Page 28 of The Nightmare Bride
He held my eyes for a beat, then pouted. “Well, town sounds much less enticing if you’re not going to come along and let me loosen you up a bit.”
My whole body went taut. “I never loosen up.”
“Clearly.”
I slitted my eyes. “I definitely should’ve stabbed you.”
He laughed. “You’ll have plenty more chances, I’m sure.”
The offhand remark sent me down a rabbit-hole of what ifs.WouldI have more chances? Was I squandering my best shot at protecting Amryssa? What would happen when Olivian—and Kyven himself, no less—discovered he’d married the wrong woman?
Something burbled in my stomach, then sprang from my lips in the form of a hysterical laugh.
Kyven cocked an eyebrow, but soon joined in. When our laughter died, we stared at one another.
“What was that about?” he said.
“This.” I gestured between us. I had the distinct impression that tomorrow, when he found me out, it would be the first and only time I would manage to best him. “This whole thing is absurd. So...I’m just going to go to sleep now.Withmy knife.”
“That sounds uncomfortable. But very well. I’ll leave you to it. If you need me, I’ll be over here, dying of boredom.” He chuckled. “See? You won’t have to stab me after all. Just ignore me, and the problem will take care of itself.”
I shook a disbelieving head and settled into the mattress. I wouldn’t make the mistake of turning my back; I didn’t trust him for a second.
Kyven closed his eyes. Despite his protestations, he fell asleep almost immediately. Or at least, Ithoughthe had. The moment I drifted off, he murmured.
“My Lady Amryssa. I never would’ve touched you if I’d known you didn’t want me to.”
I prised my eyes open, wondering when I’d closed them. Had I dreamt that?
Apparently. Kyven looked far, far gone. His chest rose and fell, the stark lines of his body ebbing and swelling in the candlelight.
I battled the sleep weighting my eyelids. Zephyrine help me, who was this man? I’d caught no sign of the emptiness Eliana had described, but this tenacious cheerfulness was just a smokescreen, right? What if he woke while I slept? What if I jolted awake to his hands wrapped around my throat?
The dagger must have sensed my ruminations, because it sighed in my grip.What do you need?
After a moment’s contemplation, I told it,Sleep.Make him sleep. Don’t let him wake until I do.
The dagger hummed and sizzled, then went quiet—the sign of a bargain accepted.
I waited another minute, watching Kyven breathe, but fatigue dragged at me, more insistent than a millstone tied to my ankle. I’d barely slept in two days and couldn’t hold out much longer.
At last, I let go, praying my enchantment would hold until morning.
8.
Olivian’s voice snatched me from sleep. “She didwhat?”
I peeled my eyes open. The wall between my chamber and Amryssa’s muffled Olivian’s shouts, but there was no mistake—the seneschal was in his daughter’s room, and he waspissed.
“That conniving little cheat,” he bellowed. “I’ll kill her!”
I clambered upright. A glance confirmed Kyven was still lost to the depths of slumber and hadn’t tried to kill me last night, but I’d sort out the meaning of that later. Right now, Amryssa needed me.
I flung my blanket aside and dashed into the hall. Why hadn’t I remembered Olivian had a key to her room? Why hadn’t I anticipated this?
I burst in to find the seneschal pacing at the foot of Amryssa’s bed. She sat amid the tangled sheets, her eyes like gray glass orbs in a bloodless face.
“Don’t yell at her,” I blurted. “This was my idea, not hers.”
