Page 19 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

“ H ere we are, princess.” Winston stops in front of my door and hovers his hand over the handle to let me in.

I wince at the nickname, and Winston takes notice, because he stops and turns to face me. Theo would always call me his princess, and the way the endearment rolls off Winston’s tongue does not have the same knee wobbling effect.

At first, Theo called me princess to get under my skin, but then one day, it changed from a taunt to a promise. He would forever worship the ground I walked on, and I would always be his princess. His prized possession.

Winston looks over at me with concern on his face. “Did I say something wrong, little lady?”

From what I’ve learned about Winston, I think he’s had enough sorrow in his lifetime, and the last thing I want to do is add to it. Taking a deep breath, I rein in the vortex of emotions floating around my mangled heart and slip on a forced smile I’m all too familiar with.

“It’s nothing, really. An old friend used to call me princess, and it brought back some memories. You are no bother at all, Winston. Actually, I quite like your company, which is a strange feeling for me.”

He looks at me all knowing, and I guess his Fib ability really means he does most things.

I keep forgetting I can’t pretend in front of him like I do others.

He softens his eyes, radiating a warm aurora, and nods once.

He feels no need to dive into details or rehash old feelings.

He smiles, but it’s not as warm as usual, and gives me a soft squeeze on my shoulder.

“I can feel the strength you harbor around that heart of yours, and it’s admirable. I feel honored you consider me good company to keep, Nyxi. Now, this old man will get out of your very bloody hair and let you get clean and rested up.”

With that, he’s waltzing down the corridor, probably off to snag an orange from the kitchen and scheme about his little club. The thought alone brings a smile to my face.

“Hey, wait!” I call out. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching over my every move, Vanquisher?” I yell down the hall to him.

He chuckles, and I feel it nudge up against my heart all the way from the opposite end of the hall. “I trust you won’t get into any trouble in my absence.”

I cup my hands around my mouth and shout, “And how do you know that? I was quite the rebel down in Vagrant.”

“Are you going to cause any disturbances while I’m away, little lady?” he calls over his shoulder.

“Well...not that I know of.”

Who knows when it comes to me and getting myself into trouble. It seems to be my specialty, like a moth to a flame. Trouble and I go together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My mouth starts to water, and my stomach lets out a nasty growl .

“No lies detected, so my work here is done for the night. Now, go wash up. I can smell you from here!” He’s so far down the hallway, I can barely make out his words as he fades into the shadows.

“Fibs,” I scoff to myself. Peeling my door open, I enter my room, ready for a warm soak and some much needed rest.

Slamming my door shut, I rest my head against the back of the door with my eyes closed and release a deep breath.

With the weight of the Crucible nearing, Jade’s arrow fiasco, Aeron and his dizzying personality, my confusing thoughts toward Hade, and Winston dropping the princess bomb on me, I’m not sure I can take much more at the moment.

“That rough of a day, Nightmare ?”

I practically jump out of my skin at his deep timbre that sucks all the air from the room.

I’m gasping like a fish out of water, and I wish I could blame it solely on him taking me by surprise, but the way my heart does a little flutter, I know it might also have to do with the fact that he came to find me… in my room… alone .

Why do I let this man have so much power over me? I truly can’t wrap my brain around it, but my heart is beating to a rhythm for which I have no roadmap, possessed by this beast in disguise.

“What are you doing here?” I say coolly, though it’s the opposite of how I’m feeling. I push off the door with more confidence than I feel, steeling my face in boredom as I approach Hade. He has the audacity to sit perched on the edge of my bed like he owns the place.

“I came to check on you.”

Those words should hold endearment, but the way he says them makes it sound more a mundane task to check off his list for the day.

“I am none of your concern anymore, Cardinal,” I say in a clipped tone, not giving away any of my emotions.

He’s up in an instant, but he stops himself at the last second. “You’ve been my concern since the moment I tore you from that hovel.” His chest heaves with deep breaths, like he’s trying to control himself.

“That’s news to me,” I seethe. “I am of no one’s concern, least of all yours.” I plant my hands on my hips, eyeing him while my pulse hammers in my throat.

He ignores me completely, all too consumed with staring at my hair. His brows pinch. “You’re covered in blood.”

“No shit, captain obvious.” I roll my eyes, which only makes his temper flare.

“I meant you’re bleeding ,” he growls. “I never saw Gavis land a blow to you the entire time you were fighting, so please enlighten me why I’m watching fresh blood drip from you? Did it happen before or after the fight?”

He looks positively frightening right now, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why he gives a damn, especially when he disappeared earlier faster than it takes Aeron to get a hard on thinking about himself.

“You were gone by the time I ended the fight with Aeron, so how do you know this isn’t from him?” I’m goading him, nosey as always as to why he walked out earlier.

You just can’t help yourself can you, Nyxi?

He takes a slow step towards me. “I saw just fine how you blinded him with sand and then jumped on him like the dangerous little creature I’ve come to know.

” Another step. “How you were straddling his waist with your chest pressed down on him, arm pressed against his throat, cutting off his air.” Taking another step, he comes face to face with me.

I can feel his warm breath fan across my lips like both a warning and a caress.

“I also saw his blood-smeared, shit eating grin and love sick eyes beaming up at you as you were practically glued to his body.”

I draw in a labored breath and blink at him in shock. Did he really watch the whole thing? And why does he sound…angry?

Or is he jealous ?

He takes one last step, closing the distance between us. My heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest and fuse itself to his.

The feeling of having the mighty Cardinal’s undivided attention is mind-numbing, like taking the strongest drug Visionary Sector could offer.

It’s dizzying and all-consuming. It’s too much, but at the same time, it’s not enough at all.

Now that I’ve gotten the smallest taste, I fear I may become an addict.

He slowly reaches up with gentle fingers and tucks one of my rouge curls that slipped from my braid behind my ear, exposing my bleeding cut.

“Now, I won’t ask you again.” He turns my head to get a better look at the oozing cut and runs the back of his knuckles down the side of my jaw.

“Who. Did. This. To. You?” he grits out.

I’m frozen. My heart rate picks up like the closing ballad of a symphony, but at the same time, I can’t seem to take a full breath.

This moment is intoxicating.

No , he’s intoxicating.

“Nyxi,” he whispers, but there’s an edge to his voice, a warning and a plea.

There he goes, using my full name again, and it’s my undoing . I’ll tell him anything he wants as long as he keeps saying my name like his life depends on it, like I’m the sole reason his heart still beats.

“J-jade,” I stutter out. “She shot me with an arrow…or she tried to, but she missed. I think she just wanted to scare me. You know, rile me up before the game begins and all.” I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart, but it’s a lost cause.

“Really, it’s nothing. Plus, I kind of stabbed the arrow through her boot in return, so the playing field is even.

” My breathing picks up again as I drag my eyes back up to meet his intense gaze.

“I can hear the unnatural flutter of your heart all the way from here, Nightmare. It doesn’t seem like it was nothing. ”

I gulp, blinking back at him, reduced to only knowing how to keep my body standing and nothing beyond that. I startle when he tears off the bottom part of his shirt and lifts it to gently dab the blood still angrily pouring from my ear.

A breath escapes me. “My racing heart has nothing to do with Jade.”

Empress, did I just say that out loud?

“Is that so?” He slowly backs me up while applying pressure to my ear until the backs of my knees hit the edge of the bed. “Sit. Let me tend to your wound.”

I plop down on the bed, and he leans forward to get a better look, wedging my knees between his very large legs. There goes my heart, forgetting how to beat properly again. That doesn’t sound healthy.

His overpowering scent of smoke mixed with sandalwood envelops me, giving me a heady high. My mind short-circuits as I take in the mountain of a man in front of me, who’s taking care of me with such delicacy, a side I have yet to see from him.

It’s confusing in the least and inebriating in the most. I feel drunk off his gentle caress of the side of my face.

I get double vision when I take in his ying yang eyes that I can’t seem to stray from.

There’s a story hidden behind those opposite saucers, and I yearn to reach in and dig around for the answers.

My eyes betray me, tracing the jagged scar slashing across his gray eye, and I wince.

It looks angry, like it didn’t get the opportunity to heal properly, like it’s been neglected.

It makes me wonder if there’s reasoning to his closed off personality?

Is it a defense mechanism, protecting his heart?