Page 52 of Decoy

“You can be assured that no matter what happens,Iwon’t disappear so easily. Do you still have the weapon I gave you?”

She tapped her thigh hidden beneath her layers of silk and winked, causing the memory of her lifting her skirt to access her weapon to return in an embarrassing rush.

I swallowed. “Very good.” I searched my mind in vain for something else to say—ideally related to pragmatics that would solidify the excuse I’d rendered to talk with her—but quickly became distracted by the dark circles beneath her eyes and her pallid countenance absent of her usual spirit. “You look exhausted.”

On cue, she suppressed a yawn. “The blood from last night’s attack was discovered this morning and required several lengthy conversations with both Sir Rupert and Their Majest—my parents. I’ve only just escaped.”

“What explanation did you provide?”

“The truth, absent of seeking another assassin’s help in the investigation. The story was of little surprise to those who know of the threat against my life, though that didn’t lessen their alarm. We fear the information will quickly spread amongst the court, rumors that will be quite wearying to deal with.” She rubbed her temples as if to ward off an impending headache.

Guilt prickled. If I hadn’t been negligent, I could have spared her this resulting grief. “I’m sorry I forgot to clean up the blood.”

“I couldn’t ask you to face your fear on my behalf. After all, it’s my affair, not yours…unless you confess youwerethe one responsible for it after all.”

Though her teasing accusation was given without any true conviction, my tension was too acute to play along. “Do you have any idea who was after you?”

She slowed in our stroll with a sigh. “I don’t even have any idea whyyou’reafter me—a faux pas on your part, considering it seems rather impolite not to impart the reasons you wish to dispatch a lady.”

Such reasons seemed less pertinent the longer our acquaintance. I wanted to confide in her, but I currently had more pressing matters than delving into every nitty gritty detail of my family history. “I can confidently assure you that whatever my motives, it’s impossible for last night’s attacker to share them. Can you think of any reason, no matter how small, as to why he’d be after you?”

She hesitated. “Other than the fact that I’m a princess and my death will be of great convenience to many? None.”

I sensed she hadn’t spoken the entire truth. Whatever she was determined to hide, I’d discover it, one way or another.

I jolted as her touch grazed my elbow, drawing my gaze towards her. “Couldn’t you offer mesomehint? Anything that could help me solve the puzzle of your vacillating motives between preserving my life and wanting to claim it.”

I wagged my finger. “Revealing my secrets only spoils the fun.”

I expected her to play along, as was common in our frequent spars, but instead she merely heaved a defeated sigh. Too late I realized I’d gone too far in my teasing, leaving me feeling like a cad.

“Princess?”

With my unwillingness to extend the same courtesy, I didn’t expect her to confide in me, but to my surprise, her usual stubborn silence faltered, as if my protection last night had stripped away the last of her defenses.

“They’re getting angry I haven’t provided any additional information, not just about you but about anyone else.”

I still found it puzzling thatshewas the one charged with obtaining such information. Something more was definitely going on behind the scenes, adding another mystery to those that already surrounded her. Unfortunately, I currently had no clues that would point in the direction needed to solve it, nor did I have the time; her safety was my primary concern.

Whether or not her words were a bluff, her lack of information should have been fortuitous, especially when I already found myself at such a disadvantage now that the advisor—and by extension Their Majesties—suspected me as the threat against Her Highness’s life. Assassins thrived by remaining in the shadows, a cover that thanks to her I could no longer rely on. My training had taught me to do away with anyone who jeopardized our house or our missions, and yet…

Once more my protective instinct flared, this time not to safeguard her life but her emotions, a poor use of my skills honed to kill. Too late I realized the full implications in spending the entire night with her; the more she seduced me, the more impossible it became to resist her dangerous seductions that distracted me from my mission.

I’d been held captive by my thoughts too long, brought back to the present by her heavy sigh. “I’m running out of time.” She nibbled her lip, her gaze adrift. If this was a ploy at manipulation then she was a master.

I felt a searing pain from the shadows cast by the trees lining our path as they sensed my intentions, but the discomfort wasn’t effective enough to dissuade me.

“I’ll help you uncover the identity of last night’s attacker, but considering I’m not currently a threat, do you really need additional information about me?”

“While the advisor would certainly welcome anything we can find, he’s specifically interested in your assassin house.”

I silently cursed, not because such a predicament wasn’t an assassin’s worst nightmare—it certainly was that—but because one look into her pleading brown eyes and I’d become fully willing to tell her anything she wished to know. The least I could do to salvage my honor would be to force her to work for it.

“Anything worthwhile must be earned, so perhaps we can make a game of it.”

Her brows drew together. “What sort of game?”

“A game whose coveted prize is my secrets.”

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