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I nodded. “Never saw one until I got here.”

“Ian and I used to play inside. No one could see us.”

“Play? Or do you mean hide?” I asked. “Because that’s what I would’ve done.”

She gave me a tiny grin. “Well, yes. I would hide, and Ian would tag along like any good big brother.” Her head tilted back. “Have you gone under it? There’re benches, but you can’t see them now. Actually, anyone could be under there right now, and we wouldn’t know.”

I gave the willow a quick glance, able to see through the darkness of the canopy of branches. “No one is under there.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just am. Come on.” I tugged her forward. “Watch your step.”

Poppy was quiet as I took her around the low stone wall. I parted the branches with one hand, letting her enter, and kept my other hand firmly around hers as I joined her beneath the willow, knowing she wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing.

“Gods,” she murmured. “I forgot how dark it is in here at night.”

“It feels like you’re in a different world under here,” I said. “As if we’ve stepped through a veil and into an enchanted world.”

“You should see it when it’s warmer. The leaves bloom—oh!” Excitement filled her voice, bringing a grin to my lips. “Or when it snows, and at dusk. The flakes dust the leaves and the ground, but not a lot makes it inside here. Then it really is like a different world.”

“Maybe we’ll see it.”

“You think so?”

“Why not?” I said, knowing we wouldn’t. I turned to her in the darkness. We stood close, our bodies inches apart. “It will snow, will it not?” I asked, letting myself…well, pretend. “We’ll sneak off just before dusk and come out here.”

“But will we be here?” she asked, sending a bolt of surprise through me. “The Queen could summon me to the capital before then.”

“Possibly.” I forced my tone to remain light. “If so, then I guess we’ll have to find different adventures, won’t we? Or should I call them misadventures?”

Poppy laughed quietly, and the soft sound did two things simultaneously: It warmed my chest and my blood. The chest part confused me. The blood side of it did not. “I think it will be hard to sneak off anywhere in the capital,” she said. “Not with me…not with me being so close to the Ascension.”

“You need to have more faith in me if you think I can’t manage to find a way for us to sneak off,” I told her instead of saying that wouldn’t happen. “I can assure you that whatever I get us involved in won’t end with you on a ledge.” I brushed a wisp of hair back from her cheek. “We’re out here on the night of the Rite, hidden inside a weeping willow.”

“It didn’t seem all that difficult.”

“That’s only because I was leading the way,” I teased.

That brought another soft laugh from her. “Sure.”

“Your doubt wounds me.” I turned from her. “You said there were benches in here? Wait. I see them.”

“How in the world do you see those benches?”

“You can’t?”

“Uh, no.”

I grinned at the darkness. “Then I must have better eyesight than you.”

“I think you’re just saying you can see them, and we’re probably a second away from tripping—”

“Here they are.” I stopped by one, taking a seat.

Poppy gaped at me.

“Would you like to sit?” I asked.

“I would, but unlike you, I can’t see in the dark—” She gasped as I tugged her down so she was perched on my thigh.

I was glad she couldn’t see, because my smile was so wide, there was no doubt my fangs were visible. “Comfortable?”

There was no answer from Poppy, but her scent was rich and lovely, ever increasing.

“You can’t be comfortable,” I told her, sliding an arm around her and drawing her closer so her entire side was pressed firmly to my chest, and the top of her head was just below my chin. “There. That has to be much better.”

Her breath came out in short, shallow breaths.

“I don’t want you getting too cold,” I tacked on, grinning. “I feel like that’s an important part of my duty as your personal Royal Guard.”

“Is that what you’re doing right now?” Her voice was thicker, smoother. Did she notice? Because I sure as hell did. “Protecting me from the cold by pulling me into your lap?”

I carefully and lightly placed my palm against her waist, thinking of what little experience she had. While I might have been bold with her seating arrangement, I knew this was also a first for her. “Exactly.”

Her breath tickled my throat. “This is incredibly inappropriate.”

“More inappropriate than you reading a dirty journal?”

“Yes,” she insisted.

“No.” I laughed. “I can’t even lie. This is inappropriate.”

“Then why?”

“Why?” That was a good question. My chin grazed the top of her head as I looked at the branches concealing us. There were many reasons, and all of them came before killing time. Her need of me. My want of her.