Page 51 of Unrivaled
Like it was a blessing.
Luca thinking Audrey was malleable and ignorant was disgusting.
Luca understanding Audrey was a tempered blade was horrific.
I lay in bed trying to rest, my body heavy and my mind full of possibilities, none of them good.
I should’ve kicked him out.If the Duke found out Luca was visiting her…
It would be a breach of my oath, no question.
The problem was, I knew Luca was far more slippery than people realized.The Duke wouldn’t learn about his visit.Not this time, and probably not the next time.Because therewouldbe a next time.He was smart.While being simultaneously, and somewhat strangely, very stupid.
I should never have pushed her so hard.I hadn’t felt like I’d had a choice.She could have talked me out of breaking her heart so easily.
I’d successfully hurt her well enough she’d stopped speaking to me.I should’ve known how she’d react.I should’ve done better.I’d never, ever meant to do so much harm.
Yet here we were.
My payment was the well-deserved sharp side of her tongue, which brought me a measure of solace each time she sliced off the festering flesh around the wounds I’d created.My penance were the nightmares I had that Luca, too, might find those chinks in her armor.Unlike me, he would not just walk away.
There wasn’t any sound from the tower, but the watch had called morning.I knew Audrey and Isolde would be on the top level of the tower now, training.They’d be drilling punches, kicks.They’d be throwing each other around, catching one another in chokes and joint-locks.They might pick up the knife and train that, for a time.Audrey was damned good with it, if I was any judge.She didn’t fight fair, either.
No wonder she’d picked up the sword so easily.
I breathed into the fury at myself.If I’d just kept my dick in my pants, we wouldn’t be here.She could’ve looked at me every now and then with those big, burning eyes and it could’ve cauterized my soul.It wouldn’t matter.I could’ve helped her get toward her dream.Enough skill with a sword that she wouldn’t be run through before she could transition to the knife.That’s all she needed.It was achievable.
It had been achievable.
The watch called another hour and I gave up trying to sleep, readying myself for the day.They’d be down soon.Isolde would go to get Audrey food to break her fast, more likely than not.Her time outside the tower had been intricately planned since I’d ripped the heart out of her chest.
She didn’t want to be near me, and that was sensible.
Right now, I didn’t want to be near me, either.
But that damned gleam in Luca’s eye haunted me.
I heard Isolde leave, drew in a deep breath, and strode into Audrey’s space.
She was dressed for the day in the light purple dress with the yellow ribbons.She’d worn that the day we’d almost been caught in the stables.I knew exactly how it looked gathered up around her hips.
“I need to talk to you,” I said, and if those words made nausea roll in my belly, who could blame me?
“I’m a little busy,” she said.The ice in those words was entirely understandable.“If it’s important, keep it brief.”
My oath probably ought to have taken me, after what I’d done to her heart.
“Luca isn’t what you think,” I said.But when she looked up, there was annoyance on her face.“You can’t trust him, Audrey.”
“I’m accustomed to not being able to trust the men around me.”She dipped her quill in the pot as if she hadn’t just sunk a knife into my chest.“Is that all?”
I’d laid awake, thinking of the loyalty I owed to the rebels’ cause, and what I owed to her.At the end of the day, though, I didn’t care about any of that.
I cared about this woman.
“He’s part of a rebellion,” I said.The words sounded strange to my ears.You can tell.I drew in a deep breath and didn’t try to read her responses.“He’s planning regicide.He’ll marry you, kill your father, and use you to control the east.”
Color flooded her cheeks.“Wow,” she breathed.“I thought I was nothing but your charge, and here you are, playing a spy.”
