Page 19 of Rook of Ruin
I run to the library where I know few people, if any, will be. I quickly scan the room as I run through it, making sure I’m alone. Taking the stairs to the second floor, my favorite sitting area inthe whole castle welcomes me—a small corner of the library with a fireplace, a comfortable royal blue couch, a large chair, and large windows with a view of the gardens. The smell of leather, old paper, and smoke is a small comfort.
Pacing in front of the fireplace, tears streaming down my face, I let out a frustrated sob. My lungs aren’t getting enough air, so I pull at my dress, trying to rip the corset out. All I end up doing is tearing the black fabric, which makes me even more angry. I pull out some of the pins in my hair, my updo now a mess, letting them fall to the wooden floor below.
I need a plan, I need to figure something out, Ineedair. I let out another frustrated sob as I cry and stare out the window.
Fingers grip my shoulders, and I’m whipped around. Ossian’s chest is heaving, his grey eyes wild, and his black hair has fallen out of his normally neat bun.
“Tell me,” he bites out.
I don’t know what to say, so I stare at him.
“Tell me, Orlaith,” he growls.
“Untie me first,” I growl back.
“Untie you?” Ossian looks at my body again, like maybe he missed something binding my hands or feet.
I point to the corset and spin around, pulling out of his arms. Then I lift up my hair and wait. I hear his feet shift as if he is debating my every possible motive.
“I can’t breathe. Please untie me.”
Ossian could have used his brace and found out what was wrong. I don’t understand why he is behaving this way. We have practically taken people apart, made them spill their worst secrets, and this is where he draws the line? A stupid corset is what stops him?
Very softly, as if he is afraid this will break me, he begins to loosen the corset. His fingers briefly brush my skin, and warmth creeps up my chest and onto my face. My breasts lower, and mylungs stretch out in relief. Ossian takes the hair from my hands and slowly lays it across my back. He begins to delicately pull out the rest of the pins. Each section of hair that falls, he smooths out with his calloused fingers. His touch is tender. If I hadn’t seen him break people physically and mentally with the power he wields, I might have considered him to be a gentle sort of man.
When he finishes, the warmth so close to my body leaves. I turn around to see him staring at all the pins on the floor and in his hand. Ossian almost sheepishly hands them back, and I crook a smile. If only Tess, Paul, and Zane could see this. They wouldn’t believe me—I barely believe me. The terrifyingly lethal Spider gently pulling pins out of my hair.
“You did this to yourself.” He motions to the floor and to my dress, then a look of disappointment comes across his face.
“I thought you, the Spider of all people, would have heard about what I have to do. And, yes, I may have reacted poorly to the news.” A bitter laugh comes out of me.
“Have to do?” He seems concerned, but his expression is different from the concern he displayed in the Locker. I’m unsure if he is trying to get information or if he actually cares. Maybe he is concerned for a fellow Rook, who just happened to kill a bunch of people yesterday. I don’t think I killed Matron. Why would I have? Then again, why would I have killed the Rook, and why was I in the mortuary? Maybe Ossian can help me—maybe, somehow, he can give me the answers I need.
Taking a leap of faith, I tell him about my meeting with my sister. He listens, doesn’t interrupt, doesn’t even nod. When I finish, he turns to walk away.What the hells?
“That’s it? You can’t even acknowledge what I just said?” I yell at him, fury fueling me. He shrugs and continues. “What the fuck, Ossian? You don’t care that a fellow Rook is being forced into marriage? You don’t care that—”
Before I can say another word, he pushes me up against the window, both hands on either side of my face, the cool glass biting into my body. I gaze into his eyes, waiting for him to yell or scream. Instead, calmly, he says, “Alec.”
“What?” I don’t understand.
“Orlaith, ifyougave a fuck about another Rook, you would have asked me for my first name years ago. My actual fucking name is Alec. Everyone else knows it but you. Paul, Tess, and Zane call me by last name when you are around because you neverasked. When I heardyou crying, when I saw the way you looked, I thought—” His silky voice lowers. “I thought someone had hurt you. Instead, I find out that you’re crying over having to come out for the season with the expectation to marry.” He laughs just as bitterly as I feel. “Do you not know what every other Rook has todoto keep this kingdom safe? Do you not know what Paul, Zane, and I have had to do? What Tess does?”
He looks into my eyes, and when I don’t have the answer, his lips curve up. “Didn’t think so. You act like you are so tough, but you’re safe in the Locker while other Rooks go out into the real world and sacrificeeverything.” His body is rigid from anger. “So don’t whine to me about having to get married to some rich lord or duke for an alliance. The rest of us Rooks will keep you safe while you sit and drink champagne and eat your fucking sweet cakes,Lady Verlan.”
Questions fire off in my head quickly. Is that how everyone sees me? Am I just some joke? Have I not been a real Rook this whole time? What does that even mean?
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t call me that. I did everything the other Recruits did and made it through, just like you, just like Tess and Paul. Only I was better than you, and I finished a year earlier. As theSpider”—my voice drips with venom—“you should know that.”
He smiles cruelly. “Go ahead,my lady, and tell yourself and anyone else that.”
“I am telling you that.” Tess and Paul would tell me—Zane might even tease me about it. Oss—Alec is wrong, damn wrong.
I am completely aware of our bodies being too close together, but I don’t care. I want to understand why he believes I’m not a Rook. The look of confusion on my face is like a great battle won for Ossian—Alec. He leans forward, as if to intimidate me further.
“That year you so famously got a head start was the year they taught everyone else how to seduce, how to pleasure, how to properly flirt and possibly fuck in order to gain secrets. Have you ever wondered why you haven’t been outside of these walls except with Tess or Paul for family dinners?”
My mouth goes dry. “What? Why—”
