Page 65

Chapter

Sixty-Two

S he woke to an empty bed.

Frowning, she turned over and found the sheets where Loche had lain already cold.

When she listened to the large cave, no voices broke through the soft snoring and breathing from sleeping people.

Glancing out of the small window beside the fireplace, she realized it was still dark outside.

Lessia pushed the sheets off, shivering as she stepped onto the cold stone floor.

After lacing up her boots and pulling her cloak around her, she tiptoed down the stairs.

Only one of the fireplaces still burned from last night, and before it, Loche sat with his head in his hands. Beside him, one of his guards from the castle snored softly in a plush chair, a black mask resting beneath him on the floor.

Loche didn’t look up as she approached, and her frown deepened when she made sure her steps could be heard and there was still no reaction from him .

Coming to a stop right before him, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Finally, his head lifted, and her stomach flipped at the hardness of his face, his cold and distant glare.

“What’s happened?” she whispered.

His eyes trailed over her face, and his jaw clenched as uncertainty flashed in the gray. “They caught the spy. Found him conspiring with one of his accomplices.”

Loche eyed her as she nodded, and apprehension made her shoulders rise when his gaze filled with the same scrutiny it had during their first times together.

“Who is it?” she asked cautiously.

“Did you know?” he blurted out, his dark brows narrowing.

“Know what?”

She couldn’t read him.

Didn’t understand what was causing the turmoil within him.

It was good they’d caught the spy, right?

Loche’s jaw flexed, his eyes boring into hers, but when she only eyed him back, he released a deep breath.

“Venko is one of them.”

Lessia’s eyes widened.

But it made sense.

“I should have known. He…” She swallowed as her heart skipped a beat.

She’d nearly told him she’d used her magic to figure out what he was hiding.

But Venko had known so little…

How could he be the one behind this?

And she’d asked him to tell her if he found out more.

Loche watched her quietly, and she tried to gain control over her features .

“I just mean… he said some strange things to me. I should have figured out he was up to something.” Her voice shook a little, and she glanced down when Loche flexed his hands.

She was not convincing him.

But then Loche threw his head back and sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Lessia remained quiet even though all she wanted was to tell him he had nothing to be sorry for.

His intuition was right.

She did know more than she let on.

But the blood oath wouldn’t allow her to tell him, invisible fingers wrapping around her throat even at the thought of trying.

Loche reached out for her and pulled her onto his lap.

Nestling his face into her neck, he spoke softly. “We need to return immediately. They’ve decided to speed everything up again. The Fae delegation is coming tomorrow already, and the votes will be counted the day after that.”

An icy hand squeezed her heart at the thought of the Fae.

But King Rioner wouldn’t send his best men.

Not for mere humans.

Drawing a shaky breath, she nodded. “At least it’ll be over soon.”

Loche tensed beneath her. “They’ll make you go through the last ordeal today, Lessia.”

“What do you mean? How do you know?” She pulled back to look at him.

His eyes bounced between hers, then moved to the still-sleeping guard beside them. “He came to bring you back.”

Her chest tightened, but she forced herself to pull air into her lungs.

It was fine.

She’ d managed the other ones.

One last trial before she got her freedom back.

“What about you? And Craven?”

Loche’s arms wrapped around her, one of his hands stroking her back. “I’ve already gone through mine.”

She didn’t like the look in his eyes.

Not one bit.

And when the scent of sorrow washed over her, she swallowed audibly.

“What was it?” She forced the words out—wasn’t sure she really wanted the answer.

“A deep loss. One I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”

His head slumped forward, and Lessia’s mouth went dry at the guilt lining his shoulders.

Leaning into him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

They sat like that until the guard stirred, his mask falling over with a loud thud as he accidentally kicked it, making them both jump.

“You ready?”

The guard glared at her for a moment before shifting his gaze to Loche. His eyes trailed her arms around his neck and narrowed as he noted the conflicting feelings twisting Loche’s features.

When Loche didn’t say anything, Lessia got to her feet, making herself meet the guard’s hostile eyes. “I’m ready.”

The guard continued to glower at her the whole time they packed up their things, said goodbye to Geyia and Steiner, and started walking toward a tunnel.

Within the tunnel, wide steps snaked their way up the hill, and as Lessia took the first one, she offered Loche a small smile. “So there was another way in?”

He gave her a crooked smile back, but it didn’t reassure her at all .

His eyes remained hollow, with anger and something else flashing in them.

Glancing from him to the guard, she wondered whether she was missing something.

She didn’t understand the hostility radiating from the guard, nor did she understand whatever was going on in Loche’s head.

Fixing her eyes ahead, she tried to clear her mind.

Two more days.

Then she could be free.