A tiny, winged shadow flitted above. Liang aimed a pistol at the sky, then laughed. “That damned bat made it out, too. Let’s split. Meet you at the train station.”
I spurred my horse.
The wind bit at my face, the pinpricks of stars peeked through torn clouds. Her warmth, the weight of her body against mine, anchored me—and I resisted the temptation to gallop toward vengeance.
I thought freedom would be thunder. That I’d roar through the night and let the world know Emrys Caerwynne was unleashed.
But freedom came softly.
It tasted like blood and peaches.
Daphne
Escape from Duskmere Manor
Cagliostro and Vexley had been right.
Emrys was a monster.
He’d used me to escape.
He’d watched me nearly die twice. Applauded me the first time.
The mystery he presented was almost unveiled. I knew what he was. Some ancient, forgotten god who could turn armies to ash. But whatever humanity he’d once possessed, the centuries had scraped it clean. He was colder than a grave.
And yet… his hand at my waist was feather-light. As if I might break.
He didn’t pull me close, didn’t speak. But I could feel every heartbeat of space between us. His warmth behind me sank through my clothes all the way to my skin.
This man—drunk on bloodlust an hour ago—was quiet as a shadow now. I shifted in the saddle, but there was nowhere to go. No way to ignore the heat curling low in my spine.
“Are you all right?”
His breath stirred the hair at the back of my head. Goosebumps covered my skin.
I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the memory of screaming demons and men torn in half by his spells.
“I am,” I lied. “Where are we heading to?”
For a while, we rode in silence, broken only by the calls of the night birds, the steady hoofbeats, and the wind in the trees. The night was quiet. For a moment, I was tempted to believe that everything that happened at Duskmere Manor had been a fever dream.
“To Charing Cross Station,” he said. “Liang will meet us there. We’ll catch the last train to Dover and take the morning ferry to Calais.”
I twisted slightly to see his face, searching for any softness. There was none. His silver eyes remained fixed on the path ahead. I shifted again—his hand at my waist pulled me closer.
Had I clawed my way out of my brother’s suffocating grip to end up captured by another man?
Then, the information reached my tired, overstimulated brain.
“Calais in France?” I asked flatly.
He nodded.
That Calais. Across miles and miles of sea.
So, the Unbidden might be getting me sooner than I thought. Fantastic.
His mouth quirked into a humorless line. “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re coming with me, little thief. Somehow, you stole a piece of my power, and I must get it back. Until then, we’re bound. Wherever I go, you follow.”
