Not like any bra and panties I’d ever worn.
Another rap sounded at the door.
“We still have ten minutes!” Remy’s annoyance at the interruption was clear in his clipped syllables.
“I brought refreshments, Your Highness.”
Remy’s expression cleared. “Are you okay here?”
“It’s a closet, Remy.”
“Someone tried to kill you.”
Which reminded me. I summoned the rose-hilt dagger.
Remy stared at the weapon that had appeared in my hand. “That’s how you survived the pit. You teleported food and water.”
“And medicine from my grandmother.” I glanced around the enormous closet. “Are there sheaths?”
He grinned as he pointed to a wall of drawers. “Second down from the right.”
He left me, and I slipped into the ridiculous underwear, strapped the rose-hilt dagger to my thigh, and pulled on the dress, but the buttons at my back were beyond me.
I emerged to find Remy and Zane hovering over a tray of fruits, meats, cheeses, and crackers.
“May I fix you a plate?” asked Zane.
“No, thank you.”
“Perhaps a glass of wine?”
“Please. Would one of you do my buttons?” I twisted, revealing the dress’s gaping back. Zane said nothing about my scars. I hoped he realized how grateful I was for his silence. I was tired of talking about them; the past was the past. I was more worried about the future.
“Of course. But first, a toast.” Zane poured three glasses, handing one to me and the second to Remy. “To what comes next.”
Pain and suffering and death.
I wouldn’t ruin this moment by worrying about what the future held. I lifted the glass to my lips and breathed in the wine’s bouquet. “Stop!” I knocked the glass out of Remy’s hand. It shattered on the floor, wine spreading like blood across the stone.
“Haven?” Remy stared at the broken glass, then at me. “What?—”
“The wine is poisoned.” My hands shook, and I claspedthem together to stop them. Another attempt. Whoever wanted me dead was relentless. “And this poison is nasty.”
Zane moved to the door in an instant, yanking it open. The hallway was empty.
Remy’s face had gone dangerously still. “Carter brought the tray. I’d trust him with my life.”
“Did Carter prepare it?” My voice came out sharper than I had intended.
Remy and Zane exchanged a look. The kind of look that said they were realizing how badly they’d underestimated the threat.
“Fuck,” Remy muttered.
“Someone in this castle wants me dead. Have I replaced someone?”
They both stared at me.
“Is there a woman willing to kill to keep your attention?”
