Page 68 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

I jerked awake to a bone deep feeling that something was wrong.

My heart raced, and it took everything I had not to jump out of bed.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. It only took me a second to adjust to the darkness as I scanned my room.

That’s when I saw it. Or rather, him. A figure in the middle of the door.

My inn door that shouldn’t be open but was.

My blood went cold. I grabbed my knife from under my pillow and jumped to my feet.

The man charged, a knife in his hand. He slashed at me.

I jumped backward before trying to grab his hand and throw him off.

In an instant, I knew I was outmatched, so I darted back and threw a kick at his ribs.

“Kieran!” I screamed. “Kieran!” I needed to get away or get Kieran’s attention.

Everything about this man screamed danger.

He swiped again, and I cursed. I didn’t move in time. Blood dripped down my right arm, but I felt no pain. He used that moment to kick my chest, and I tumbled to the ground. Air rushed from my lungs, and I struggled to gain my breath. I still gripped my weapon. Fuck.

This was different from all the other attacks. This wasn’t some poor weakling hired off the streets. This was a trained assassin. One I wasn’t prepared to face. The man stood over me and raised his knife.

NO. Heat crackled under my skin. “Stop!”

The man’s eyes widened. I couldn’t die here.

Not like this. I kicked upward, hitting him straight in the groin.

My attacker groaned, and I used that chance to scramble to my feet.

I stabbed him in the gut before he could right himself and tried to run past him, but he punched me in the back.

My ribs burned. It hurt to breathe. For a moment, I thought he had stabbed me back, but he was just that strong that a single hit had left me breathless .

I swirled around, tightening my grip on my bloody knife. “KIERAN!” I wasn’t stupid. I knew when to retreat. This man was unlike anyone I’d ever faced. The longer I stayed here, the more likely it was he’d kill me. “KIERAN!”

The temperature in the room plummeted. And with it, I could finally breathe.

He’s here. Shadows swept across the room, caressing my body and checking for injuries.

He’s here. Kieran appeared before me. I could see it now.

Why people called him the Reaper. He looked every inch of it as the shadows clung to his skin and his eyes flared with anger.

Kieran had come to deliver this man to Death themself, and every soul in this room knew it.

Shadows rose from the corners of the room and latched onto the assassin’s body.

They squeezed his wrist until he dropped the knife with a yelp.

But the man didn’t have time to let out any other cry.

Another shadow wrapped around his neck and squeezed until his eyes bulged. A third tendril shoved down his throat.

Kieran prowled across the room like a vengeful god.

“Don’t touch her with your filthy hands,” he spat.

When he looked at me, that rage hadn’t faded, but some of his humanity returned.

Our eyes locked, and he nodded before turning back to the man.

I scrambled to my feet. The fear in my chest eased, but I couldn’t stop shaking.

Kieran raised his hand and twisted it. The shadows broke the man’s hands with a sickening crack.

“You’re not allowed to see her either,” Kieran crooned.

The shadows wrapped around the man’s head. I winced when they pressed down onto the man’s eyes. He screamed, but it was muffled by the shadow around his throat.

“For the crime of touching her, I sentence you to death. Consider it a mercy.” Kieran flicked his wrist. The shadows around the man’s neck tightened. Crack! The man went limp. Kieran lazily waved his hand, and the body was tossed to the ground.

Holy shit.

With the assassin disposed, Kieran turned his attention to me. And just like that, the Shadowed Reaper disappeared, leaving my captain in its place. He reached up to cup my face but then hesitated at the last moment. I knew what he thought. I could see it in his eyes—the fear of rejection.

I took his hand. It wasn’t just for him, but for me.

I wasn’t scared of what he’d done. In this world we lived in, kindness wasn’t an option.

My attacker deserved to die. And fuck, Kieran had…

had cared enough to be furious over the attack.

And it wasn’t just because I was useful to him.

“He tried to kill me.” I stared at the body that’d been carelessly tossed to the side.

“He deserved it. I—I thought I’d die.” I needed Kieran to know I didn’t blame him.

Maybe he was a monster, but in this world, we’d need to be one if we wanted to survive.

Kieran studied me and then flexed his jaw. “Come on. We’re leaving.” Shadows swept over me before I had time to react. We landed in what was clearly someone’s home. Someone middle class that much was obvious from the two story house, and a lone portrait I spotted near the darkened living room.

I looked at Kieran, at the harsh lines on his face. I almost died. Someone tried to kill me in my sleep. I thought I’d gotten used to the assassination attacks, but this was different. This time, I actually could’ve died.

“Lord Kieran? A-and Lady Selena?”

My head whipped up toward the voice at the top of the stairs. An old man froze where he stood. He was clearly well off, even having a bit of a belly. The fabric of his robe was too soft looking to be anything other than upper middle class.

Kieran’s expression hardened. “Tell no one we’re here, and in exchange I’ll give you six gold bars on the king’s coin. You can report as such to the king’s bank, and the gold will be delivered within the next two months.”

The man’s eyes widened, and his gaze darted from Kieran to me. “I—I have a spare room upstairs. You two may sleep in it.”

The fury in Kieran’s eyes didn’t lighten. “Go upstairs. I’m locking you in for the night. Will that be a problem?”

The man eagerly shook his head and darted upstairs. “Your room is the first one to the left. I’m sorry it’s not extravagant enough to house such auspicious guests.”

I followed Kieran in a daze, barely processing when he locked the man into his room and then led me to the spare room. The man hadn’t been exaggerating when he said it wasn’t very extravagant. The bed was nice, but everything else was empty. Plain.

My heartbeat echoed in my ears on repeat. “I’ll sleep on the floor.” I almost died.

It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to assassinate me, but this… I’d never been so… vulnerable. Exposed. In a way I hadn’t been since I was just starting out thieving. I’d gotten used to fearing monsters, but I’d forgotten humans could be monsters too.

A shadow grabbed my wrist as I tightened my grip on the pillow, but it vanished just as soon as it touched me. “Sorry.” Kieran exhaled. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you’re taking the bed. Fuck, Selena, I’m not going to let you sleep on the floor.”

I looked into his stormy eyes. His earlier fury still remained, but it was softened by his obvious worry. “You just saved my life. You’re not sleeping on the floor either.” The two of us stood silently. A lump formed in the back of my throat. “We could share. Just don’t expect anything else.”

“I wouldn’t.” There was no hint of a joke in his tone, only seriousness.

I couldn’t stop trembling as I sat onto the bed. My pulse demanded I sit upright instead of lying down. Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. I touched my arm, lingering on the dried blood. Kieran was silent as he went to the adjoining room, grabbed a wash towel and handed it to me.

I froze. “I...” A heavy fog descended in my mind and made it hard to think .

“May I?” His tone was the softest I’d ever heard it.

He clearly didn’t expect me to nod yes, but once I did, he smoothed the surprise from his features and pressed the warm rag against my arm.

The sensation was impossibly gentle as he wiped the blood away.

“It didn’t get on your shirt, but if you want to change you could wear my shirt instead. ”

I let out a shaky breath and looked down at my shirt. He was right. There was no blood. “I’m fine.”

“Your other cut…”

I stared down at the small nick on my hand. I hadn’t realized I’d gotten cut during the shuffle. “You can…”

His gentle touch returned, removing any traces of blood. I don’t have my clothes. It was such a stupid thought, but it was all I could focus on. We’d left our packs with Umara and my spare set was in the inn. “Who do you think did that?”

Kieran clenched his jaw. “Andova. The festival was merely a test, but now they’re serious. They don’t care that you can stop the gryphons. They’d rather secure their kingdom, even if it means they fall alongside us.”

My heart thumped. Selfish assholes. Because I knew what this boiled down to—a greedy king on his throne unwilling to put his people first. “What do we do?”

“From here on out, wherever we go, you’re rooming with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight, Selena.”

I nodded, too rattled to argue for privacy.

At this rate, I didn’t want it, even if it meant being tempted to hell by Kieran’s proximity.

Because at least I knew if I was with Kieran, I was safe.

They almost killed me. The realization was a whispered thought in the back of my mind that refused to go away .

“Are you sure we should still stay on the road? Or maybe… should we remove the body?”

“We’re not going anywhere tonight.” Kieran glanced at the door. “Right now, they don’t know where we’re at. If need be, I’ll take us to Umara, but we’re staying here for now.”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “They ordered a hit out for my head. I don’t—I don’t exactly want to be out in the open.”