Page 26 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Six

EVIE

T his was ridiculous, but there was no stopping my smile as I climbed all the way up to the web of beams keeping my roof upright.

Was my heart beating a little too fast?

Yes.

Did I care?

Not really.

After the last few hectic days, immersed in gloom and doom, I wasn’t exactly in the best shape to be hiding in shadowy corners, but Goose’s cooking had plumped my limbs and Adara’s lessons had made them stronger. She always got me as close to exhaustion as she could without me fainting, which left little energy and speed to tackle her.

I needed this reprieve about as much as Zandyr seemed to.

I couldn’t think about all the awful things from my past when my body was focused on survival, now could I? Even if we were pretending.

“I can hear you.” Zandyr’s deep voice creeped through every crack, straight into my veins.

I grinned, grasping the beam underneath me tighter. Adara was right. My grip was better.

Zandyr prowled underneath, dark hair catching the moonlight daring to intrude in the darkness. We’d snuffed out the candles, one by one, leaving us alone in the shadows. Apart from the light of the moon and stars blinking inside, we couldn’t see anything. Or I couldn’t, who knew what skills Zandyr hid behind those ice eyes.

And he was hunting me .

My house had turned into one big pretend trap, where I was supposed to pose as prey.

All my years of trying to make myself small and scarce in the mountains helped. I couldn’t get chided or criticized if my parents couldn’t hear me.

Easier to ignore.

Harder to catch.

I crawled toward a corner where the beams intersected underneath the cornice, leaving a small groove. I stuck my chin in the wood.

“Can you, now?” my voice vibrated through the wood, dissipating through the house.

Zandyr’s dark chuckle followed, the rich sound blending in with mine. “You’re full of surprises, menace.”

I barely managed a small smile when a blur leaped up behind me.

My heart jumped in sync with my body, as I sprung toward the next beam and spidered my feet across it soundlessly, Zandyr hot on my trail.

He was faster.

His breaths ghosted after me.

I jumped toward the next beam, hands gripping on tight. My raw knuckles stung from the strain as I swung my body forward, but my fingers grasped the wood tighter than before. Thank you, Adara.

I twisted my body as I lunged toward the floor. I made sure to land with a soft, audible sigh, before darting right to the carved column up ahead.

Zandyr followed.

He landed with feline grace and sprinted right after me.

Blood pumping wildly in my veins, I scaled up the column, hands and feet digging into the cat heads and snake tails carved into the wood.

Zandyr reached for my foot. I swung it out of reach, only the whisper of his touch gliding across my skin.

His raspy chuckle sent shivers down my spine.

He could have grabbed me if he really wanted to, and we both knew it. Perhaps he was enjoying the game too much.

Big mistake.

One of the first things I’d done after moving in was to explore and map out every inch of this house, roof included.

I squireled myself away in a nook, completely still as my senses heightened. I listened as Zandyr’s breaths came out sharper when he looked up. I smelled his rich, earthy scent as he wandered right underneath my hiding place.

Exactly where I wanted him.

I took off my left shoe and threw it a few feet away, right as I flicked my switchblade open.

Zandyr’s hair swished as he turned toward the noise.

With a grin, I pounced, just like I’d seen Adara do.

There was no way I could exhaust Zandyr to gain the upper hand. But I could distract him enough for one pretend hit.

Just one.

As I launched myself at him, hair swinging around my face, I felt triumphant.

For the briefest moment.

Zandyr turned, staring straight at me with a wide smile, as if he’d been expecting this exact moment. He caught me by the waist straight out of the air, like I weighed less than nothing.

He turned us around until I was trapped between the wall and his strong body. Our erratic breaths mingled together as our heartbeats settled into the same rhythm.

We’d gone through this dance back at my wedding, but everything felt so different now. He was just as powerful, his presence just as menacing, yet I was no longer frightened.

His hold tightened on my hips, hot touch searing through me.

A corner of his lips quirked. “Tricks like that don’t work on me.”

I licked my lips, almost tasting his breath on them. “Will they work on others?”

Because there was no point in splitting my skin open over and over again on the training course if I wasn’t getting any better. Or deadlier. He was one of the best warriors in Malhaven, I didn’t expect to beat him.

I wanted to defend myself against a real assassin.

“Yes,” he said. “You’ll be a true danger in no time.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, my body sagging against his. I didn’t move away. He didn’t let me go.

“Thank you,” he murmured, our breaths fusing just like our voices had. “It makes leaving tomorrow easier.”

I swallowed deeply. What exactly did I say to my former enemy who now had his hands all over me? We were so close, I felt each of his words vibrating from his chest into mine.

“Don’t die.” The words spilled past my lips before I could stop them.

Ironic that only a few weeks ago, I would’ve wished one of those poisoned arrows upon him.

“I promise I’ll do my best,” he said. “You be careful too, menace.”

Then he did something that shocked me to my core.

The Dragon, the dangerous, deadly crown prince of the Blood Brotherhood Clan, the one who’d killed my groom at my own wedding and whisked me off away to his bloody Capital, kissed my forehead.

It was only a simple touch, as if to seal his promise.

Lips to skin, for less than a moment.

My entire body ignited and I sucked in a breath.

Before all the air had filled my lungs, he was already gone.