Page 88 of Spark of the Everflame

“That Prince is more perceptive than you think, Diem. If he suspects—”

“I can handle it. I can certainly handlehim.”

Maura was not convinced.

“Honest,” I promised. “I just needed to talk it out of my system. I’m a professional, remember?” I faked a brilliant smile and poked her arm. “Learned from the best.”

She huffed and turned back down the road, worry still radiating from her fidgeting hand and drawn posture. A lump lodged in my throat as I watched her shuffle on ahead.

If she knew what I really had planned today, worry would be the mildest of her emotions.

* * *

The gryvern met us first.

It was a knee-rattling sight to gaze upon the menacing draconic head, lithe leonine body, and broad, feathered wings circling the skies above our heads. Her imposing shadow swooped back and forth as we walked up the topiary-lined path that led to the palace entrance.

Every time I dared a look upward, my stare met with the gryvern’s—Sorae, they’d called her. I had the strangest sensation that she wasn’t just watching me, but sensing me,readingme. Her golden eyes seemed to peer beyond my face and pierce something far deeper—something I wasn’t prepared to share.

“Does she normally do this?” I asked, squinting up at the creature.

“No—never.” Maura’s face had gone pale and more than a bit green. “That thing makes me as nervous as a one-legged mouse in a field of cats.”

We neared the steps leading to the entry. Sorae’s spear-sharp claws clattered against stone as she slammed down onto a landing perch near the roof, sending Maura jumping nearly out of her skin.

“Unarmed this time, Miss Bellator?”

I tore my attention from the gryvern to see Prince Luther standing in the wide archway with his usual stone-faced expression. The jeweled sword handle that rose above his shoulder glittered in the morning sun, a grandiose juxtaposition to his bleak ensemble of all-over black jacquard. The muscles of his arms flexed as they crossed over his chest, making his already broad form seem all the more imposing.

I threw him a dazzling smile and held out my arms to show off the lack of weapons at my hips. I’d left my twin daggers at home to avoid attention—and in the hopes that if I was caught in the midst of my plan, I could plausibly argue I had no intention of doing any harm. Only Brecke’s knife remained, hidden inconspicuously in my boot. It was the only thing that might actually save my life if this went all to hell.

“I wouldn’t want you to think I was here to hurt any children,” I called out sweetly.

He gave no reaction, though his glacial eyes trailed me as I strolled past him into the foyer.

The guards circled around us and began rifling through our bags, then our clothing. Their inspection was far more aggressive than before, perhaps because they knew we were visiting the King—or perhaps in retaliation for challenging them on my previous visit.

I forced myself to meet Luther’s stare while his men ran their hands across my body like I was property to be seized, no more human than the satchels they’d crudely ravaged with their indelicate hands. I flinched at the unnecessary squeeze of a hand on my ass. The guard snickered at my reaction, his fingers jabbing deeper into my flesh.

A muscle ticked on Luther’s jaw.

“That’s enough,” he said curtly.

The guard stared up at him. “But... Your Highness—”

“I’ll handle it from here.” Without breaking my gaze, Luther sauntered forward. The presence of his immense power hit me like a physical force, and I had to dig in my heels to hold my ground.

His hands dropped from his chest and hovered in the air by my hips. “May I?”

My brows arched. “Nowyou ask?”

“I wouldn’t want you to think I wasn’t taught to ask for a woman’s consent.”

A spark of challenge glittered in his eyes.You’re not the only one who remembers our previous chat, they seemed to say.

My shoulder bounced, coming off more like an invitation than a shrug. “Go ahead then. If you must.”

He held my eyes for a beat longer—just long enough to take my carefully constructed indifference and turn it on its side. I hated how one look from him could unnerve me with that unrelenting focus and that piercingI-see-youstare.

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