Page 33 of Ember and Eclipse
“Thereisa reason, but what does it matter to you? It isn’t going to kill me if that is what you’re concerned with,” she snapped. “You’ll still have your precious bounty, Wolf.”
“The soup is cold. I’ll have more sent up. Youwilleat,” he commanded as he stood, coming to his full height, and moved toward the door.
That must be the tone he used when he expected people to follow orders. But she was not inclined to obey. “No,” she seethed. “You can take me from my home, drag me off for something you can’t even begin to understand, hold knives to my throat for all I care, but if I don’t want to eat, then I’m not going tofuckingeat.”
A challenging glint was in his gaze when he looked over his shoulder. And then he was gone.
She waited for his footsteps to disappear before she got out of the bed, held her breath, and tossed the lavender out of the window. Despite the immediate cool breeze that drifted in, she left it open for good measure.
Rel washed, changed, and brushed her matted hair. Her energy was still depleted, but despite revisiting the past, she felt much better. Night had fallen while she’d been out, the music picking up for the nightly celebrations.
When the door opened again, she expected to see Leeda’s smiling face, ready to scold her for not eating again. Instead, it was Devdan, carrying a tray with a bowl and two slices of buttered toast on it. He shut the door with a kick of his heel and moved toward her. When he set it on her lap unceremoniously, she was forced to grab it before it toppled the steaming soup onto her and across the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Eat,” he demanded.
She glanced from the food to the hunter, then carefully slid the tray off her lap. “No.”
He nodded as the corners of his mouth pulled down in a determined frown. Picking up the platter again, he sat it on the chair. But when he turned back around, a piece of bread was in his hand.
He stalked back toward her and, without warning, clapped a large hand over her eyes and nose, pressing her into the mattress.
She thrashed. “Are you fu—”
The piece was shoved into her mouth, and his other hand closed over her lips. She struggled against his hand, clawing at it until, unable to breathe or move, she swallowed the piece of bread. The moment she did, he removed his hands.
She sat upright, fury boiling hot within her. “How dare you?”
“I’ll do it for the entire meal if I have to,” he said, not bothering to look at her as he brought the tray back to her and sat it in her lap. “Eat.”
Maintaining her hateful glare, she picked up the bowl slowly, careful not to let the soup slosh over the side. Even though she sorely needed the nourishment, she had no appetite. She took three spoonfuls while picturing all the ways she could kill the man, though.
Then, a thought, wicked and foolish, entered her mind.
“Don’t,” he growled, “even think about it.”
But she had already decided. She lifted the spoon like she was going to take another bite, but then, as fast as a throwing knife, she threw the bowl at the hunter. He dodged it.Mostly.The bowl clipped his shoulder, toppling and spraying the floor and him with broth and opaque onions.
For good measure, she sent the tray flying in his direction too, but that he swiped out of the air deftly.
For a moment, she thought he might hit her, and she pushed the covers off herself so she wasn’t trapped beneath them. Her hands curled into fists. The anticipation of a fight gave her a renewed spirit.
Instead, he tossed the tray down. “For someone who is looking for any opening to kill me, you are unwise to not keep up your strength. If you want to weaken yourself further, so be it.”
He slammed the door, and his footsteps faded, but her heart continued to beat erratically. She searched for the feeling of vindication or victory but found only a quiet shame.
She would clean it up, naturally. She hated to waste food.
Sighing, she got out of bed. The energy of a fight extinguished like a dying flame. It left only an exhaustion in its wake and a feeling of profound dissatisfaction.
She hated losing. And with Devdan, it had been nothing but losses.
Chapter XX
Notthreemorningslater,Devdan was nudging her to get up. “We’re leaving. Now.” She groggily pulled herself from the confines of the sheets to a sitting position.
Dawn was still in the earliest stages, and the room was chilled. She pushed the covers fully off herself, half awake, until she remembered where she was,whatshe was doing. The awareness froze her in place. Once they left Gavenport, that was it. They’d be on the road again, away from civilization and any real possibility of escape.
