Page 48 of Lady of Darkness

She silently crossed the room and pressed her ear to the door. Callan must have stepped out into the hall because she couldn’t hear any voices. His private bedroom was fairly spacious, and she made her way over to his desk. She smiled to herself. Nothing had changed. It was still a mess. Books and papers stacked on top of each other. She pulled open the top drawer and froze. There was a small stack of papers in the drawer, and the one on the very top was addressed to her. She picked it up but found other notes underneath. Every single note she had ever slipped to him lay in that drawer.

She heard the outer door creak open again and padded footsteps crossing the room. She dropped the note she was holding back on top of the stack and slid the drawer closed as she slunk into the shadows along the wall, just on the off chance he wasn’t alone. The bedroom door opened, and she relaxed as he slipped in, closing and locking the door behind him.He crossed to the fireplace and glanced at the now empty chair and turned to face the dark room.

It was a particularly hot summer evening. His windows had been flung wide, but she had closed them all when she’d come in. She watched as he crossed to one now and leaned his forehead against it. Then he said, without lifting his head from the glass, “I am praying to the gods that you are still in this room and that I did not just dream up that kiss.”

“If those are your dreams, Prince, then they are as beatific as I once claimed they’d be,” Scarlett replied, stepping from the shadows. She unclasped her cloak and swung it over the desk chair.

Callan straightened, turning to face her. “You are heavily armed.”

“When am I not?” Scarlett shrugged.

“The two times I have spoken to you this past year, I did not see a weapon on you,” he said harshly. Scarlett flinched, grateful for the shadows that hid her from him. “You were not at the court dinner tonight.”

“I am not part of the court,” Scarlett countered, lifting her chin.

“That has never stopped you before, and you now reside with Lord Tyndell, who is part of the court. Drake and Tava were here,” he said, taking a step towards her.

“They are his children and are a future Lord and Lady. Of course they were here.”

“Cassius was here,” Callan pointed out, taking another step.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.She willed her body not to tremble as Callan took another step, slowly, as if trying not to startle a doe in a field.

“I look for you, you know. I look for you every time the court gathers. I look for you at every ball, every gala, every dinner.” Another step. “I look for that glimmer of silver hair. I listen for that voice that—”

“Stop, Callan,” Scarlett whispered, her eyes going to the floor.

But he didn’t. Another step. “Every night I come to my rooms. Alone. Just in case you will slip from the shadows.” Another step.

“Callan, I—”

“Did you know I even make my driver go by the Tyndell manor on the occasions I go into the city just on the off chance I might see you out and about?”Another step. “I did one time, you know. See you out.”

“I know,” Scarlett whispered.

It had been a day last autumn, a few months after that night when things had gone to hell. She had been wearing a rust colored dress and had been rushing back to the manor from somewhere she couldn’t even remember, cursing herself for not bringing a cloak. She’d seen the royal carriage coming down the street. She’d recognized it immediately, and if she didn’t disappear, she’d known he would have stopped, and she’d have hopped into that carriage right then and there. So instead, she’d turned to Tava, who had been chattering away beside her, and shoved her into a shop they were nearing.

His stockinged feet came into her vision, stopping inches from her boots, as she continued to stare at the floor. He didn’t move to touch her, though. “Nearly every day I have thought about what I would say to you. I have thought about what I could have possibly done to make you disappear so abruptly from my world with just a note on my pillow to say goodbye.” A sob cracked from Scarlett’s chest as tears slid down her cheeks, splashing onto her boots. Still, he did not reach for her. “I have thought about how I would demand to know what the hell had happened.” She didn’t say anything, and silence hung between them for one of the longest minutes of her life. Then, “Look at me, Scarlett Monrhoe.” His tone was firm, an order from a prince. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring her eyes to his.

She felt him move then, reaching for her braid that hung over her shoulder. He pulled the string from the end and slowly undid the plaits. He’d hated her hair when it was braided back. He’d told her once that she was too serious, toobusiness,when her hair was prepared for a fight. That when her hair was down and flowing around her, she was relaxed, and he was honored to be someone she could relax around.

She had never once been that relaxed around him though. She’d always been listening. Always been watching for any sign she might need to make a quick exit.Even when she did sleep beside him, there was always a dagger within reach. Always.

One of his hands hooked under her chin. “Look at me, Scarlett,” he repeated, his tone softer, coaxing. “Please.”

She let him lift her chin, and his hazel eyes locked onto hers, searching for anything to cling to. “And now that I am before you, Prince? What do you wish to say to me?” she whispered.

“Now? Now I am afraid to say anything to you. Now I am afraid that one wrong word and you will become the Wraith of Shadows that I lost once more,” he answered, his other hand slipping into her hair.

Scarlett closed her eyes as the hand holding her chin moved to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch, trying not to think about how much she had missed it. She didn’t dare move. Then he was whispering into her ear, his breath hot against her skin, and her entire body heated. “Please. Please take off all those weapons.”

Her eyes snapped open, finding his. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

He gave her a sad smile. “When you stand before me so heavily armed, I am holding my breath, just waiting for you to disappear. I know you will not leave without your weapons.” When she didn’t answer, he said again, “Please, Scarlett. No one is coming in here tonight. There will be no more interruptions. I have told the guard outside my rooms to let no one near my door the rest of the night.”

She slowly reached for the buckle holding her sword to her back. Her eyes never left his as she undid it and set her sword with her cloak on the desk chair. She unclasped the vambraces from her wrists. He watched every move as she unbuttoned her jacket and removed the hidden daggers from the insides, then her weapons belt and the dagger strapped to her thigh. Finally, she pulled the two daggers from her boots.

“Gods,” he breathed. “I forgot how…”

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