We think about this, comfortable with the silence.
“I’m scared.” It’s true, but I certainly did not mean to say it out loud. What am I doing with Aurick? He said he was my friend, and that was all he wanted—if that’s true, why would Masten saywife? The tension between us is starting to bury me under a constant coat of stress.
“What do you have to fear? You are long and lean and feline. You could summon anyone into your bedroom with a blink of an eye,” Niles assures me with a wink.
But that’s just it. I don’t have a bedroom to sleep in without Aurick.
~
Dessin is lying down, armsbehind his head, shackles and all. He looks down from his gaze at the ceiling to peer at me. A warm sensation drapes over my body.
“Hi,” I greet, setting my clipboard down beside his chair.
“New necklace?” he observes.
I look down at the silver chain around my neck with a single diamond hanging at the center of my chest. Aurick laid it out for me this morning with a new pink glass bottle of perfume resting next to it. I adjust my stare back up to him.
“An apology diamond,” he states. “How original…” He sits up, trying to maneuver the shackles open.
That’s exactly what it is. An apology for how Masten treated me.
I sit next to him to help speed up the process. “I see you made it out of the storm alive.”
He glues his eyes to my hands as I try to help. “Did you tell Aurick where you really were?”
I give him a sidelong glance. “I told him where I was.Partially.” I give up and let him undo the shackles, realizing I have no idea how he does it without a key. “Thank you,” I say as I reach my chair. “For reminding me to see my father.”
He nods his head and tilts his chin upward. “What did you need to ask me?”
“What?”
He leans forward. “I know there is something you want my opinion about, so let’s hear it.”
“Are you going to tell me how you know I need to ask something?”
He rolls his wrists. Lifts his chin. “You keep clenching your jaw shut and pursing your lips, which means you’re holding back from saying something. You also lean forward slightly when you’re getting ready to ask a question. There,satisfied?”
My eyes widen. A smile uncontrollably appears on my face. “Yes, quite satisfied.” I bite my bottom lip. There is no casually bringing anything up with him. I’m still getting the hang of it.
“Are men…” I avert my eyes to the ceiling, crack my neck. “Are men allowed toharmwomen—here?”
“Come again?” He narrows his eyes into small slits. “Why would you ask that?”
“Last night, after I got home, I went to examine my findings from the tower in Aurick’s attic. And—somethingoddhappened.”
He blinks twice, leans his elbows on top of his knees, and clasps his hands together. A sharp look of impatience bolting across his eyes.
“I met his close friend in the hallway when I was done, and they thought I was snooping through Aurick’s personal items in storage. They were upset… And his friend…”
“Skylenna, my patience is wearing thin,” he seethes.
“He said that I was lucky I wasn’t struck in the face or getting thepaddlefor what I did. And that because I’m a woman living with him—I could be his wife one day—so I should be disciplined daily.”
Dessin is on his feet, looming over me like a heart attack.
“And then he grabbed me by my hair to scare me,” I finish, realizing there may be more occasions where I run into Masten.
“He put his hands on you?!” he growls, hands gripping the arms of my chair.
