Page 194 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

Istumbletotheback door of my human estate, holding an unconscious and injured Kat against my chest, and kick at the door. “Edvear!”

Edvear opens the door. “Master! I thought you weren’t coming ba—” He stops, his mouth open mid-word as his yellow eyes fall to Kat’s limp, filthy form.

“Send for a doctor, immediately!” I shove past him, careful not to jostle Kat’s wound.

Mary appears in the hallway. Both of her hands go to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. “Is she alive? Oh, I have been so worried! It’s beenweeksand I thought for certain she was dead! I came here out of desperation to see if—”

“Weeks?” I demand, dread coming over me. Caphryl morphs time as it pleases. I thought I’d ensured that we wouldn’t be spit out far away from our timeline.

Mary’s face is hollow. “She has been gone for fifteen days.”

I whirl on Edvear. “How long ago did I leave?”

“A little over three weeks ago, my lord.”

I curse. Then I whirl on Mary, fixing her with a black glare. “You knew everything.”

She pales and doesn’t reply.

My fury threatens to overcome my control. I move past Mary, heading to the room we once called ours.

“My lord!” says Edvear at my heels. “I must tell you—”

“Is that Kat?” a woman’s voice calls from the parlor. “I have beenwaitingfor hours now! I will not leave until I speak with her!”

My mind trips over itself. Lady Duxbury Vandermore is here? Why in all the—

“Kat will not speak to you!” returns an impassioned young man’s voice. “You know you were cruel to her all those years and if she refuses to see you now, it is because you made yourself odious to her!”

Lord Oliver.

“My lord!” cries Edvear again as I barrel past the parlor, ignoring both uninvited guests. Kat is in a bad state, and I need to get to her at once.

I kick open the door to the bedroom. And immediately freeze.

Pelarusa lounges across my bed, her long hair splayed across my pillow, her gown draped over the covers. She sits up at the sight of me. “Great Kings, finally! I have been waiting here since dawn for you, and it has been an agony unlike anything else I’ve experienced. I can hardlybreatheand my glamours are giving me a violent headache! Your incompetence is a cruelty! Wait, what is that?”

This situation gets worse by the moment. I am going to strangle every person in this house. I clench my jaw hard and stride past Pelarusa, heading toward the bathing chamber. I’ll deal with my sister later.

“Rahk! What is that? Don’t tell methatis the Ivy Mask!”

I use my toe to pry open the door and fling it wide. Mary is there a moment later, ladened with two full buckets of water. She dumps them in the tub.

“Is that the Ivy Mask?” Pelarusa’s voice reaches a shrill note.

“Yes!” I snap, baring my teeth at her as I carefully place Kat on the floor, leaning her against the wall. “This is the Ivy Mask. Now leave!”

She draws back. “Don’t tell me she’s your mistress.”

Edvear comes with another two buckets of water, followed by Charity. It’s enough to fill the tub. Edvear takes Charity’s empty buckets from her, and something about the way he gently touches her shoulder at a time like this rankles my ire. I dismiss everyone but Mary and throw a quick ward over the room so Pelarusa cannot barge in. Then I plunge one hand into the cold bath water, murmuring a spell under my lips. The water temperature rises, until it is warm.

“Did you do this?” Mary snarls at me, crouching over Kat like a mama bear protecting her cub.

I hold her gaze until she looks away. She should know that I would never hurt Kat.

She undoes the ties of Kat’s filthy cloak. “You’ve got to protect her. She’s your wife! You love her!”

“What I do with a criminal,” I reply, “is none of your business.”

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