Page 65 of Savage Crown

24

SERAPHINA

Jealousy is an ugly thing.

It creeps up the spine slow and insidious, twisting into something dark and unshakable.

And right now, it has its claws in me.

Rylan isn’t alone.

Lartina is with him.

I don’t know why my feet led me here, why I turned down the narrow hall where his chambers sit in the quiet of the night.

But now that I’m here, I can’t walk away.

I see them through the high window above the corridor—a narrow pane of glass set into the stone, allowing just enough of the room beyond to be visible.

The door is locked.

I can’t hear them.

But I can see everything.

Lartina moves with effortless grace, a serpent in silk, weaving her way around him.

Rylan stands near the fire, his hands braced against the desk, shoulders tense.

She leans in, her lips close to his ear, whispering something I can’t hear.

Something that makes his jaw tighten.

She touches his chest, fingers trailing down the fabric of his tunic like she owns him.

He doesn’t stop her.

I go rigid.

I don’t know why my breath shakes.

Why my stomach twists at the way she touches him.

It shouldn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter.

I am nothing to him.

A temporary nuisance, a debt to be paid, a pawn in whatever game he’s playing.

But the way she moves, the way she tilts her head like she’s already won?—

It burns.

And I hate it.

I watch as she leans in closer.

---