Page 58 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“They were not a student.” Of that, I was certain. If anything, the attacker’s brunette hair and short, athletic build had looked strangely like… I shook my head, dismissing the thought.
“We’re done for now,” the knight said. He lifted a hand as if he were about to pat my shoulder but let it fall before he made contact. “The Order of the Lawful will contact you if we need more information.”
“That’s fine.”
The shock and adrenaline were beginning to wear off, replaced by a cold dread that made me shiver. As I watched the knight walk away, I leaned against the stone tunnel wall, trying to get ahold of myself. Tryingnotto think about how hot Viren’s blood had felt on my hands, how much of it had pooled on the floor. Trying to ignore the burgundy splotches that soiled the lower half of my chemise. A pair of knights had carried Viren’s unconscious body off on a wood plank, with healers walking alongside her to administer treatment.
I had yet to hear whether she’d woken up.
Sani had been right: the future was a swift river. And right now, I felt like the current was pushing me somewhere I didn’t want to go, toward a drop I hadn’t seen coming. Had I known how perilous this opportunity would become, I might not have agreed to Phina’s offer.
Then again, had Phina really given me a choice?
I covered my face with my cold hands, sobbing silently. I felt so alone. So far from home. I was being swept toward a waterfall with no one and nothing to cling to.
Sani and Uriel had walked off a while ago, allowing the Lawful Knight to interview me about the incident. And as much as I cared for them, my new friends didn’t bring me the sense of safety I craved. I wished I was in Waldron. Safe at the Pretty Possum. Sitting by the hearth with Anya, Idris, and Wicker, drinking concoctails, playing cards, and enduring Anya’s jokes about my nonexistent love life, my crush on the mysterious metalworker.
Hot tears tracked down my chilled cheeks; I was shaken to my core by what I’d seen.
An intruder.
A blade.
Blood on the woven rug.
It was all too similar to nearly ten years earlier: the swirl of rumors, the attempt onmylife. Everyone had blamed Noble for the rumors, but he’d only done what he thought was right; in fact, had he not been honest with my aunt about what he overheard—had the castle guards not been put on alert—I might not’ve lived past that dreadful night.
It’s why I never blamed him for how things unfolded after that. Had I stayed at Castle Wynhaim, Raina’s arranged marriage, title, and safety would’ve been threatened. I couldn’t fault my aunt and uncle’s decision to send me away, even if it stung—in fact, I agreed with them. Raina might’ve been my cousin by blood, but in my heart, she was mysister, and I would’ve done anything to protect her.
Including live a lie.
An audible sob escaped me, and I bit my lips together.
“Hattie, what the fuck?”
Noble’s imposing form filled the mouth of the archway, haloed by the hazy daylight that cut through the misting rain. His cloak clung to the mountainous ridges of his shoulders, gaping to reveal the undone laces of a black shirt soaked with rain.
Home, my heart sang at the sight of him.Home, home, home.
My logical mind tried to fight that instinct, but after last night, I was too rattled. Noble had always been a place of safety and comfort. Even though he was forbidden. Even when he was pushing me away. Even now, after all this time:Home.
Wild green eyes roved over my chemise, tactile as an actual touch as he took in my rumpled state, the blood stains.
His clean-shaven jawclenched.
Then he was moving, long legs eating up the distance between us. Disheveled, furious, frantic. For a moment, it looked like he would pull me into an embrace—but he halted a respectable distance away, arms at his sides, hands fisted with restraint.
His voice was strained and demanding when he spoke. “Is it yours?”
I looked down at the blood on my dress. “No.”
He closed his eyes with visible relief. When he opened them again, they pinned me in place. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
He wiped a hand over his face, the front of his neck, his palm pausing over his heart. “Fates, Hattie, when Phina said an assassin broke into your building, I—” He broke off. Took a step closer. His movements were jerky and agitated. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
The question surprised me. What did my feelings matter when Viren had beenstabbed? “I’m afraid for Viren’s life. I saw the wound, it was…” I shuddered, squeezing my eyes closed.
