Page 51 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Fifty-One

EVIE

H e came in on the evening breeze, just as the moon peeked from behind the trees in the distance. A shadow climbing into my room, just as I finished toweling my hair, back turned.

I’d spent too much time in the bath, trying to scrub away the memory of Valuta’s perfume and her words. Now I smelled like lavender and my erratic little heart fluttered as Zandyr drew closer.

His energy pulsed against me, enticing me, and I hadn’t even seen him yet. I didn’t know how I’d ever get used to this. This pull toward him that I couldn’t resist, as if everything was right in the world only when we were together, breathing the same air. When we weren’t, our minds tugged at connections between us, like they were trying to convince us to bridge whatever gap lay between.

Madness, that’s what it was. To want someone so fully, constantly, irrevocably.

“I can’t wait until I can come through the front door.” He chuckled lowly, voice racing up my spine and settling at the base of my skull, as if he gripped the soft, damp hairs there in a ghost of a touch.

My eyelids fluttered as he approached; good thing he couldn’t see how fast was heating up after I felt his short intake of breath as his eyes roamed down my back.

Skin still slightly damp, I wore one of the silky slips in my wardrobe. The soft fabric clung to my body as small drops of water dripped from the ends of my hair.

“Not into sneaking around?” I asked, still not turning. Gods, my voice had gone low. The very essence of Zandyr brought out a nymph from inside me. I had no clue where she was hiding most of the time or why she’d chosen this moment to come out.

Zandyr hummed low in his throat, the heat of him tempting. It would be so easy to lean back, rest against his powerful chest, and have his strong arms engulf me.

Before I could decide, one of his fingers slid up my spine, trailing one of the water droplets.

A couldn’t suppress the shiver that radiated through me when he picked up the drop on his finger. The sound of him sucking it into his mouth filled the room. Heat pooled between my thighs and I was powerless to stop it.

Ever since that night when he surprised me with Dria’s statue, I was so completely attuned to him, mind, body, and…gods, I didn’t even know what my soul was doing right now, except frantically telling me to turn and touch him.

We no longer fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed and then found ourselves entangled the next day. Now he had a hand constantly on my body, even in his sleep, as if afraid I might vanish in the dead of night.

I’d never felt anything like this before. This almost constant fixation on someone else. I’d never wanted anyone else until Zandyr.

His small touch, as searing as it was, felt more like a question. He had sensed the turmoil Valuta had sprouted in me.

I tilted my head to the side, revealing my neck. A silent invitation he took without hesitation, circling my waist and pulling me into him.

The moment my back molded to his chest, my senses ignited even more. His nose trailed along the column of my neck, inhaling deeply. It made me weak in the knees. Good thing his strong arms coiled around me, to ground me.

Such a simple gesture. I wonder if he knew how much I’d been craving it all day.

“Between the two of us, you’re the expert at sneaking,” he murmured.

Because he was the mighty prince and I was the Protectorate usurper. I didn’t kid myself, the Oracle had assuaged some of the Capital’s fears, but not all. There was a long road in front of me to gain this Clan’s trust. The harder I thought about it, the longer and more perilous the journey felt.

But not impossible.

“You’ve had an eventful day. I could feel it,” he whispered against my skin, as if he didn’t want anyone else in the world to hear. So nobody else knew how we burned for each other. A secret only meant for the two of us.

My mouth went dry. I still hadn’t turned. “I did.”

His lips ghosted over the junction of my neck and shoulder. Almost kissing, but not quite. Definitely driving me wild. “More breaking into dangerous places?”

“Why bother? Danger finds me whatever I do, less effort on my part.” I steeled myself against the next words that were going to spill from my lips. “Valuta paid me a visit today.”

He’d been molten desire against me until this moment. As soon as he heard her name, he stilled completely. He even stopped breathing. But I felt the sudden swirl of emotions raging inside him, pure anger above all the others.

“Luckily, she didn’t get into the house, Adara sent her away,” I went on, keeping my tone calm and light, as if discussing the beautiful weather we were having. “But she cornered me before she left.”

Zandyr’s jaw clenched so hard, I heard his teeth grinding, but he kept his voice as civil and calm as mine. “Did she now?”

“Oh, yes. She also tried to make me a very tempting offer.” I swore my heart would beat itself out of my chest if I kept this up.

“How tempting?” Zandyr ground out.

“More gold than I could carry and a secret island nobody knows about to grow old and unbothered on.”

The rage inside him threatened to burst to the surface. I knew this sensation well. It was the same fire that had ravaged through me when Valuta had hinted at me leaving Zandyr. Some primal fury that would not accept that possibility.

“And what did you say?” he asked, a part of that fury snarling through his calm voice.

I took a deep breath, the air around us crackling with tension. “That I’ll think about it.”

If I thought he was angered before, it was nothing compared to the explosion of wrath spiraling inside him. But there was more there. The fury was laced with deep, crushing disappointment.

I finally turned around in his arms. I almost gasped at the expression on his face. His thunderous, murderous face, taut and enraged. Curiously, not at me, not from what I sensed from him; and his emotions were so plain and open right now, I could almost taste them. He directed all his rage at Valuta, for trying to take me away from him.

Underneath the shadows quickly crowding his gaze, I saw bottomless sadness. Then he blinked and it was gone.

Kill. Kill them now. Fuck the plan and kill them , the words hissed in my brain as if he’d spoken them. Maybe he had. I was so overwhelmed by the maelstrom, I could barely draw the line between our feelings.

“I guess freedom is tempting,” he growled. “It might bring you a satisfaction I clearly have not been able to.”

Oh, if he only knew the many, many ways he already satisfied me. And from the heated flashes he’d sent to my mind, he’d do it over and over and over again.

“You know what is truly satisfying?” I finally grinned up at him. I’d been dying to tell him all day. “That Valuta and Banu will leave us alone for the next few days thinking I can actually be bribed away from you. While they gather up all the gold and make all the plans, we can enjoy our little pre-wedding traditions without fearing they’ll somehow stick their noses in them. Or, you know, send another assassin.”

I was quite proud of myself, actually. I’d tried my hand at subterfuge at my first wedding and had failed miserably. Allie had seen through the lie with one touch.

But I hadn’t technically lied to Valuta. I had thought about her proposition–how absolutely ridiculous it was to even suggest something as meaningless as riches could sway me.

Zandyr blinked, still caught up in the storm raging inside him.

The longer he went without saying anything, the more doubts crept into my mind.

“I mean…” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I thought it was a good plan. If she believed me. But she backed off right away and she sounded really satisfied with herself, so I think she did.”

Unless she sensed my plan and played along with it so I wouldn’t suspect her. Gods knew what went on in Banu and Valuta’s twisted minds.

Zandyr started breathing heavily, the veil of fury slowly lifting.

Finally, his lips twisted in a grin so wide, it turned infectious. “Look at you, being a master manipulator.”

My shoulders relaxed as I gave a small shrug. “I try.”

He sighed, the tension in his arms evaporating and anger vanishing, replaced with a light emotion. Happiness? “You had me worried there for a moment.”

“Worried? You feel like you’re about to go on a murderous rampage.”

“I did want to kill someone, yes. The one who tried to take you from me. That, I could never forgive,” he said, without a hint of remorse. His palms caressed my cheeks. “My little schemer. You truly are a menace, aren’t you?”

I fought to keep my shoulders from shimmying. I really was proud of myself. Allie and my cousins would be, too. I couldn’t wait to tell them when I got the chance; probably after the wedding. There was hope for me yet in the chaotic Clan world.

“There’s something else. They’re watching closely, she knows you call me menace. And…” I covered his left palm with my own, the pressure against my cheek delicious. “She tried to get into my mind. I don’t know what magic she spun, but I swear a part of me leaned into what she was saying. Against my will.”

His jaw tightened. “I have suspected it. Perhaps I’m giving too much credit to my parents, but I’d actually suspected there was magic involved to convince them not to banish Banu and Valuta. But their days as advisors are numbered. After I destroy everything they stand–”

He sucked in a breath, a vicious tremble rippling through his chest. The oath, making sure he stuck to it. At all costs.

My small hands gripped his shoulders, in case the oath tried to bring him down again. The fear of losing him swept through me. Even though I knew it was ridiculous. Even as his gaze cleared.

“I’m alright.” He huffed, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have made that promise before meeting you.”

His eyes bore into me, as if trying to access my very soul.

“Best if you don’t mention your deadly plans against the advisors.” Though he’d mentioned destroying them, not killing them. Mercy on his part, perhaps, though he didn’t seem to have a shred of it for Banu and Valuta now. His chest still swelled with agonizing breaths; I could feel his pain, even as he tried to hide it. “How did the gathering go?”

A perfect distraction.

Zandyr tensed underneath my fingers once more. “The Serpents are planning something. They found out the date of our wedding. Since their pettiness and stupidity know no bounds, I’m sure they’ll try to attack on that same day.”

“Another attack?” One wedding without a massacre, that’s all I wanted. And I really wanted this wedding, as ridiculous as that idea would have sounded only a few weeks ago. But it was the inescapable truth. My parents would have hated it, but I couldn’t fight it.

“I’ve sent my armies at the border and my best fighters are already setting up traps. Nobody will attack our wedding,” he said, voice light. Perhaps too light and calm when talking about a potential bloodbath. “My mother would never forgive the Serpents for ruining her flower arrangements.”

I laughed despite the worry that had sunk its rotten claws in me. I remembered the Serpents’ last attack. The warriors who’d lost limbs to their monstrous snakes, and the attackers I’d scorched before.

I wondered if the same power would come to the surface when I’d finally face my parents’ killers.

“We managed to open one of the Quorilith scrolls. Goose and Leesa are busy translating it,” I said. “Oh, and if you hear them asking about a big carriage around town, don’t worry about it. It’s a decoy.”

“Congratulations. A truly eventful day.” Zandyr’s brows rose. “Did you happen to invade another Clan after lunch as well?”

“No, that will have to wait until next week. Busy preparing for the wedding.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?” he asked, laughter in his voice. Which meant the oath’s effects were vanishing. Good.

“Just one more thing.” I cleared my throat. “Valuta had faith that I could be a gold digger. Unlike someone else I know. It’s sad when the person who wants you dead believes more in your scheming abilities than the one you’re supposed to marry,” I said playfully. “Your lack of faith in my superficial tendencies is truly hurtful.”

Zandyr threw his head back, laughter filling the room. It was a booming, carefree sound that I wanted to hear again and again.

“My apologies. When we met, I did believe you were a Protectorate danger, but truly not for my vaults,” he said once he’d quieted down, but there was still joy dancing in his blue eyes. Eyes that were quickly darkening with another emotion–desire. “How could I possibly make it up to you?”

His voice was seduction incarnate, low and raspy and delicious. I licked my lips, gaze darting to his mouth. “I think you can come up with a suitable apology.”

“I might.” His hands fell to my hips, fingers digging into my flesh. “But it’s up to you whether you accept it or not.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Zandyr swallowed my grin with a searing kiss that burned away all thoughts of the dangers waiting outside this room.

Tonight was about us, before we had to break apart tomorrow.