I spoke against his chest, the words likely muffled, but I wasn’t willing to let go of him. He’d made me far too happy to even consider doing so. “When I saw my library absolutely ruined, it felt like I’d been stabbed in the heart, and the wound’s been oozing blood ever since. Seeing those books today, the wound finally started to scab over. Sayingthank youis so inadequate.”
“I saw the pain in your eyes.” James’s arms tightened around me a bit more. “I’d do anything to erase it.”
Nimus, this man. It’d be so easy to fall in love with him. I needed to clear the air and put us on the same footing. I didn’t want this limbo we were in any longer.
And I still wanted answers.
Stepping to the side, I pulled free of his arms to turn the lamp off.
“Oh, am I done for tonight?” James asked with amusement.
“You are. I have a bottle of wine in my room, and you’re coming with me to help me drink it.”
“Twist my arm, twist.” Grinning, he stuck out an arm.
I didn’t twist, but I linked arms with him and pulled him with me. As always, he came along without any fuss. I had the impression that it didn’t matter where I led, James would always follow.
We went straight to my rooms, which were in the lower section of the palace with a not-so-glamorous view of the kitchengardens. Quiet, at least, and that was all I wanted—a quiet place to speak to him.
The staff accommodations weren’t large or fancy. A small sitting area, an en suite bathroom to the left, and a bedroom to the right. It was meant for live-in staff or stayovers on very long workdays. I’d claimed this one after being promoted to head secretary, and it was, in a sense, my home away from home. It didn’t have a ton of personal touches, but I had some books here, as well as a few pictures my sister had drawn for me on the walls.
Sitting James on the sofa, I went to my very small sideboard and opened the wine. I poured us both a glass, which I brought back to him, sitting sideways so I could face him comfortably. I had no intention of actually drinking my own, partially to keep a clear head and partially because alcohol didn’t agree with my stomach. I didn’t want to have an upset stomach for the next several days.
All right, I’d start this conversation out easy. Even if I wanted to squeeze answers out of him, that wouldn’t be the right tactic. I wanted him comfortable enough to answer all my questions.
James pointed to the glass in my hand. “Don’t drink that if it’s going to cause you issues.”
“You know my stomach can’t tolerate alcohol well?”
“Sure, you told me.”
Bullshit. I had not. Just something else to add to the tally of things that Did Not Make Sense. I chose to ignore it for the moment.
“Ruffy and Naomi did an amazing job,” I said while putting my glass down. “I’m honestly impressed. Some of those titles have eluded me for years.”
“So they said when they reported back to me. I have to praise their ingenuity. I would never have thought to look through an estate sale.”
“Nor I. What instructions did you give them, anyway?”
“I gave them a list of authors and basically said search everywhere. Every bookstore, every secondhand market, everywhere. I put a bounty on the list to give them extra motivation, which has worked swimmingly well. They’re clearly thinking outside the box in order to get coin from me. The scamps.”
Look at his grin. He was clearly proud of them. Proud of himself, too, for that matter.
Time to segue into my real question. “How did you know so many of my favorite authors?”
“Well, you’ve shown me what books you read during your lunch breaks.”
“No, I haven’t.”
James froze, body language that of a man caught out. I wasn’t sure if he even took a breath.
I watched his expression carefully while I spoke. “I haven’t shown anyone here in the palace what I’m reading or even talked about books. No one here’s really interested in the novels I like. So how did you know?”
His eyes had flared wide in the classic Oh Shit expression, lips parted as if he were trying to form words and utterly failing. James looked away, to some other corner of the room, and sipped his wine. A tactic for buying himself a second to think, no doubt, or make up some plausible lie.
Only I wasn’t done.
“While we’re on the subject of what you know when you shouldn’t—you had the whole palace layout memorized the day you came here. Don’t claim otherwise, you navigated fine without any input from anyone else. You knew every runner, every maid, every knight before being introduced. I’ll swear to that. You knew where my house is without me telling you. And with the way you’re acting, I’d swear you knew that Wrathwas coming. It’s why you’re so guilty about not preventing the disaster.”
