Page 49 of Decoy

“Yourprotection?” He searched my expression, and too late I remembered his ability to detect lies, but he merely shrugged with seeming indifference. “Of course.” He didn’t sound convinced. This should have alarmed me, but to my own surprise, I only felt invigorated, the part of me that didn’t mind if he discovered my secret if it meant it’d free me from bearing the burden alone.

Yet the lingering sense that prevented me from fully trusting him remained determined to keep this secret until he discovered it on his own. Though puzzlement furrowed his brow, he didn’t ask further questions, simply helped me search the room by the light of our single candle.

But we found nothing.

I collapsed onto the bed with a defeated sigh. “No clues.” Yet there likely would have been if not for my earlier mistakes. “I delayed too long. I should have been able to fight him off, or attempted to follow him, or lingered in order to uncover evidence, or—”

My barrage of self-condemnations was abruptly cut off when he pressed a gentle finger against my lips. “Don’t berate yourself, you’re only human—a skilled one, but not infallible. If someone of my caliber could make a racket on the roof, you’re certainly entitled to make your own share of mistakes.”

My lips twitched at the memory. “That was rather amusing.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad someone enjoyed my spectacle.” He settled on the edge of my bed, though far enough away as to leave considerable space between us. He hesitated before slowly patting my shoulder, an awkward reassurance that wasn’t immediately comforting until his soft touch lowered to the base of my back to enfold me in soothing warmth.

“It’ll be alright, Princess. We’ll discover who attacked you, and until then, I’ll stand guard.”

The thought of him remaining so near was far more alluring than it had any right to be, yet I still made to protest the arrangement. “You can’t, especially since it’ll rob you of a night’s sleep.”

“I’ve spent many nights awake and can easily give up another. You asked for my help, and I will follow through. You’ve had a long day and deserve to rest.” He gently pushed against my shoulders, a silent urging for me to lie down. I obeyed, but with the way my heart pounded, I felt far too awake to have any hopes of claiming sleep with him so near.

“What if you encounter my attacker?”

He pretended to look affronted. “You doubt my skills are up to the task of confronting an amateur foolish enough to get stabbed by a beguiling woman?”

“I don’t doubt your ability, I just know you won’t be able to kill him.”

His eyes blazed with determination as he stared into my own. He reached out a hesitant hand and caressed my cheek, his thumb lingering. “I just might.”

With those words, he pulled away. I sat up and looked around, but he’d already vanished, swallowed by the shadows of the night.

CHAPTER14

LUKE

Of all my missions, none had proved as distracting asthisone. I’d followed each of my previous duties with indifferent exactness. While all the past targets had been nothing more than part of the scenery, now I couldn’t avert my gaze from my charge sleeping only an arm’s length away, nor could I make myself withdraw and guard her at a distance.

The rare swell of horror that had overcome me upon learning she’d been attacked lingered. If she hadn’t woken in time to detect the assailant’s presence or possessed the skills to defend herself…she’d have been taken from me.

Part of me had wondered whether she’d be able to sleep in my presence, but she fell asleep easily. As heir to the most infamous assassin house, while people were perfectly at ease with Lord Luke, I was used to people being afraid of me as the Shadow. Having someone know me as an assassin and yet still be comfortable enough to sleep in my presence felt surprisingly…nice, a dangerous emotion that made the surrounding shadows uneasy.

I settled on the edge of the bed with movements as careful as when I stalked my prey. The thin moonlight tumbling through the window cast a silvery sheen across her dark hair, the eyelashes caressing her cheeks, and her elegant features. She seemed more relaxed while she slept, but even without her usual spirit that both aggravated me and kept me immensely entertained, there was something about her that made it impossible to look away.

I felt the pull of many competing interests vying for the time consumed by watching her sleep. I could be searching the room for clues, checking the rooftop for the return of the intruder, using the shadows to investigate the corridors, or—

She suddenly made a rather adorable noise between a sleepy sigh and a snort, a sound that seized my heart in an unrelenting grasp. I kept perfectly still, ignoring my conscience’s scolding whisper that I had better sounds to search the night for. I found myself leaning closer, waiting to see if she’d do it again.

The shadows’ seductions caressed my thoughts with their usual taunting whispers.Now would be the perfect time to kill her. There’s nothing stopping you.

I ignored them and continued watching her, my fascination deepening into concern when her sleep became more restless—she tangled her blanket as she wriggled about, a deep furrow marring her brow. I rested a gentle hand against her hair as I often did for my younger sister when she struggled with bad dreams. Her expression softened, as if my touch brought her comfort.

Given the events of the night, a nightmare likely consumed her sleep, which reminded me of my purpose. Someone had attacked her. My hand curled around the hilt of my dagger, a compulsion to track them down and make them pay.

My whispered promise to the princess that I would be able to kill whoever was after her should it come to that hadn’t just been an empty reassurance to help her sleep. I’d spent my entire life avoiding the sight of blood, but in this moment it felt like a welcoming friend so long as it belonged to the person who’d tried to hurt her. If I encountered the one after her, nothing would prevent my hatred from consuming my senses and avenging her. I couldn’t bear to imagine the intriguing light filling her eyes suddenly snuffed out like a flame.

The sickening thought compelled me to act. I’d already obsessively searched the shadows for the assailant, so instead I combed the room for evidence I might have missed during my first perusal. Other than several splotches of blood, there was no sign anyone had been there. The crimson trail ended midway between the door and the window, offering no clues as to which direction they’d escaped.

The watching shadows had informed me before reaching the princess’s bedroom that the assailant had long since escaped, but desperation had compelled me to check anyway. Upon not finding him, I wanted to immediately search the palace and make him pay…but that would have required me to abandon her, and I couldn’t risk leaving her entirely unguarded, especially if during my absence he or another attacker returned to finish their dark task.

The shadows had also eliminated the possibility that the assailant had left via the window while the princess had been in my room…unless they were lying, a possibility that I unfortunately couldn’t entirely dismiss due to their divided loyalty of late. This lack of cooperation prevented them from sharing what they’d witnessed, leaving it up to my own deductions.

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