Page 86 of Clash of Sin and Secret

Or maybe I was always destined to be a warrior wife.

I also didn’t picture his reign being contested.

Still, our fathers didn’t raise quitters. We’ll take the hand we’ve been dealt, and we’ll come out stronger because of it.

Zane’s hand brushes against mine.Damn right we will.

I turn and meet his gaze.Is this going to be a thing, now? Are you going to just listen to my thoughts uninvited?

I’m still getting used to the squire bond. I didn’t mean to hear, but you were thinking very loudly.

I chuckle.I’ll keep it down.

We climb the slight embankment, the two of them becoming more focused with every step. The air feels charged. It’s as if danger lurks just out of sight.

Which it does.

The main building is a great stone castle and Zane told me it was deconstructed in Europe and brought over and reconstructed stone by stone.

It’s imposing and damned impressive.

Zane approaches the access panel with purpose. He wraps his fingers around the edge of the Diamond Dagger sheathed at his hip and pulls it free. I admire how confident he looks despite everything he’s facing.

Ready?he asks.

Ready,Huntley and I both reply.

With a deep breath, Zane wraps his fingers around the polished blade and drags the dagger free from his palm. Blood wells up immediately, painting his hand crimson before he presses it onto the identity scanner.

When the green light appears on the scanner, Zane slots the dagger into the notch at the center of the door and twists it.

A soft‘click’signals the release of the door, and Zane turns to meet our gazes.Be safe, everyone. I love you.

Zane holds the dagger out and Huntley wraps it in a cloth to clean the blade. When he’s finished, Zane takes it back and sheaths it at his hip.

If Huntley answers him, I don’t hear it. And that’s fine. After everything they’ve been through, they deserve every moment of happiness they share.

Huntley steps closer and bends to brush a kiss over my lips. “Be careful, princess. Take care of each other because I want both of you to come back to me in one piece.”

“Same. Right and tight, Viking.”

“Head on a swivel.”

“Locked and loaded.”

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat.”

Da had a dozen ‘ready for battle’ sayings and it makes both of us smile to toss a couple of them out.

Zane and I linger at the entrance for a moment longer than necessary. I don’t want to leave Huntley, and it makes my chest ache, knowing he’ll be alone out here.

But we all have our part to play and none of us knows what Agostino has planned.

I take one last scan of our surroundings. The manicured gardens framing ancient stone walls. The long shadows being cast by the moonlight. The darkness swallowing up sections of the property that could be hiding turned mutts, ready to ambush us and seize control of Zane’s rule.

There’s nothing to be done about any of it—at least not yet. I meet Huntley’s worried gaze and wink. “See you soon, Viking.”

Zane

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