And I felt both.
His words hung over my head the entire way down the tower and through the palace, an uneasy sense of foreboding slithering across my skin, lingering even as I entered my chambers and slammed my door shut.
Only the sound of tapping on my window snapped me from my spiral.
33
Rose
Irushed across the room to the windowsill, brow furrowing at the shadow on the narrow ledge outside. An amaranth stem was already beneath my tongue and waiting as I slowly turned the bronze handle. A cold wind swept through the small space, the midnight air bleeding into my dark room, making my skin prickle.
A hand grasped the edge of the window pane, and I gasped.
“Sorry to frighten you,” a familiar voice said.
I let out a huff, my heart racing. “Aris. What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Making sure you’re not dead.”
Everything I’d learned in the last hour lingered fresh in my mind, Gayl’s final threat still ringing in my ears. If he caught Leo sneaking around the palace with all of his grand ideas of treason and dethroning…it wouldn’t take much to give the emperor a reason to strike.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I hissed, keeping the window cracked. Leo gazed back at me with mild irritation, his usual cloak pulled low over his forehead. My attention flicked down to where he crouched on the ledge, mere inches from falling three stories to thehard ground below. One corded arm rested casually on his knee while the other held the window open.
“How did you even get up here?” I asked.
He smirked. “Youdoremember I’m half Shifter, right?” As if summoned, his brown tail twitched beneath his cloak, coming up to swipe at the wrist I had firmly pushed against the window pane. “Let me in, Rose.”
I refused to budge, worry working its way through my system. As usual, my lips moved quicker than my brain, tossing out the first thing that came to mind. “But what will people say? The two of us alone at this hour. Howscandalous.”
“Funny. Would you rather I throw rocks at your window all night?”
“Well, now,thatsounds romanti?—”
“Alright, I tried being polite.” He flexed his arm and pushed against the pane, causing me to rear back as it banged open. But when he attempted to slide through the window, he slammed into something solid, as if an invisible barrier had appeared in the air. He let out a curse and a grunt of pain.
It was my turn to smirk. “Did I not mention my room is warded against trespassers?”
He growled something that sounded like “Horace,” and glared at me expectantly. “Are you going to let me in?”
I tapped my finger on my chin. These games with him were becoming more fun as time went on. He was so easily riled, and I welcomed the diversion after the conversation with Gayl. “What’s the magic word?”
“Rose.” His face was practically apoplectic. When I simply raised an eyebrow, he rolled his eyes and said, “Please,will you let me in?”
“That wasn’t so hard. Fine, you may enter.”
Gracefully, he pulled himself through the open window and unfolded into a standing position, towering over me. “Did he hurt you?” Leo asked, all annoyance and banter forgotten as his eyes raked over my form. It sent a wave of heat under my skin.
“No,” I said quickly. At his suspicious look, I added, “So sweet of you to care, though. Really, I’m touched. But you can leave now.”
He scrubbed a frustrated hand over his chin. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”
The smile wiped from my face. “I’m sorry, Aris, I guess volunteering for a tournament that could kill me while agreeing to spy on the emperor for yourlittle rebel groupwasn’t serious enough for you.”
Regret leaked onto his features. “That wasn’t what I—Rose, I’m sorry. I was…worried.” His jaw ticked at the admission. “I watched the west tower from the forest, waiting any moment for your body to go flying off the edge.”
I swallowed and turned away. I could see how genuine he was, and the idea that he’d cared enough to watch for me made something squirm in my chest. No matter what cheeky or defensive words I continued to throw at him, he still waited.
Grabbing my robe off the bed and striding to the bathing chamber, I quietly said, “I’m fine. I promise.”
