Page 89 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
Long, elegant fingers reach around my jaw, slowly tipping my face upward. Harrow’s face is tilted in a smirk. I find it more terrifying than if he were scowling. “When, pray tell, did Cassius take you to a cabin? And for what purpose?”
I settle on the truth. Part of it, at least. It shouldn’t get me into too much trouble. “As soon as you left me in the maze, I stumbled into Cassius. I just”—my mouth is thick—“I needed to get away from everything for a few days and I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”
Sadness flickers across Harrow’s steely gaze. He sighs. “I should never have left you.”
“I asked you to. It was my fault.” Realizing it really was my fault, I add, “I’m sorry I sent you away. I shouldn’t have blamed you. My heart was just so broken and I was angry.”
Harrow surprises me when he leans down and presses a gentle kiss to my lips. “Please know that if there were anything I could have done to save your mother, I would have. If there had been any way to delay it, to bring her back, I would have doneit for you. I hunted down every source I could but the dead are dead. With the exception of your animals, of course.” He gives me a half smile.
“I tried, you know. I tried to bring her back.”
His arms are firm as he pulls me into his chest. “You are miraculous, but there are limits even to your gifts.”
I lean into his armored breastplate. The skull emblem near the top corner digs into my cheek. “Thank you for coming to save me.”
“Don’t mention it. Now let’s find that door and get the hell out of here. The sooner we leave this place, the sooner I can have you away from all this terror and back in bed.” He gives me a wink that has me blushing and grinning like a lovesick fool. He’s so damn hot.
The interior of the cabin is also an exact replica. I set to work, scouring every inch. I look through every window, open the closet, check beneath the furniture. I even roll up the rug, hoping there’s a trap door beneath. “It has to be in here. Is the door always shaped like an actual door? Or could it be something sneaky?”
“There’s only one bed.” I turn to find Harrow staring at the bed. His pointed gaze sweeps to me. “You went away for afew dayswith another man and there’s only one bed. Where did he sleep at night?”
My pulse rises. “I got sick that first evening. Cassius left to get help so we never spent the night here.” Technically the truth.
Harrow’s eyes are like glass, cutting through me, seeking the unspoken words I’m sure he can sense are hidden on the back of my tongue.
“Lenore.”
“We should go. The door isn’t here.” I make for the exit, reaching for the handle. A shadow wraps around my wrist, stopping me before I can grab it.
The room darkens as Harrow’s shadows cover the walls and floor. “Lenore.”
The way he says my name makes me shiver. Reluctantly, I turn. “Yes?”
“Did you let him touch you?” My sharp intake of breath is confirmation enough. I hadn’t expected him to ask me so directly.
His metallic eyes blaze.
I swallow, lips parting. A shadowy tendril encircles the lower half of my face, silencing me before I can speak.
Harrow tuts. “I can see the mistruth weaving itself together behind your eyes. Don’t waste your time.”
He moves, no, prowls toward me. As much as I try to look past what he truly is, he’s more dangerous than that spider in the forest. I’m the helpless human trapped in his web. Each step heightens the wild beating of my heart. Harrow’s movements are slow, deliberate.
He waits to speak again until he’s standing toe to toe with me, peering down from the vantage point of his great height. “Did he fuck you?” The shadows slip from around my mouth as he waits for an answer.
“This is not the time or place to talk?—”
“Ah, so he did fuck you.”
“I never said that.”
“You never denied it.” His icy stare brings fire to my cheeks.
“Harrow—”
“Did you come?”
I almost choke on air. “Why are you doing this?”
