Page 15 of The Stolen Princess
“I was climbing a tree when I was a little girl. The branch broke, and another branch cut my face as I fell.”
His lips lifted a little. “Impressive.”
“The scar or that I fell out of a tree?”
“Both.”
She smirked. “That’s not even the most impressive one.”
Why did I say that? This isn’t a job interview.
“Well, now I’m going to have to see the most impressive one.” He smiled.
She hopped up on the table next to him and lifted her knee. She pushed the hem of her gray pants up, revealing a long white scar that started at her knee and zigzagged to her ankle.
“What’s that from?”
“This time, I was climbing some pre-Desolation ruins. The cement wall I was scaling broke into little rocks, and I slid down the side of it, cutting my leg on some kind of metal wire. My dad was so mad at me. He’d told me not to climb the ruins...that I would get hurt, but I didn’t listen. I had to see what was at the top.”
“What stories do these scars tell about you?” he asked.
She smiled, leaning back against her hands. “I like adventure. I’m brave. I love a breathtaking view from the top of something, and I sometimes disobey my father.”
“Someone like you might be safer on the ground,” he said.
Myka smiled at him. “Where’s the fun in that?”
He lifted his right hand, pointing to a pink scar in the middle of his palm. “This is from an arrow that went through my hand.” Then he lifted his arm up, showing off a long scar on the side of his torso. “And this beauty,” he pointed to the purple skin, “was from my friend Trev when we were sparring with swords as teenagers.”
“Your scars tell me that you are a soldier and terrible with knives, arrows, and swords.”
Drake smiled. “Do they say anything else?”
“That your friend Trev is mean and overly aggressive when he spars with you.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say that’s entirely accurate.”
“And what about this new wound?” She nodded to where the bullet had nicked his arm. “What will be the story about that?”
Drake squinted back at her. “Oh, that’s easy. I met a charming, crazy woman—” Did he just call her charming? No, that couldn’t be right. He must’ve saidfarming. He’d met afarming, crazy woman. That definitely made more sense. “—who didn’t know how to handle a gun or what basic medicines are used for.”
“I know how to handle a gun. I could have shot you in the heart if I’d wanted to. And”— she lifted her index finger up—“I got the salve right.”
“That’s the only thing.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I was dead on with the hemorrhoid medicine as well.”
He smiled as they stared at each other for a moment, and the trippy thing in her heart started up again. It was all Myka could do not to ask him a million questions about who he was and why he was there. She wanted to know all those answers, but for every question she asked about him, he would ask one about her. She could easily lie—make up some story about how she was a dairy farmer or something like that, but for some reason, she didn’t want to lie to him.
His smile widened, and a strand of his brown hair fell across his forehead, dangling above his eye in the most tantalizing way. He looked all hypnotizing and handsome, and Myka was ready to give him any information he wanted—her personal medical records, finances, and every deep, dark little secret she had, including the fact that she wasreallyenjoying her time with him...liketoomuch.
Drake
Drake stared backat Mya’s big blue eyes. Long brown hair that used to be in a bun now fell straight past her shoulders, matching dark eyebrows and lashes. She was a beautiful woman, but there was something extra attractive about her. It was in the way she carried herself—how she didn’t let anyone push her around—and the way she wasn’t afraid to say the first thing that popped into her mind, even if it made her sound strange. Her personality had been entertaining…cute, even, and Drake would like nothing more than to sit there and listen to her talk, but he couldn’t. There wasn’t time to stay and flirt with Mya, even though that’s exactly what he wanted to do. This short trip to Tolsten wasn’t about fun. He was only in Denton for a day, gathering information for the operatives’ mission, then he needed to head back to Albion. Trev was planning a surprise wedding for Renna, and he would kill Drake if he wasn’t there for it. And Lizanne was traveling to Albion with King Bryant and Queen Mariele. A couple of weeks ago, Lizanne’s visit had seemed like a good idea, a fun distraction before he had to leave for the mission, but in this moment, Drake wished it was Mya who was coming to visit him and not Lizanne.
He hopped off of the table and turned to her. “I have to go.” Disappointment passed through her blue eyes, and Drake couldn’t help but smile. “Miss me already?”
“Hardly. I was surprised, that’s all.” She hopped off the table and began gathering the salve and bloody bandages. “I thought you were here to see Rommel and Joett. Don’t you want to wait until they get back?”
