Page 66 of Of Daggers and Deceit

We dug until I could barely lift my arms anymore, deeper than was normal. Deeper would definitely be best.

Satisfied, I wiped the sweat from my brow as Sly dragged the body across the short distance from where he left him and threw him into the hole, rapidly covering him with the sand until everything was level again.

I scanned the area quickly, checking for any bloodstains, though my rational mind knew that bloody sand wouldn’t be a problem, especially with the winds of this area lifting and scattering the sand every day.

Gritty fingers gripped mine. “Riley. We need to clean up before we go back.”

I licked my dry lips, turning towards him, feeling safe enough to ask him what I needed. This desert held so many of our secrets.

“Why?”

His fingers dipped between mine, clutching them as he stepped a fraction closer, his hand coming up to lightly touch my cheek, his thumb running down my nose before he frowned at it and pulled it away.

“It was the right thing to do.”

I inspected every inch of his face, from the storm in his brilliant blue eyes to the curve of his lip and his hard jaw. I didn’t believe him. Did I?

He must have seen the doubt on my face as he continued, quieter this time.

“Because something has changed for me, Riley, and it’s no longer about just giving you freedom. It is about being there for you, supporting you, showing you I care about you. Not the Rose, not the symbol, but you, Riley.”

He straightened and looked directly at me, my stomach somersaulting in response. “I care about you, Riley, and I can’t stop it. You are fascinating, complex, determined, brave, loving, and everything about it pulls me right in. I can’t help it. I’ve tried. So everything I’m doing is to extend the time I spend with you for as long as I can, to keep this going for as long as I can. Even if it might be doomed.”

I opened my mouth in shock, an acute pain seizing my lungs, because it was doomed. Nothing could come of this if I wanted change in this city to be peaceful. And what of Zander? I knew in my heart that though he could be wonderful, it was nothing as desperate and demanding as what I felt when I looked at Sly. But was it because he was forbidden?

A scuff of his shoe against dirt was the only warning I got before he moved forward, his fingers wrapping around my cheeks and into my hair. His lips claimed mine in the haze, orienting my entire world to him. It was beautiful, wonderful, everything I could ever want, even if it was something I couldn’t have.

Regretfully, I pushed him away, a look of hurt flashing across his face.

“He will scent you, Sly. I cannot risk any more than this tonight.”

The hurt disappeared immediately. His lip lifted, that dimple denting his cheek. “But you want to?”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to lie to him, didn’t want to hurt him.

His face changed to a cocky smirk as he pulled me along beside him, the warmth of his palm radiating deep into my bones. “I knew you would come to crave me.”

I shot him an exasperated look, his sense of humour in a time like this absurd, though it drew a smile to my lips when he wasn’t looking.

We’d walked not much farther from the cliff when he turned towards me again, more serious now. “We need to run, Riley.”

I sobered, that brief calm slipping from my grip again as I nodded my agreement. “Back to my old house. We need to clean up. Then back to him.”

“Back to him,” he confirmed, though his voice dripped with a melancholy that twisted like a knife in my chest.

The moment didn’t last long enough for me to think more of it as we bolted as fast as we could. Time was running out. The moon was both heavy and full in the sky, less reassuring and more ominous than before.

The dash back to my old home went by quicker than I wanted, filled with terrifying scenarios of everything that could possibly go wrong if Zander found out what had happened tonight.

Everything was quiet as I climbed the side of the house up into my old room, where I knew the lock was broken. It was another reminder of the lack of power I had, though once, it had been a motivator. Given who I was, I should have been able to fix this for her. But instead, Zander had said things like this would be noticed by others and too many favours would cause problems. He was right; it would. But if everyone was given the same opportunities in life… I shook my head, casting my thoughts aside. I had a more pressing problem.

Sly quickly followed behind me, and I shoved him straight towards the shower, encouraging him to be as quiet as possible as I took his uniform and quickly worked to try and clean off the sand and blood until he could wash it properly.

The door creaked open slightly, and I jerked my head towards it, seeing my mother peeping in through the crack, which only widened when she saw me.

“What are you doing, Riley?” she asked as she scanned my dirtied body.

“I-I…” The words would not come out, though I struggled to lie to my own mother. She couldn’t know, something she seemed to understand as she took in more of my appearance.

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