Page 278 of The Nightmare Bride
I whirled and rejoined the road again, stopping just long enough to toss an order at Merron. “Go find Olivian. Tell him what happened.”
He just nodded, his expression crumpled.
I took off sprinting. If Vick thought he could take Amryssa from me, if he thought for one second I’d let him give her back to Zephyrine, he’d messed with the wrong damn keymistress.
32.
By the time I hurtled into the drive, my lungs had caught fire. Sweat soaked my dress.
I stumbled to a stop. The swamp beckoned, but I couldn’t just dive in unprepared. Judging by the clouds scudding across the sky, a nightmare was brewing, and I’d need some way to secure myself.
My thoughts spun. I could take the shackles from my armoire, anchor myself to a tree if need be. Because I wouldn’t make the same mistake the Lady Marche had.
I wouldnotdie before reaching Zephyrine and offering up my life for Amryssa’s.
I sprang into motion, tearing open the manor’s doors and racing up the grand staircase. Candlelight shimmered in the hallways, but I encountered no one.
I burst into my room. The doorknob cracked against the wall, but I didn’t spare it a glance. I vaulted toward my armoire, yanking open the bottom drawer, flinging aside scraps of silk in search of my chains.
Behind me, fabric rustled. “Lioness.”
My heart went splat, as if an invisible hand had pitched it against the wall. That smoked-velvet voice. That ludicrous accent. That... What? No. My thoughts fuzzed over, my mind filling with warm white blankness.
I turned, slowly.
All the air left the room. Because there he was, sitting on my bed, as casual as anything, his copper hair falling across his forehead, his starlit eyes searching my face. A plain linen shirt clung to the strong lines of his body. He rested his elbows on his knees, his fingers interlaced.
My pulse restarted, a one-two punch against my sternum.“Kai?”
One side of his mouth slid upward. “Who else?”
“But...” Oh, goddess. Was I dreaming? I had to be. My longing had ballooned to such proportions that it had assumed a solid shape. “Are you really here?”
He glanced down at himself. “It would certainly seem that way.”
“But...what’re you doing?”
He aimed raised eyebrows at the open drawer behind me. “Trying to figure out what you’re searching for so desperately.”
A skeletal laugh rattled out of me. “You... No, I mean... What’re you doinghere? In Oceansgate? You left. To go to Fairmont. Or you were supposed to.”
His head tilted. “Is that so? Because I could’ve sworn I was supposed to be right here.”
“I...” Hot mist slicked my eyes. “But you walked out. You said you could tell when you weren’t wanted.”
“Well, I can.”
“Then why’re you here?”
He lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “Because. This was not one of those times.”
My throat worked. Emotion crashed through me, splintering me into pieces. Then I was running, hurling myself into his arms, toppling him onto the bed. A grunt flew from his mouth as his back hit the mattress.
His arms circled me, and I clung to him, his heartbeat a full-throated chorus against my ear. I raised my head, then mashed my lips against his with enough fervor to slow time.
He matched the intensity of my kiss, burying a hand in my hair. When I pulled back, he gazed up at me, wonderstruck. “I’ll admit, I was hoping for a warm welcome, but this exceeds even my expectations.”
“Seven hells, I missed you.” My words were garbled, salted with tears. “I thought I was never going to see you again.”
