Page 170 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

CHAPTER 37

Unsure of how much time I had, I didn’t want to risk anyone returning for me while I was undressed, so I grabbed the robe from the bedchamber, cinching it tightly around my waist. I kept theluneablade on me, but moved it to my ankle. Having this on me was a risk. I doubted the Hyhborn would take kindly to seeing it, and the last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize Grady.

But I needed something to defend myself.

I hastily washed the cut on my foot. It had stopped bleeding, but I wrapped it with a piece of gauze. I returned to the antechamber, limping slightly. My scattered thoughts immediately went to Lord Samriel’s parting words.

I was to be given to the King? In what manner? Without my intuition, my imagination went to all sorts of places. I dragged a trembling hand through my tangled hair and stopped by the window. I pulled the curtain back. My bedchamber faced a part of the gardens and the front of the manor. Only a faint gleam of moonlight cast light over the dark grounds. There weren’t even anysolsin the distance, but I could make out just the hint of . . . of lumps scattered about the grounds. Bodies. I swallowed thickly. I couldn’t see the stables. Was Iris okay? I knew it seemed wrong to worry for a horse with the loss of so much life, but animals were often the most vulnerable.

Letting the curtain slip back in place, I closed my eyes, but the horror and the confusion still found me. I wasn’t so shocked that I hadn’t been able to read between what I already knew and what Lord Samriel had said. It made sense and yet didn’t.

What I didn’t understand was how Thorne was a risk to me despite what Lord Samriel had shared. How I could feel safe with him yet he would kill me to survive. I couldn’t believe it.

But Hyhborn couldn’t lie.

They spoke the truth. A shaky breath left me as I pressed my balled hand against my chest, where my heart . . . it ached from the loss, from the fear, and from the knowledge that . . . that Thorne would harm me, and I didn’t even understand why that would affect me so. I barely knew him. He wasn’t anything to me. . . .

Except that thought had never felt right.

Maybe it was because of this . . . this bond. Maybe it was something more. I didn’t know, but I had started to feel—

The chamber door suddenly opened, spinning me around as my heart lurched into my throat. It wasn’t a Hyhborn who entered and closed the door.

It was Hymel.

I couldn’t even feel relief then. I didn’t feel anything but rage as I crossed the floor and swung. I didn’t slap him. I punched him right in the jaw.

Hymel’s head snapped back as pain lanced my knuckles, and I welcomed that pain with a savage satisfaction.

“Fuck,” Hymel grunted, clasping his jaw as he straightened. He turned his head to me. “That was unnecessary.”

I swung again, but Hymel was prepared this time. He caught my arm. With a cry of fury, I went at him with my other hand, fingers curled into claws. He jerked his head back, but my nails scraped his cheek. He hissed as two bright red streaks appeared above his beard.

“Bitch,” he snarled, snatching my arm.

“Let me go!” I shrieked, pulling on my arms as he shoved me hard. The back of my calves hit the settee, taking my legs out from underneath me. I landed on the settee, and immediately started to stand, but Hymel still had ahold of my arms. He forced me down on my back, trapping my legs with his. “Get off me!”

“Stop shouting,” he spat, inches from my face. “You’ll draw one of those Hyhborn here— ”

“Get the fuck off me!” I screamed in his face. “You traitorous motherfucker!”

“Gods damn it.” He jerked my arms up, pressing them into the cushion behind my head. He pinned my wrists together under one hand. His other smacked down on my mouth, silencing my curses. “I swear to the gods,” he growled, pushing my head down into the cushion. “I would love nothing more than to choke the ever-loving shit out of you, but since they want you alive and I want to survive, I need you to keep it the fuck down. Fuck,” he snapped. “The only reason why I came in here was to make sure you were still breathing. I don’t know or trust that white-haired Hyhborn. Knowing my fucking luck, he’ll end up killing you and all of this will be for nothing.” The hand around my wrists tightened brutally. “So are you going to act right? Are you?”

Breathing heavily through my nose, I glared up at him as I nodded as best as I could.

He slowly lifted his hand from my mouth, his entire body tense as if he was ready for me to start screaming again. “Did you pick up anything from Lord Samriel?”

“Fuck you.”

“As I’ve told you before, not interested in where my cousin has been.”

“And where is Claude?” I demanded, shaking with anger. “I want the honest truth. Is he— ” My voice cracked. “Is he alive?”

“What? You can’t answer that yourself?”

My intuition wouldn’t tell me where he was, and gods, it hadn’t occurred to me until then that it could very well be because he was no longer a part of this realm.

His eyes squinted. “You too afraid to see if you can find out?” He laughed. “You care that much about him? Fuck. I told you before. I don’t know where the hell he is, but I can wager a guess.” He met my glower with his own. “He hit the road the first chance he could.”