Page 35 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Five

EVIE

T he mattress? Divinely soft.

The duvet? A cloud of silk and down feathers that must have been plucked from Dria Vegheara’s magic ravens themselves.

The tension that had filled the room since Zandyr had laid down beside me? Unavoidable.

I sat there, completely still, all my senses overwhelmed by him . The deep, burnished leathery scent was mixed with a minty fragrance. His breaths were even and precise, the perfect embodiment of the controlled man himself.

There was at least a foot of distance between us, but I felt his weight beside me.

I was so attuned to him, that even as my body finally wanted to drag me to sleep, my mind wouldn’t allow it. I was aware of each one of my breaths and heart beats. There was a sting in my throat from not swallowing for too long.

I sighed into the mattress. This had been a bad idea.

“I can feel you overthinking,” his deep voice broke the tense silence so abruptly, I flinched. “I can always leave.”

I opened my mouth, but wasn’t sure what to say. The truth was my body wanted to sigh to sleep with him here, no tossing and turning. “I’ve never actually spent an entire night sleeping beside someone.”

I sometimes fell asleep while grandpa Constantine read me bedtime stories filled with legends of great warriors and the villains they’d slain. My parents never so much as tucked me in or let me sleep in their bed, even when the temperatures had turned freezing.

Zandyr inhaled sharply. A second later, he twisted on his side, facing me. Even in the darkness, I felt his magnificent gaze caressing my face.

“Not even Fabrian?” he asked.

“Gods no.” He’d tried creeping into my room once, pretending he’d gotten lost, but had received the tongue-lashing of his life from Allie, who’d come to comb and braid my hair. Fabrian hadn’t known it then, but Allie had probably saved his life. I would have killed him, out of fear if nothing else, if he’d raised a hand toward me. He’d lived for a few more days, until Zandyr had ridden the world of him, but still.

Zandyr hummed. “Curious. Serpents have strange rituals before marriage. Something about serenades and massages and talking about feelings . Oddly romantic for a Clan so focused on gains.”

I turned to him, tucking my hands underneath my head. We’d shifted to whispers, little breaths sprinting over the pillows. “How do you know?”

He hesitated. “Do you really want me to tell you?”

“When have I ever not wanted to find out something?”

“Curious as a cat.” His weighty chuckle rocked the bed. “After you vanished and everyone thought you dead, some wanted your place by my side. Not all of them were from my Clan.”

“Wooed, were you?” A jab of molten fury ignited in my chest. But as fast as it had appeared, it vanished into a chill down my spine. “I wonder if all those women knew what they were truly signing up for.”

Zandyr came with the crown and a throne, and both brought responsibilities only the truly powerful and selfless could withstand.

“Do you?” he asked, suddenly serious. The tension in the room rose again. “I have done horrible things, Evie.”

My name melted from his lips. It sounded like another caress.

“And I will do more. Many more. It’s the life of a Clan heir.” He stopped breathing, as if waiting for my reply before continuing.

“Do you enjoy doing those horrible things?” I dared to ask.

“No. I do what I must, rarely what I want.”

I sighed once more, dragging myself deeper into the state of relaxation I’d been missing. “I’ll have to do horrible things too, won’t I?”

“Yes,” he said simply. “All I can promise you is I will do everything in my power to keep horrible things from happening to you.”

He lulled me to sleep with that promise. If he’d whispered any other reassurances in the dead of night, I didn’t get a chance to dismiss them as pretty words, though I still wanted to believe.

I woke up feeling better than I had since coming to Phoenix Peak. The mattress was somehow harder and more inviting than before. It didn’t smell like me, either, and the sheets had ended up wrapped around my shoulders.

I blinked awake.

Sheets didn’t have fingers and they definitely didn’t feel like a comforting weight against me.

Zandyr was embracing me.

My head rested on his chest, his right arm wrapped protectively around me. His large palm cradled my head protectively. I inhaled sharply.

“Good morning,” he murmured, the sound pulsing through my body. He unraveled himself from me, sitting up on the bed. “How did you sleep?”

Like a baby. “Well.”

“I did, too. I guess we have our answer, don’t we?”

We did. Damn it.