Page 77 of Decoy

For a moment I could only stare in stunned awe as his sweet words enfolded me. He spoke of the traits that had previously been nothing more than symbols of my shattered past with such reverence, as if he truly treasured them.

I didn’t realize I was crying until his hand still cradling my cheek wiped away my tears, the first I’d shed ever since Zeke’s death. “To think you can smile even in such circumstances. My brave girl.” His thumb lightly traced my lips.

“I can smile so long as I have my strength beside me. For all your doubts, I want you to know you’re a good man, even if you don’t always believe it.”

Emotion filled his expression. “All that I am is because I met you.”

“I only uncovered what you, in your fear, hid even from yourself, only to discover a treasure worth far more than the stolen magic I feared was forever lost. Even with your weaknesses, feigned confidence and theatrics, and the heavy mantle you bear, you’re also my perfect match. You might be the infamous Shadow whose mission was to kill me…but in the end, you instead stole my heart. I love you.”

“As I love you.”

The strength of our feelings for one another drew us together. I leaned as close as my bonds allowed; the iron dug into my skin and put strain on my limbs, pain well worth bridging the last of the distance separating us.

The coldness of the metal bars cradled my face even as the warmth of his touch lingered to pull me into a gentle kiss far more beautiful than the ones that had been under the guise of our game. Those had been exhilarating, a hint to the tender feelings sprouting in our hearts even before they’d had a chance to bloom. Now they’d fully blossomed so that it wasn’t a decoy and the assassin she was attempting to uncover sharing this special moment, but two imperfect people who, for all our flaws and strengths, had fallen deeply in love. To think we could experience something as beautiful as this in such a place. The closer one drew to death, the easier it was to value what was truly important.

In our kiss I didn’t have to fear the fate awaiting me at dawn, I could simplybe—savor the feel of his tender lips cradling mine and the warmth of our love expanding from my heart to enfold us in its comforting embrace, a reminder that I was cherished and no longer alone. I yearned to bask in this pocket of happiness of being loved by Luke for as long as I could before death stole it away…but eventually he pulled away, fierce determination eclipsing his previous tenderness.

“I want a long life with you. Thus we must combine our wits forOperation: Escape the Dungeon.” At glimpsing my surprise his eyebrows rose. “Did you think I was only here to spout sweet accolades and bring you comfort? I’d be remiss as both an assassin and a lover if I were to abandon you to your fate.”

My heart swelled at his sweet determination, even as the impossibility of our circumstances broke it. In my first sojourn in the dungeon, I’d exhausted every possibility before finally resigning myself that escape was impossible.

“Have your legendary skills ever extended to breaking out of prison?” It wasn’t only a matter of escaping. So long as I was alive I’d be pursued. My fragile hold over my bravery faltered, causing my hand cradled within his to shake.

“I don’t know how…yet. But no matter what it takes, I’ll find a way. I promise, Blair. So please trust me.” Earnestness filled his smoldering gaze, a reassurance that allowed me to believe in the seemingly impossible.

“You are the infamous Shadow. If anyone can save me, it’s you.”

“I vow to do more than help you escape; together we’ll find the evidence condemning the mastermind against Her Highness’s life in order to secure your freedom so that you never find yourself counting down your last moments ever again.”

I managed a smile. With the Shadow and decoy working together, I believed we could accomplish any feat, beginning with finding a way to escape a heavily guarded dungeon despite my remaining chained to a wall within a locked cell.

Would love, along with our combined skills, truly be enough to overcome such an obstacle?

CHAPTER22

LUKE

Icradled Blair’s icy hand within mine, but even this contact wasn’t enough; I yearned to pass through the bars separating us and gather her in my arms. The thin lantern light tumbled around her shivering body chained to the wall, illuminating her gaunt expression and her dark eyes, devoid of hope…the same suffocating emotion pressing around me. The night was stretching ever closer to the dawn that would signify the end of her life, leaving us little time to puzzle out the riddle of how she could escape.

My shock that the woman I loved wasn’t the true princess was eclipsed by the horror at how close she’d come to dying in the true princess’s stead—either by my hand or by the blade of another assassin.

The flickering light created several shadows within her cell, but no matter my silent pleas, they refused to heed my orders to free her. Even the shocking revelation of her true identity as an imposter had done nothing to change the shadows’ desires in seeking her life—instead their sinister whispers wove through my thoughts, instructions I would rather die than heed. Their influence had only grown stronger since I’d assumed Father’s mantle. For now his death was enough to satisfy them, but already their patience was wearing thin.

“Did the guards you knocked out have a key to the cell?” Her voice, thin with fear, penetrated the thick silence, yet she bravely lifted her chin, maintaining her usual spirit even midst the terror choking the dungeon.

“I suspect the advisor or someone close to him is keeping it to prevent the possibility of escape. I have the shadows searching for them.” I omitted the unfortunate fact that they’d only lazily obeyed my charge with the utmost reluctance, a sign of their wavering loyalty. I couldn’t hope for results soon enough to rescue her. “Do you still have the master key I gave you?”

She shook her head. “Sir Rupert confiscated it.”

I muttered a curse beneath my breath. There was something off about that advisor, and I’d come to know Blair well enough to sense upon her arrest that she thought so too. He’d be the first person we investigated to barter for her pardon…but first we needed to find a way to free her.

The shadows lurking within her cell had at least been helpful enough to divulge that there weren’t any hidden passages, and even if we had the proper tools, the prison walls were too thick to break through in only a few hours, leaving us few options.

The light outside the window was beginning to thin as daybreak approached, signifying the end of our borrowed time. Blair’s chains rattled as her bravery faltered and she curled in on herself. “It’s hopeless.” A tear trickled down her cheek.

My heart immediately seized. The cold metal seeped into my skin as I pressed myself closer, but desperation alone wasn’t enough to penetrate the bars separating me from her and her from freedom. I fumbled uselessly in search of a handkerchief, and when I couldn’t find one I tried to dry her wet cheeks with my thumb, but there were too many.

She sniffled. “I have one in my pocket.” She made to reach for it, but the chains binding her wrists and the awkward angle stopped her, a sight that only escalated my hopelessness. Prisoner or not, she deserved to dry her tears rather than cry alone in the dark as she counted her last moments.

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