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Bile burned the back of her throat and before she could think it through, she whispered, “Don’t scream, your grace, or your ruse will be over.”

“What . . . ”

She released his throat and slashed him across the face, her nails digging in deep.

He clamped his lips together, groaning.

Mer jumped to her feet and kicked him in the crotch and then the ribs for good measure before scurrying from the bed. “Get out.”

Duke Keventin hauled himself out of her bed, limping to an open panel in her wall.

A secret entrance.

He tipped his head to her, a vile grin on his face that made her skin crawl. “See you in the morning for breakfast,” he crooned.

She stared as he disappeared from sight. The door shut without a sound.

Mer wrenched her arms, clawing her way out of the bonds around her wrists. She scrambled forward and wedged a chair against the panel before backing away.

Blood dripped down her right hand.

There was part of him still on her.

With trembling hands, she poured water into the bowl and scrubbed her hands furiously until they burned. But it wasn’t enough. She still felt him everywhere. Mer tossed the water into the cold fireplace and poured more water into the basin before scrubbing her whole body.

It wasn’t enough.

The keep creaked, and she jumped, her heart pounding.

Tears flooded her eyes, and she abandoned the rag and water. Mer moved as far as she could from the secret door, her back meeting the door between her own suite and the king’s. Mer snatched a heavy candlestick from the mantle above the fireplace and slid to the floor.

Her wet fingers pressed into the cold metal, and she retched, bile filling her mouth.

You did well. You fought.

It almost hadn’t been enough.

Tears tracked down her cheeks one after another as she cried silently, feeling dirty and scared.

You’re just as soft as the other one.

Mer cried harder, wishing that Phia was dead so that she wouldn’t experience whatever horrors the duke had planned for her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

RAZIEL

Something was wrong.

Duke Keventin had suggested they’d go for a stroll to the markets around the docks and take the women shopping. Not once during the week he’d been at Laos Keep had the duke shown one iota of interest in his wife’s wellbeing.

The outing was a ruse.

Keventin just wanted to show Raziel how much influence he had over the navy and how profitable his province was. He was trying to intimidate Raz.

It was laughable really.

While Duke Keventin could be a powerful enemy, his entire province had been bestowed upon him during Raziel’s grandfather’s rule. It would be just as easy to oust the man and replace him.