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“I’m sure you would be,” I murmured.

“And I haven’t forgotten what happened to Malessa or that someone tried to abduct me.”

“You haven’t? Then I guess you just didn’t take any of that into consideration when you decided to go gallivanting through the city to the library.”

“I didn’t go gallivanting through anything. I went through Wisher’s Grove and was on the street for less than a minute,” she argued. “I also had my cloak up and this mask on. No one could even see a single inch of my face. I wasn’t worried about being snatched, but I also came prepared, just in case.”

“With your trusty little dagger?” I grinned.

“Yes, with my trusty little dagger,” she retorted. “It hasn’t failed me before.”

“And that was how you escaped abduction the night Rylan was killed?” I asked another thing I knew, but we hadn’t spoken of. “The man wasn’t scared off by approaching guards?”

She exhaled loudly and a bit dramatically. “Yes. I cut him. More than once. He was wounded when he was called off. I hope he died.”

“You are so violent.”

“You keep saying that,” she snapped. “But I’m really not.”

I laughed again, enjoying how quickly her ire rose. “You really aren’t all that self-aware.”

“Whatever,” she muttered. “How did you even realize I was gone?”

“I checked on you,” I lied, dragging my hand over the back of the settee. “I thought you might want company, and it seemed stupid for me to stand out in the hall bored out of my mind with you inside your room, most likely bored out of yours. Which, obviously, you were since you left.”

“Did you really?” She took a deep breath. “I mean, did you really check on me to ask if I…I wanted company?”

I nodded. “Why would I lie about that?”

“I…” She looked away, her lips pursed. “It doesn’t matter.”

But I thought it might’ve.

I leaned against the settee. “How did you end up on the ledge?”

“Well, that’s kind of a funny story…”

“I imagine it is. So, please, spare no details.” I crossed my arms.

She sighed. “I came to find something to read, and I stopped inside this room. I…I didn’t want to go back to mine yet, and I didn’t realize that anything about this room was special.”

I followed her gaze to the liquor cabinet. That hadn’t given away that this was a private chamber?

“I was in here, and I heard the Duke outside in the hall. So, hiding on a ledge was a far better option than having him catch me here.”

“And what would’ve happened if he had?”

She shrugged again. “He didn’t, and that’s all that matters. He had a meeting here with a guard from the prison. At least, I think that’s who it was. They were talking about the Descenter who threw the Craven hand. The guard got the man to talk. He said that the Descenter didn’t believe that the Dark One was in the city.”

“That’s good news,” I forced out.

She glanced over at me. “You don’t believe him?”

“I don’t think the Dark One has survived as long as he has by letting his whereabouts be widely known, even by his most fervent supporters,” I replied.

“I think…” Her grip on the book she held tightened. “I think the Duke is going to kill the Descenter himself.”

I remembered what she had asked me. “Does that bother you?”

“I don’t know.”

I tilted my head. “I think you do, and you just don’t want to say it.”

Her lips pursed. “I just don’t like the idea of someone dying in a dungeon.”

“Dying by public execution is better?”

She stared at me. “Not exactly, but at least then it’s being done in a way that feels…”

My heart was kicking faster now. “Feels like what?”

Poppy gave a shake of her head. “At least then it doesn’t feel like it’s…” She glanced at me.

I was holding my fucking breath for her answer.

“Something being hidden,” she said.

I stared at her. She didn’t like how the Ascended handled things. I’d already suspected as much, but to see how uncomfortable she truly was with it was something…

Important.

And I would have to think about that later when it was quiet, and I could figure out what it really meant.

“Interesting,” I said.

“What is?”

“You.” I eyed the book she held.

“Me?”

Nodding, I then struck, grabbing the book.

“Don’t!” she gasped.

Too late.

I freed the tome from her grasp and stepped back, glancing down at it. “The Diary of Miss Willa Colyns?” My brows furrowed as I turned it over. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Give it back.” She reached for it, but I moved away. “Give it back to me now!”

“I will if you read it for me. I’m sure this has to be more interesting than the history of the kingdom.” Smiling, I opened the book, quickly scanning the page. One sentence stood out boldly.

He took me from behind, pounding the iron steel of his manhood into me.