Page 114 of Fragile Oath

My hand froze in midair, unsure of how to proceed. If I banged on the door, I might alert them, might speed up whatever Gracie had planned. Finally, MacBay’s guards would come in handy. His most trusted men. Surely, they had a key to these suites.

“Open the door,” I ordered.

They exchanged a look, and I hardened my expression.

“The ladies are in danger.” One of them, anyway.

The taller guard moved forward to open the door, and I held a finger to my lips. Malishka shot in like an arrow, looking frantically at Gracie’s bedroom door in the back. She didn’t bark, though, or scratch at it, like she understood the need for stealth.

On silent footfalls, I crept closer to the door, again gesturing for the guard to unlock it. He did, the metal scraping slowly in the lock with a noise I knew was far too loud. As soon as the bolt came free, I threw the door open as quickly as I could.

It wasn’t quick enough.

Gracie stood behind Galina, holding a knife to my fiancée’s throat. My stomach twisted as I met Galina’s wide, remorseful eyes, only the smallest tremor in her hands revealing the terror she must be feeling.

Gracie’s grip tightened, her expression cold and unwavering, and Galina sucked in a breath.

“My Lady?” the guard sputtered behind me while Ewan stepped closer, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“I can slit her throat before any of you move,” Gracie said with more ice in her tone than I had ever heard her use.

“Stay back.” I held up my hands, both in a signal to make sure no one else moved and in an effort to placate Gracie.

“You don’t want to do that,” I said calmly. “If you let her go, I’ll let you go.”

“No—” Galina’s protest was cut off by the knife digging into her skin.

“To do what, Davin?” Gracie mocked. “Live in exile, like you were so thrilled about doing?”

“What is it you want, Gracie?” I asked, not bothering to hide my desperation. “Name it, and it’s yours.”

She blinked slowly, as if taking a moment to consider. “Anything?”

I swallowed, looking at Galina’s slim neck, her pulse beating visibly beneath the lethal edge of the blade. I tried to calculate how long it would take me to draw my dagger, to aim it, the likelihood that it would hit Galina.

“Yes,” I breathed. “Anything.”

Gracie raised an eyebrow. “Even if I want to be Lady of Lithlinglau?”

I didn’t even have to consider it. I wouldn’t marry her, but she could have my estate and my title if she wanted it so badly. I would give it to her just before I lit the match and made this place her tomb.

A small part of me acknowledged that even if I couldn’t be sure of Gracie’s impending demise, there was nothing I wouldn’t do, nothing I wouldn’t barter, to keep Galina safe. Alive.

There were wounds even Gal couldn’t heal, and a slit throat was definitely one of them. I swallowed, forcing myself to speak past the blinding panic.

“Even then,” I said, desperation bleeding into my tone. “You have to see there’s no way out of this besides negotiation, Gracie. Just let Galina go, and I can make sure none of this ever gets out.”

I wasn’t sure if it was true, but it was the only chance I had. For a fraction of a second, I believed she had faltered, that she was going to let Galina go. Then her eyes bored into mine, something like pity filling them.

“You’re a good liar, Davin. But you never could lie to me.”

Then she pressed her blade into Galina’s neck.

ChapterForty-Nine

GALINA

The clockon the wall counted off each second like nails in the coffin we had built for ourselves.

---