Page 100 of Reckless
“Someone needed to humble you,Shadow.”
“Oh, is that what you did?” Her smile is sunshine incarnate, warm and bright and blinding. “Because I remember kicking your ass. As per usual.”
“That’s cute, Gray. Keep telling yourself that.”
She shakes her head at me. “Sit up.”
“Polite.” I smile in that way I know she hates. “As per usual.”
The look she wears makes me chuckle as I slowly sit up with a grunt. She’s tearing more fabric with her teeth now, freeing a long strip from the skirt. Then she’s hesitantly sliding closer to wrap her arms behind me, her face close. Feeding the fabric around my back, she winds it across my stomach several times before tying it off.
“There,” she says softly, scrutinizing her handiwork. “Now I shouldn’t have to worry about you becoming a deadweight.”
The horse nickers a few feet from us, managing to tear my eyes from her and remind me of where we are. “He’s ready to get moving.”
“That makes one of us,” she mumbles before standing to her feet and untangling the chain from her legs.
I follow, rolling up the bedrolls and stuffing them into the pack. Fiddling with the reins I knotted around a tall stone, I offer the horse an apple that he happily chomps down on. “You ready?” I say over my shoulder to where Paedyn is slinging the pack onto her back.
“No. I have to pee,” she says flatly. I sigh, hanging my head at what I know she’s about to say. “You know the drill, Azer.”
I lean my forehead against the horse. “I don’t know why you insist—”
“Are your ears plugged?”
I blow out a breath before covering my ears. “Yes,” I probably shout. “Even though I don’t get why.”
Her yell is muffled. “Keep talking!”
“You know,” I say, raising my voice. “I pee too. I don’t understand why I have to plug my ears and shout every time.”
“Of course, you don’t.” She’s suddenly behind me, and I uncover my ears before turning to face her. “You’re a man.”
I blink at her, debating whether I want to know exactly what that means. She steps slowly beside the horse, reaching out a hesitant hand to run down his mane. Determined blue eyes find mine over her shoulder. “Teach me how to ride this thing.”
CHAPTER 37Kitt
Light spills through the windows lining each ornate hallway.
I almost wince at the sheer brightness of it all, having been locked within my dungeon—otherwise known as the study. Emerald carpet softens my steps while each stationed Imperial struggles not to stare at the sight of me.
I slipped the box into my pocket, though I’m not entirely sure why. I’ve come to the conclusion that the constant feel of it helps convince me that I’m in control of the situation. That I’m making the right decision. But the box feels heavy against my leg, slowing each of my steps.
Following the wafting smell of dinner, I turn down another hall, earning shy smiles from passing servants. I self-consciously run a hand through my hair, hoping I didn’t look like the mad king they all whisper about.
I ventured from my study in the hopes that they would gossip about something else for a change. Perhaps about how I’ve scrubbed the ink from my hands and exchanged my crumpled shirt for a crisp new one. Or how I ate my meal this morning instead of dumping itfrom the window. If nothing else, the fact that I left the study at all will earn their attention.
Warm light leaks beneath the kitchen doors, pooling around my feet when I falter to a stop. The knots in my stomach seem to tighten at the sound of her booming voice, familiar and frightening all at once. I’ve been avoiding her, and I’m not quite ready to deal with the consequences of that decision.
I turn, retreating down the hallway like the coward I am. A servant passes by on her way to the kitchen, averting my gaze when I attempt to meet hers.
Great. Now I’ve been spotted tiptoeing around my own castle.
I’m really not helping my case.
I have all of eight seconds before the cook has caught me.
“Kitt?” She says this with the tone of a question but the volume of a shout.
