Luna lost her footing as the carriage lurched and Crawford seized the opportunity. He grabbed her legs forcefully, pushing them together and shoved her inside.
With a hard thud, Luna landed on the carriage floor, her face colliding with the boards, bruising her cheek.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Damien called out. “I need to have a word with Nina before we send her off . . . for Luna’s sake.”
How kind of him,Luna internally grumbled.
With her arms still tied behind her back, she wiggled her body until she managed to get herself into an upright sitting position. No thanks to Crawford, who keenly watched her as she struggled and, like the bastard he was, kept his hands to himself the entire time.
Once she was sitting on the bench, he slammed the carriage door closed and, with a grunt, told Damien, “Quickly then. I don’t have all day.”
“Luna? Who’s that?” Arleen asked, her voice surprisingly perky, as if she wasn’t watching someone being exchanged for her.
She screamed into the gag,Me! I’m Luna!If only she could get this damn thing out of her mouth, then she could tell him that.
Through the window, she saw Damien sigh. A soft smile curved his lips as he said, “The starlight to my shadows.”
“You met someone capable—”
“The perfect match for me.”
“I see,” Arleen replied, her voice holding a note of sombre. There was a quiet pause, the kind that seemed to stretch, before she giggled. The sound was too light, too practiced—unusual enough that it almost hurt to hear. It didn’t match the tenseness of the moment at all. “The weight of the skies looks good upon your shoulders, brother.”
“I don’t know if she . . . I haven’t asked her . . .”
“Then we will talk more, yes? After I rest.”
Nodding, Damien turned towards the carriage as Marion and Arleen slipped in the skull building.
He called out to her, his voice, though attempting to be soothing, sounded sharp and impatient. “Nina, it’s going to be okay.”
Luna shook her head. He had no idea how wrong he was. She wasn’t Nina—and when the Darkened One discovered she couldn’t break his curse, nothing would be okay.
He hadn’t earned his name for nothing.
And failure wouldn’t just be punished, she knew it would be her end.
“That’s your decision to make, I guess,” Damien said, taking her body language as refusal.
He let out a large exhale and then asked, “Would it make you feel better if I promised to check on you? Luna will want to know how you are doing, anyway.”
There would be nothing to check on. She knew that deep in her heart too.
Realizing now would be the only time she had to say goodbye, she turned her head, arching her back so that she could look at Damien. Really look at him—at his beautiful green eyes that always took her breath away.
He smiled down at her, his eyes softening, and for a moment, Luna thought she saw recognition in them.
He shook his head as if he was clearing his vision. His brows knitted together, and for the first time today, he showed concern. “Where’s Luna?”
Behind him, Gregory scoffed as if Damien was asking the world’s stupidest question “Inside, I saw her before we came out here.”
“Go check on her—No. Wait. I’ll go check on her.” He took several steps away from the carriage before he called over his shoulder to Crawford, “Don’t move a damn muscle until I get back.”
Hope fluttered in Luna’s chest.He knew.Maybe not entirely. But he suspected something was off . . . and that was enough.
Crawford said nothing as Damien ran back into the skull building.
Once Damien was out of sight, he rolled his neck backwards, and with a grumble, he told Gregory, “I don’t have time to wait for someone else to say their goodbyes.”
