Page 112 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
His lips quirked into a half smile. “Have a good night.”
“You too.” I rushed out the door, trying to ignore my heated face and the weight of his soft smile.
My head spun as I walked to the room and lay on the surprisingly soft mattress. How could I keep resisting when the world demanded we be around each other? I wrapped my arms around myself and fell asleep more annoyed than ever.
I jerked awake to a bone deep feeling that something was wrong. My heart raced, and it took everything I had not to jump out of bed. Slowly, I opened my eyes. It only took me a second to adjust to the darkness as I scanned my room. That’s when I saw it. Or rather,him. A figure in the middle of the door.Myinn door that shouldn’t be open but was. My blood went cold. I grabbed my knife from under my pillow and jumped to my feet.
The man charged, a knife in his hand. He slashed at me. I jumped backward before trying to grab his hand and throw him off. In an instant, I knew I was outmatched, so I darted back and threw a kick at his ribs. “Kieran!” I screamed. “Kieran!” I needed to get away or get Kieran’s attention. Everything about this man screamed danger.
He swiped again, and I cursed. I didn’t move in time. Blood dripped down my right arm, but I felt no pain. He used that moment to kick my chest, and I tumbled to the ground. Air rushed from my lungs, and I struggled to gain my breath. I still gripped my weapon.Fuck.
This was different from all the other attacks. This wasn’t some poor weakling hired off the streets. This was a trained assassin. One I wasn’t prepared to face. The man stood over me and raised his knife.
NO.Heat crackled under my skin.“Stop!”
The man’s eyes widened. I couldn’t die here. Not like this. I kicked upward, hitting him straight in the groin. My attacker groaned, and I used that chance to scramble to my feet. I stabbed him in the gut before he could right himself and tried to run past him, but he punched me in the back. My ribsburned.It hurt to breathe. For a moment, I thought he had stabbed me back, but he was just that strong that a single hit had left me breathless.
I swirled around, tightening my grip on my bloody knife. “KIERAN!” I wasn’t stupid. I knew when to retreat. This man was unlike anyone I’d ever faced. The longer I stayed here, the more likely it was he’d kill me. “KIERAN!”
The temperature in the room plummeted. And with it, I could finally breathe.He’s here.Shadows swept across the room, caressing my body and checking for injuries.He’s here.Kieran appeared before me. I could see it now. Why people called him the Reaper. He looked every inch of it as the shadows clung to his skin and his eyes flared with anger.
Kieran had come to deliver this man to Death themself, and every soul in this room knew it. Shadows rose from the corners of the room and latched onto the assassin’s body. They squeezed his wrist until he dropped the knife with a yelp. But the man didn’t have time to let out any other cry. Another shadow wrapped around his neck and squeezed until his eyes bulged. A third tendril shoved down his throat.
Kieran prowled across the room like a vengeful god. “Don’t touch her with your filthy hands,” he spat. When he looked at me, that rage hadn’t faded, but some of his humanity returned. Our eyes locked, and he nodded before turning back to the man. I scrambled to my feet. The fear in my chest eased, but I couldn’t stop shaking. Kieran raised his hand and twisted it. The shadows broke the man’s hands with a sickeningcrack.“You’re not allowed to see her either,” Kieran crooned.
The shadows wrapped around the man’s head. Iwinced when they pressed down onto the man’s eyes. He screamed, but it was muffled by the shadow around his throat.
“For the crime of touching her, I sentence you to death. Consider it a mercy.” Kieran flicked his wrist. The shadows around the man’s neck tightened.Crack!The man went limp. Kieran lazily waved his hand, and the body was tossed to the ground.
Holy shit.
With the assassin disposed, Kieran turned his attention to me. And just like that, the Shadowed Reaper disappeared, leaving my captain in its place. He reached up to cup my face but then hesitated at the last moment. I knew what he thought. I could see it in his eyes—the fear of rejection.
I took his hand. It wasn’t just for him, but for me. I wasn’t scared of what he’d done. In this world we lived in, kindness wasn’t an option. My attacker deserved to die. Andfuck,Kieran had… had cared enough to be furious over the attack. And it wasn’t just because I was useful to him. “He tried to kill me.” I stared at the body that’d been carelessly tossed to the side. “He deserved it. I—I thought I’d die.” I needed Kieran to know I didn’t blame him. Maybe he was a monster, but in this world, we’d need to be one if we wanted to survive.
Kieran studied me and then flexed his jaw. “Come on. We’re leaving.” Shadows swept over me before I had time to react. We landed in what was clearly someone’s home. Someone middle class that much was obvious from the two story house, and a loneportrait I spotted near the darkened living room.
I looked at Kieran, at the harsh lines on his face.I almost died. Someone tried to kill me in my sleep.I thought I’d gotten used to the assassination attacks, but this was different.This time, I actually could’ve died.
“Lord Kieran? A-and Lady Selena?”
My head whipped up toward the voice at the top of the stairs. An old man froze where he stood. He was clearly well off, even having a bit of a belly. The fabric of his robe was too soft looking to be anything other than upper middle class.
Kieran’s expression hardened. “Tell no one we’re here, and in exchange I’ll give you six gold bars on the king’s coin. You can report as such to the king’s bank, and the gold will be delivered within the next two months.”
The man’s eyes widened, and his gaze darted from Kieran to me. “I—I have a spare room upstairs. You two may sleep in it.”
The fury in Kieran’s eyes didn’t lighten. “Go upstairs. I’m locking you in for the night. Will that be a problem?”
The man eagerly shook his head and darted upstairs. “Your room is the first one to the left. I’m sorry it’s not extravagant enough to house such auspicious guests.”
I followed Kieran in a daze, barely processing when he locked the man into his room and then led me to the spare room. The man hadn’t been exaggerating when he said it wasn’t very extravagant. The bed wasnice, but everything else was empty. Plain.
My heartbeat echoed in my ears on repeat. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”I almost died.
It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to assassinate me, but this… I’d never been so… vulnerable. Exposed. In a way I hadn’t been since I was just starting out thieving. I’d gotten used to fearing monsters, but I’d forgotten humans could be monsters too.
A shadow grabbed my wrist as I tightened my grip on the pillow, but it vanished just as soon as it touched me. “Sorry.” Kieran exhaled. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you’re taking the bed. Fuck, Selena, I’m not going to let you sleep on the floor.”
