Page 121 of Moonmarked

He didn’t move again.

A miracleI hadn’t collapsed.

My palms were a bloody mess, the energy shooting fireworks under my skin making my knees tremble. My instincts reacted—now,they finally did.

Now, when Lyall with three guards at his back came closer to the open door of the jail cell, they had me ready to start running at any second.

“Nilah, are you okay?”

Lyall.

It was Lyall.

And the guards were already by the body of the man with the mask in his pocket—the mask that had fallen off him and on the stone floor, together with the knife. The man who was very muchdead.

They carried him away as if he weighed nothing, and Lyall didn’t even turn to look—he was focused on me. His golden eyes were wide, his chest was moving up and down fast, and his hand, when he reached it out for me, was shaking.

I saw all of this, clearly, yet the urge to move back was twice as strong.

I shook my head, unable to speak yet.

“I’m so,sosorry, Nilah. They didn’t know who you were. They thought you were trying to attack so they brought you here. I thought you were in your room, I swear.” He was inside now, coming closer, looking more and more panicked by the minute. “I went to talk to you, see how you were, and that’s when I realized what had happened. Please—pleaseforgive me. It was so reckless of me to not come after you.” With a hand to his heart, he bowed his head deeply.

Something inside me roared in protest, and I couldn’t even tell you where it was coming from.

“I’m okay,” I said, and my voice sounded so strange. So different.

As if these moments or hours or however long I’d spent in this cell had changed me. As if that pain that had sliced me open without spilling a drop of my blood had replaced me with someone else.

No matter,I told myself. Rune was alive.

I turned to look outside at the night sky beyond those bars once more, just to confirm that the bird had faded, and he had. But he’d also been there. Rune had sent him for me, to tell me he was alive.

That was the only thing that mattered right now.

“Are you sure? Did they hurt you? Tell me if they did—tell me. I’m going to make sure every man who laid a hand on you regrets it,” Lyall said, and his every word rang true. He sounded not just panicked now but pissed off.

The question of whether I believed him or not was irrelevant.

“I’m fine, Lyall. As you can see—I’m fine.” And he was, too. “That man—whowas he?”

“Thank the stars,” he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment, and then he moved.

One second he was in front of me, and the next he had his arms around me, and he was pulling me to his chest in a hug.

Fuck, it felt so awkward I’d have jumped out of my skin if I could. Hugging him back was out of the question—it was all I could do not to push him off me. Good thing he moved back himself a second later, though he kept his hands on my shoulders as he analyzed me.

“The man, Lyall. The man you just killed,” I said, casually moving to the side to point at the door of the cell.

Lyall looked back, too, eyes blinking, like he was just waking up from sleep.

“The man,” he repeated, slowly moving back, just outside the cell. “Yes, the man.” And his eyes were on the mask.

They were on the knife that had fallen from his hand and to the floor. He slowly leaned down to pick it up, then turned toward me again as he inspected it. As he reached for the pocket of his red velvet pants and pulled something out—another identical knife.

My heart stopped. I stood still, looked at his face, waiting for his eyes to lock on mine…

“It was him, Nilah. One of the men who poisoned me. Who tried to kill me. He is the last one—and I thank the stars again that I got here in time.” He came closer, those eyes so soft, so angry at the same time. “I know they threatened you before. I found this in your room.” He held up the knife he’d had in his pocket. I swallowed hard but made no sound. “You should have told me, Nilah. You should have told me they came after you. I’d have kept you by my side every second.”

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