Page 54 of A Tale of Treachery

Ryken and I were a whole other story, but very much the same. We’d spent nearly every waking moment in each other’s company. His intense presence hovered over my every thought, but he’d said very little after our argument a week ago. It was clear that his priorities didn’t include me, and as much as I hated to admit it, it hurt.

Every morning, he watched while the ladies-in-waiting dressed and primped me. Every afternoon, he sat in the sanctum, talking and laughing with Redmond while simultaneously ignoring my presence.

I paid attention to him, though. I couldn’t help myself. I noticed how, when he thought nobody was watching, he would let the stone façade drop, and the slightest glimpse of sadness haunted his metal eyes. Yet, he lit up whenever Redmond drew him into his experiments. It was as if Ryken had finally found an equal in Redmond, someone he could call a friend. It was too bad he didn’t feel the same way about me.

Right now, the two of them were messing around in the study. Redmond asked Ryken to examine the portal gel beneath the magnifying device because I stayed as far away from that gel as possible. Unfortunately, the material liked me and seemed to be obsessed. Any chance it had to get close to me, it would try to slither in my direction and wrap around my fingers. Even when trapped between two slides, it found a way to crawl out and gravitate in my direction. It appeared to be sentient, which made me feel uneasy.

A hiss came from across the room, seemingly emanating from the portal gel.

“That’s odd,” Redmond said, and I peeked up from my book and craned my neck to see what they were looking at. Their backs were turned to me as they hunched over the magnifying device, blocking my view.

I put my book down and pattered over in my bare feet, needing to know if something was happening with the portal fluid. I squeezed in between the two of them and brushed against Ryken’s arm. He flinched as if the touch burned. “What’s odd?”

Redmond waved me away, and I stepped back, locking eyes with Ryken as he took my place at the other side of the lens. The two men were doing just fine without me. “Touch the slide, Ryken. I could have sworn it hissed at your proximity.”

Ryken did as he asked, and a growl rolled off the slide. I sidled up next to him, so close that my body pressed against his, and swallowed at the heat between us. His nearness made me feel all sorts of strange things. Just the slightest touch warmed me. I licked my lips and scanned his profile, wondering if he could feel whatever lay between us.

He tensed as if he could read my mind, but then his nostrils flexed. He couldn’t hear my thoughts, but he certainly could smell the direction they were headed. His gaze whipped to me, and he narrowed his eyes.

I cleared my throat and stepped back to hug myself, crossing my arms over my stomach as if the action could block my scent from him.

It was best to watch from a safe distance.

Redmond chuckled as he peered through the glass, fascinated by the gel and unaware of what had transpired between us. He looked up with a broad smile and said, “I knew it. I knew it was sentient.” He cackled. “It likes Dahlia, that’s for sure. But boy, it sure seems to despise you, Ryken.”

Redmond plucked the slide from beneath the device, twisted the glass top off it, and looked at Ryken. “Touch it.”

Ryken plopped his finger into the small sample without hesitation, and the liquid flooded off the small piece of glass, separating around his fingerprint in a silent scream. It slithered along the floor and headed in my direction as if fleeing to safety.

“Nope,” I said, and retreated a step, but it increased speed. There was only so far to back away in the crowded room, and when my back hit the table behind me, it slithered onto my foot and released a loud purr. My voice shook as I said, “Redmond. Get. It. Off. Me.”

Redmond chuckled and circled around with a glass tube in hand. He bent down and scooped the material off my toes and into the tube, twisting the cap over it so it couldn’t escape. I looked up at Ryken and met his evil little smirk. He hadn’t acknowledged me in days, and even though he was doing it just to have a laugh at my expense, having his notice for even a moment was nice.

Redmond clapped his hands to get our attention. “All right, then. It loves Dahlia and hates you. I will need a drop of blood from both of you, and then I want you to get out.”

“What?” I said. “Why do we have to leave?”

It was still early in the evening, and I wasn’t prepared to head back. I would have to lock myself away in my room in order to avoid Aiden, and that would leave me alone with a cranky assassin who seemed to hate my guts.

Redmond rolled his eyes. “Because I’m not blind, regardless of what the two of you think, and I don’t want any distractions while I experiment.”

Ryken stared down at the ground and I looked at him, not noticing Redmond’s rapid movements. A sharp pain pierced my pointer finger. “Ouch!” I exclaimed, drawing my hand back to my body.

Redmond had poked my finger with a needle and was now trying to extract my blood. He gripped my hand and pressed a small vial against the wound, biting his lip as a small drop of blood dribbled into it. “Don’t act surprised. I told you I needed blood.”

“Well, a little warning would be nice next time,” I snapped.

He clucked his tongue and moved on to Ryken, switching needles. He gripped the assassin’s hand and deadpanned, “Do you need a little warning, too?”

“No,” he gloated as Redmond pricked his finger and repeated the process.

“You’re a much better patient than my ward,” Redmond said as he moved through the room and gathered supplies for his next experiment, leaving us wholly forgotten on either side of the room.

Ryken looked at me and preened, raising his brows as if to say,See? Even your guardian likes me better.

I gritted my teeth. He sure acted like Mr. Wonderful to Redmond, while treating me with nothing but resentment.

Redmond stopped before the magnifying device and scrunched his brows at the two of us. “What are you still doing here? Out now. You two take your drama elsewhere.”

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