Something darted across the window behind her, and I stiffened.
In one motion, I stood and pushed her behind me. I could have sworn I saw a dark cloak swish against the window, but it vanished as quickly as it came. Striding to the wall, I peered through the glass and into the night. A slight breeze brushed through the trees several yards out, and leaves skittered across the sandy dirt. I glanced down to find we’d left the window cracked after Clarissa crawledinside.
“I think it was just the wind,” I said, closing the window and latching it tight.
“The last thing we need is someone running back to Galen telling him they saw us together,” she said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t even be here after what happened the other night.”
“He was drunk,” I said as I made my way back to her. “Probably making things up in his head to assuage his guilt over being an idiot.”
She tilted her head and gave me a look. “We both know he’s not making anything up, Thorne.”
The memory of that night burned inside me, heating my blood with anger once again. “He shouldn’t have said those things to you. No matter what the truth is,” I said through clenched teeth.
A grin worked itself onto her lips as she took a step closer. “Usually,I’mthe one knocking others out. It was nice to have someone else do it for a change.”
Our chests brushed, and I let out a low hum, feeling it vibrate through our bodies. “You have a bit of a violent streak, don’t you?”
“I blame the fox half,” she murmured, eyes drifting to my mouth.
I pressed my thumb to her bottom lip and tugged it down, relishing her soft intake of breath. “Remind me never to get on your bad side, Empress.” I released her lip, and her tongue darted out to swipe against it. “Or else you may threaten to cut the skin frommylips.”
She scrunched her nose and shook her head with a laugh. “Fates, did I really say that to him?”
“Yes, you really did.” I dipped my head to her ear. “And you have no idea what seeing you like that did to me.”
A shiver went through her. “Perhapsyouhave a bit of a violent streak too, Lord Reaux.”
“Only when it comes to you.” I gently kissed her temple, the desire to take her and tuck ourselves away from the rest of the world so strong, it nearly took my breath away. But the image of that stray cloak against the window kept tugging at me, and theidea of someone watching us—watchingher—made my protective instincts kick in.
“You should go, Clarissa,” I said quietly. “We need to be more careful.”
She rested her forehead against my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist. I held her tighter and propped my chin on the top of her head. The Hunt began tomorrow, and as soon as that was over, we would head back to the North Territory for the wedding.
And then she would be gone.
“Clarissa—”
“No, don’t say anything,” she whispered. “Just hold me.”
There was nothing words could say that we didn’t already know. Nothing that could fix this or make it right. Nothing except the feel of her against me one last time, of her heart beating to mine as the world around us kept moving forward.
I held her in my arms as long as time would allow, and then I watched her slip back into darkness, taking a piece of me with her.
51
Clarissa
Iwas dragged from sleep well before dawn by two islanders and Devora, who gave me a grimace and a quick “I’m sorry,” as the three of them ushered me out of the Base and to a strand of bamboo buildings about a mile east.
Sleep still clogged my eyes, my brain in that foggy, in-between stage where everything felt heavier. Devora shoved tea and a hot biscuit in my hand while the other two women took my measurements and disappeared into the back room of some sort of supply shop and armory all in one.
“To get you ready for the Hunt,” one of them said.
I probably should’ve been more concerned about being dropped in the middle of a jungle for two days, but after everything I’d seen in my life, it didn’t faze me. Nothing to really worry about.
But as the older of the two women passed me a pair of fighting leathers and placed numerous weapons into a large rucksack, I wondered what kind of a mess I was about to walk into.
“Do they expect me to fight an army of monkeys?” I muttered to Devora as she helped me pull on the leathers. There was a thick padding along the chest and shoulders, but the material was a stretchy, supple black fabric that melted into my skin.
