Page 58 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
“Focus, Roseheart.”
Her eyes snap up to mine. She wets her lips with her tongue, almost derailing my focus and willpower.Focus, Harrow. My little raven may be hard to kill, but sometimes death is a reprieve compared to the terrible actions of the living. If she’s ever captured again, if anyone ever tries to hurt her again, I want her to be capable of fending them off.
“Stand up.” I rise first, dumping the sleeping weasel unceremoniously off my lap. He gives an indignant squeak before scurrying off. “Sorry, Weasley.”
Lenore takes my offered hand, rising.
“Maybe you can help clarify something. You see, I’m struggling to imagine how you’re going to remove the dagger to use it when you actually need to. Unless you’re naked, which I do not expect to happen with anyone else,ever. It will be quite difficult to access. Please demonstrate your previous ‘training’ techniques.”
Lenore scrunches her face up and sighs. Turning on her heel, she runs from me. There’s an instant coiling of my muscles as she triggers the predator beneath my skin. Almost right away, she falls. My predator relaxes.
“My leg,” she cries out, raising her skirts to clutch her wounded knee. After a few seconds of writhing in pain, she slides the dagger free. Lifting it in the air, she shouts in victory. “Ah ha!”
I stare at her, unblinking. “Thatis your plan?”
Glaring, she folds her arms. “Yes. Do you have a problem with that plan?”
Where do I even start? “For one thing, you’re on the ground. How will you fight now that you have your dagger free if you’re lying on the floor?”
“I’ll stand back up.”
“Before your attacker gets to you?”
“Yes.” Her overconfidence is painful to witness.
“Alright then, let’s try that again. You run, I’ll chase you, and we’ll see if your plan can work.”
Doubt creeps across her features. “Okay. You have to give me a head start. And no supernatural speed or flying, anything like that. Agreed?”
“On my honor.” I place a hand over my heart in the way I’ve seen mortals do.
Lenore rolls her eyes. “I don’t know what that’s worth.”
She sheathes her dagger and gets to her feet. I take a menacing step toward her. Bolting away, she runs faster thanbefore. Faster, but not near fast enough. Her legs are short, her strides even shorter. I wait until she feigns her injury, hitting the ground.
Springing forward, I give chase. Lenore’s eyes bulge as I land on top of her, pinning her to the ground before she’s gotten her skirts even halfway up her leg. “Wait!”
“Your attacker won’t wait. They’ll be ruthless in their pursuit. This plan is not practical.”
I have to fight to hold back my smirk as she glares from beneath me. “You have a better plan?”
“Can you trust your handmaiden?”
“Melly? Of course.”
“She knows about the dagger?”
Lenore nods. “She helps me get dressed.”
“Instruct her to cut a hole in your skirts, to the right of your waist, and sew in a secret pocket. That’s where you’ll keep your dagger. In reach.”
“Inallof my dresses?”
“Every single one. And I expect it under your pillow while you sleep. I’ll be checking, personally, each night from now on.” I toss her a wink that earns me a lusty look.Focus, Harrow. “Now, let’s teach you to use it once you’ve successfully retrieved it. Do you know the weak points on the human body?”
“The heart.” Overconfidence, again.
“How accurately can you find the heart of a moving target?”
