Page 159 of Bound to the Shadow Prince

Dragon shite it’s nothing. His reaction is bothering me.

He knows it, too. He leans in, searching my gaze with his. “Trust me for a bit longer? Please?”

I nod. How can I not? We’ve had each other’s backs from the beginning. I don’t like it, but I do trust Nemeth.

I trust him with my life.

The baby twitchesand flutters all night long, making me toss and turn. Nemeth takes pity on my sleeplessness and makes me an herbal potion. “This is made from a mushroom here in Darkfell,” he tells me, adding a bit of honey to the small cup. “It is boiled and distilled down, a bit like your potion. One drop will make you sleep peacefully. Never take more than that.” He gives me a crooked smile. “Ironically, it doesn’t work on Fellians.”

“It doesn’t?” I sip the drink, and it has a sweet, pleasant taste.

“Just humans.” He kisses my brow. “Sleep well, my love.”

I curl up in bed with him, and despite my worries and the active baby, I do sleep…for a time. I wake up in the middle of the night, however, wide awake. The bed is empty.

Nemeth is gone.

Hugging the covers to my chest, I wait in the darkness. I tell myself he’s at the lavatory. Then I tell myself he’s taking a walk. Then I stop lying to myself and just wonder what he could possibly be doing in the middle of the night.

Sometime near dawn, I drift off again, and when I wake up, Nemeth is in bed with me, naked, as if he’s been there the entiretime. He tugs me against him, rubbing my hip. “You feel good this morning.”

I push him away and sit up, disturbed. “Where did you go last night?”

He frowns, sitting up as well. “You woke up?”

“Your potion must not have worked well on me thanks to my Fellian blood and my curse. So spill it. Who’s the lover?”

Nemeth looks so aghast that I immediately know there’s no one else. “Why would I take a lover?”

“I don’t know. Why are you acting so suspicious? Where did you go last night?”

His expression grows defeated. “To see my brother. Or to try to. King Ivornath yet refuses to see me. I thought maybe if I went in the middle of the night, when all was quiet, that perhaps he’d relent.” Nemeth hangs his head. “I am failing you.”

I reach out and take his hands. “You’re not. Maybe I can somehow sneak in and see him. Try to wheedle my way in. I’m good at getting my way?—”

There’s a knock downstairs, just like yesterday.

Nemeth stiffens, and in the next moment, he disappears in a swirl of shadows. Damn it! I race towards the ledge, just in time to see him flinging another note away. This time, I clearly see my name on the missive. “That’s for me,” I call out. “Bring it to me.”

“It’s nothing, Candra. Leave it be.”

I stare down at my husband in shock. Several floors separate us, and the irony is not lost on me. I’ve never felt further away from him. Is this how Ravendor felt after she left the tower? Did her husband keep a hundred secrets—poorly—and make her wonder about his motives?

But Ravendor murdered her lover…and I am not her. I love Nemeth. I love him. I know him…or at least I thought I did. This secretive Nemeth feels like a stranger.“Why won’t you let me see those messages?”

Nemeth gazes up at me, his eyes glimmering. He looks as deflated as I feel. “Because I cannot.”

It’s impossible for me to hide my hurt. “Why won’t you talk to me, Nemeth? I feel as if I’m losing you.”

He’s standing right below me, a few floors away, and yet I feel as if we’ve become strangers all over again.

“Candra, no.” He disappears from below, and a moment later, his warm hand is upon my shoulder. He’s appeared behind me and holds a hand out. I take it automatically, but I can’t help but give him a wary look. The pain in his eyes deepens, and he takes both of my hands in his. “Please, please trust me,milettahn. Everything I do, I do for us. For our future. But you have to trust me a little longer.”

“I do trust you,” I tell him softly, searching his face. “I just wish I understood.”

“I will tell you everything when the time is right.” He presses a kiss to the back of one hand and then the other. “For now, I just ask you to put your faith in your mate. Believe in me.”

“Blindly?”

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