Page 74 of The King's Weapon

The one thing they could agree on was that there must have been a traitor among the Pontians. And if there was one, there were bound to be more.

Now, it was past midnight. Dani and Fynn had already gone to bed. Kallie was beginning to think sleep (or staring at the back of her eyelids as she went over every detail of the night until the sun rose) sounded like a good idea.

She pushed herself off the couch, stretched her arms above her head. The room spun. Kallie didn't know if the dizziness was from everything she had learned tonight or if it was from the copious amounts of whiskey she had drunk to take it all in.

When the room stopped spinning, she took a step. And her foot came down, Graeson was there to stabilize her.

She narrowed her eyes at the floor. Definitely,the whiskey's doing. Kallie shrugged his hand off her shoulder and took another step. Then another. She could do this. She was fine. She had drunk more than she had tonight many times before. But then again, she hadn't eaten much the past two days.

As she continued walking, her steps echoed in the study. No, it wasn't an echo, but the footsteps of another. She swung around without thinking, and her balance betrayed her yet again as she rocked into a stone chest. Terin snickered in his chair, hand covering his mouth.

"And what's so—"hiccup, "funny?" Kallie asked.

Unrestrained laughter erupted, but in between his fits of laughter, Terin managed to utter, “Nothing."

Kallie glared at him and the room spun around her again, as if Esmeray was transporting her into another memory. But Esmeray was no longer here.

She put her hands out to brace herself and felt the soft texture of cotton beneath her hand. She followed her hands and found them pressed against Graeson's chest. She looked up at him and found him staring down at her.

Hiccup.

One thick brow turned upward, the corner of his lip tilting with it.

Kallie cleared her throat. Having regained her balance, she took a slow step away from him.

Terin's laughter died down, and with a softness in his eyes, he asked, "Do you think you'll need help sleeping tonight?"

He held no judgment within his voice, only a gentleness filled with concern. But with the amount of alcohol she had drunk, Kallie would fall asleep without any problems. "No—"hiccup, "I'll be fine," she said.

"All right, then I'm going to head up to bed." He nodded to Graeson. "Can you help my sister get to her room?"

Kallie scoffed, "I donot—"hiccup, "need help."

Terin looked her up and down, chuckling.

"I think I can manage," Graeson said, bemused.

Terin nodded and pushed himself out of the chair, then strolled out of the study.

Graeson turned to her and she looked away. "All right, little mouse, let's get you to your room." He held out his arm.

Kallie rolled her eyes. But who was she kidding? If she had to walk up those longsteps alone, she wasn't sure she would make it. She gripped his arm and bent down.

"What are you—are you about to—" Graeson took a step backward.

Kallie squatted down, her dress flowing out around her, and slipped off her heels with her free hand. Swiping them off the ground, she used Graeson's arm to help pull herself up.

With a feline smile, she then shoved her heels into his gut, forcing out a grunt. "Let's go then, kitty cat."

Laughing, she pulled Graeson forward and out of the study. She turned to the right, but Graeson tugged her arm, pulling her to a stop.

"This isn't the way to your room," he said.

She tugged back. "I know," Kallie growled, then kept walking down the hallway lined with stained glass windows.

"Then where are we—"

"Food,” Kallie said before he could finish his question. She had smelled the aroma of baked bread coming from this direction when she had walked to the study. Earlier, they had passed a kitchen when they first entered the palace, so she believed she had a decent idea of where the kitchen was located.

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