn, fireflies danced like amethyst stars.
It was beautiful. And deadly. And a reminder that I needed to hold myself together if I wanted to help Amryssa, not fall apart at the first sign of a nightmare. A perfectly mundane one, at that.
A foot scraped against stone. “Harlowe?”
I whirled. Merron stood beneath the cupola, his arms spread, his nightshirt rippling on the breeze. He looked...terrified.
“Merron? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t,” he choked out. “Please. Just...think about this.”
I furrowed my brow, mystified. But then he shot a shiny-eyed glance at the drop behind me, and I understood.
He thought I meant to jump.
I couldn’t help it. I snorted. “Really? I only came out here because I had a bad dream. So you can go ahead and close your mouth.”
He didn’t close his mouth. Whatever he tried to say next stalled in his throat.
I sighed. “Come on. After all these nightmares, you think I’d just give up? If nothing else, you should know I wouldn’t leave Amryssa like that.”
That seemed to reach him. His mouth snicked shut. “Okay. You’re...okay? You’re sure?”
I wasn’t, not really, but I wasn’tnot okayin the way he feared. “I’m fine.”
“All right. But...will you come here? You’re scaring me.”
I frowned. “No. I like it here.”
He eyed the scant inches separating me from a dizzying earthward plunge. “Okay. But...did I hear you downstairs? Just now? Outside my room?”
I paused. Shit. I had no feasible way to explain that.
Thankfully, the shadows rustled, saving me from an answer. Kyven wandered out of the darkness, looking tousled and decadent and utterly unsurprised at finding us here.
“Lioness.” He scrubbed at his mussed hair. “Bad dream?”
I gave Merron aSee?look. “Yep. I just came to get some air.”
“Mmm.” Kyven stretched, catlike. When he raised his arms, his entire torso rippled, muscles standing out in places that seemed physiologically impossible.
It was absurd. So ridiculous that evenMerronwatched. But then the steward’s face closed up. “What’re you doing out here, Your Highness?”
“Trying to lure my wife back to bed.” Kyven scanned Merron with abject disinterest. “What’s your excuse?”
“I’m...” Merron glanced to me for help.
I shook my head. If he expected me to admit to lingering by his door in front of my temporary-but-still-very-legal husband, then...nope.
Not going there.
“I’m trying to get her away from the edge,” Merron said uncertainly. “I don’t like her standing so close.”
