Page 98 of Ballad of Nightmares

A gargled laugh sounded from the man as blood curdled in his throat. “He wants what is his.”

And this time, Sam smiled outright. “So do I.”

CHAPTER FORTY

“YOU’RE FUCKED,” ROLFE teased him as he slumped against the threshold of the office the next day.

Sam twisted the stem of the rose between his fingers that he’d been staring at for the last thirty minutes. “I want to tell her,” he said as he met Rolfe’s gaze.

Rolfe stammered, brows elevating. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No,” Sam admitted.

“What about when she finds out you’ve been playing her?”

“Maybe she doesn’t have to find out,” Sam said. “Maybe we can continue just being Ana and Sam.”

He’d spent half the morning pacing in his room, staring at the gothic architecture and imagining Ana’s face when he would soon show it to her. Maybe even the next day, and the thought began to make him nervous. Would she love his home as he did? Should he do anything to prepare? Perhaps clean the old scrolls library, the cathedral, or the ballroom.

Or did he only need to show her his true self?

Maybe he would at least give the place a minor dusting. Take down a few more of the old curtains to let the light in. Of course, he renewed the bouquet of roses on the foyer table, freshly stained with the blood of the soldier that had come for her the night before.

He wondered if she was okay that morning, but knew he couldn’t even text her to ask. And even if he did ask, he’d not get an honest answer out of her.

His heart had plummeted at that thought, making him want to tell her everything at that very moment. It wrenched something in his heart that he couldn’t even ask if she was okay, offer some sort of reprieve that no matter who came after her, they would deal with it together. She wasn’t alone, and he would rip apart anyone who thought they could take her away.

He knew he would, and he wondered… he wondered when exactly it had come to this. When he had indeed fallen so deeply in love with her.

“Do you really think she’ll no longer want your crown once she learns she’s been fucking you since her first day here?” Rolfe asked.

“She’ll tell me who she is once she learns who I am,” Sam said. “I know she will.”

“Cain…” Rolfe started forward, but Sam pushed off the table.

“Don’t,” Sam shook his head. “Don’t tell me it could all be in my head,” he added, staring down at the rose again. The image of her lying on his bed, naked with a plethora of those white roses around her, blood staining the perfect white petals filled him. He wanted her in his home, in his life. “I know—“

“Did you find out what she wants?” Rolfe asked.

Sam stared at him long enough that Rolfe let out a great sigh.

“Boss, hear me out—“

“Roll—“

“What if she chooses your crown over you?” Rolfe asked. “What if her duty means more to her?”

“I mean to give her everything she wants,” Sam said. “Crown, kingdom, life, power…”

Rolfe contemplated it for a moment. “You actually love her.”

But Sam didn’t reply at first. He ran a hand through his hair and then over his face, letting his fingers dig into his skin. “Last night, one of the Firemoor assassins made their way through the shadows and came for her.”

Rolfe perked up.

“They caught her on the streets and chased her in, presumably to kill her in one of the graves, but Ana… She was more fierce than she’d been in that prison. Her movements all calculated and controlled—”

“Had a hard-on for that, did you?” Rolfe said.