My heart began to hammer.
“Grace,” I called out.
Shit. What was shethinking?
Silence came from inside. I rapped my fist across the black wood, quickly looking down the hallway to make sure no one was around.
“Grace, open up.”
Please don’t make me open this door while you’re doing what I think you’re doing in there, I pleaded silently.
I heard something topple from within the room and then the scurry of small feet. A moment later, the door knob turned. The rooms couldn’t be locked from the inside, a safety feature Lesana had insisted on.
Grace’s red hair was mussed, her cheeks even redder. Her dress was loosened, untied at the back, baring her smooth shoulder. She peeked out of the crack, her eyes glassy and wide. The smoke ofloredrifted from within the room, but I didn’t so much as blink.
“Is someone in there with you?” I asked quietly, studying her. “Did you not taketassatonight? Did he start smokinglorewhen you weren’t—”
She bit her lip. “No, nothing like that. Millie, just—”
I pushed at the door, and she stumbled back, letting it fall open. A Kylorr male—a regular who came a few times a week, one who I knew had a mate because he’d brought her once—was naked, though he was hurriedly trying to shove his stiff cock back into his black trews.
Looking back to Grace, dread curling in my belly, I breathed, “Lesana will have your head.”
Theonlystrict rule in RaanaDyaanwas thatnointimate relations with the blood givers were allowed.
I didn’t truly understand the severity with which Lesana implemented the rule, considering mostdyaansin Erzos—at least from what I’d heard through salacious gossip—hadprivateprivate rooms for such things.
“But you’re not going to tell her, are you, Millie?” Grace asked, pressing her lips together briefly. She was one of two human blood givers employed in RaanaDyaan. She glared, an expression I’d never seen overcoming her features. “I know you won’t.”
To the Kylorr, I croaked out, “You need to leave.Now.”
Grace had the good sense to keep her mouth shut as the Kylorr male strode past me.
“Get yourself cleaned up and take sometassa,” I told Grace. “Lesana needs you in the common room tonight.”
Not waiting for a response, I followed the Kylorr male down the stairwell. He didn’t say a word to me, likely worried that I’d tell Lesana and he’d have his membership revoked.
We passed the Kylorr female in question, right where I’d left her mere moments before, but now I felt a ripple of unease when her demure smile turned to one of confusion. The last thing I wanted to do was lie to her…but I knew Grace desperately needed the credits. Like me, she had no one else.
“Did you enjoy your night, Vraad?” Lesana asked, shooting me a narrowed-eye assessing stare before turning back to her patron.
“As always,” Vraad said gruffly.
“Bring Lynara next time you come,” Lesana said, ever the charming hostess. “Tell her we just imported her favoriteslewfrom Bavia.”
“Yes,” Vraad said, his voice hitching higher when he shot me a brief look. “Yes, I will.”
Then he scurried through the main entrance, nearly hitting his outstretched wing on the steel.
“Grace will be down soon,” I told Lesana, eyeing Vraad’s back as he gusted his wings, about to take flight, eager to leave. “Do you mind if I get some fresh air? I’m still mentally preparing for Draan’s wrath,” I teased, hoping my voice didn’t sound too strained.
“Go,” Lesana said, still eyeing me in a way that told me she knew something was wrong. Shit.
All my excitement over making the tarts had evaporated. Grace was my closest friend. We’d begun working at RaanaDyaanaround the same time and had both clung to one another as we navigated these halls. But the look she’d given me tonight…I hadn’t recognized that woman.
Outside, the cool night air felt wonderfully soothing over my heated cheeks. Seeking some privacy, I walked around the front entrance, settling my back against a tall black tree, which smelled comfortingly like cinnamon. It was called a bleeding tree. Because when the weather warmed at the height of summer, it oozed a thick, black sap that was used in many types of perfumes and soaps and oils on Krynn.
But now its bark was dry and rough. I plucked at a piece of it, turning my gaze to the sky.
