A small glow came from the corner of the room and she let her eyes focus on the shape of the light. It moved suddenly, approaching her with unnatural quickness.
“You’re awake.” Rylo’s voice came from the glow and his body seemed to become brighter, casting an eerie light around the room.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Morgan asked.
Rylo let out a dry chuckle. “You’re in my room. You were so asleep that I carried you here. I was also fatigued and didn’t want to fly you down several stories to your own bed.”
Morgan flinched and made a face at him. “You’ve been watching me sleep from the other side of the room? That’s just creepy. If you were so tired, wouldn’t you want your own bed?”
Rylo just smiled in the darkness, his golden eyes glowing before he turned his back on Morgan and walked to the balcony, looking out on the night sky.
Morgan shivered as she crawled out of bed. She was still wearing the same tunic and pants that she’d worn on the flight, and she quickly became aware of how dirty and stinky she was from days of travel.
“I’m going to go,” Morgan said as she began walking to the door.
Rylo turned, his golden wings slightly spread. They were so beautiful. Not just golden, but interspersed with pale yellows and deep golds, almost brown. She resisted the urge to walk over to his side and touch them.
“You’re going to regret what you did,” he said, stepping nearer to her. “You just made an enemy of your sister’s powerful soulmate.”
Morgan sighed. “Avery has always chosen to follow her heart and dive head first into things. I’m not like that. I’ve thought about it for days, and I couldn’t live in a whole nation of folk whowanted me dead. It wasn’t like I didn’t try to explain that to her—multiple times!”
Morgan turned back to the door, then she heard a rustling behind her and Rylo put his hand on her shoulder. “Why choose me over Latiah? Do you not fear that I’ll kill you? After all, I am the one who has killed many humans.”
Morgan felt the smile spread across her face as she looked up at this predatory man. She took his hands in hers, studying the black lines that now jutted out against his golden skin. They were surprisingly soft, the hands of a man used to being served. “You don’t scare me. Look what you did to yourself for me.”
She dropped his hands and felt her shadows dance around them. Rylo’s golden eyes glowed as he stared at her.
“I wasn’t going to let a necessary asset be wasted. Had you explained your plan, I could have found another way. But that isn’t what you did, is it? Now I will bear a permanent reminder of your foolishness.”
Morgan flicked her gaze up at the ceiling. She needed to get out of here and get some rest. “Whatever you want to call it. I knowyouaren’t going to kill me, so I’m staying in Nephel.”
She didn’t let him get another word in as she walked out the door and headed to her room.
Chapter 19
Avery
Avery woke up feeling panicked as she looked down at the tightly woven strips of cloth covering her naked body. She looked like a mummy, wrapped and ready to be placed in a sarcophagus. Maybe they’d thought she had died, and were preparing her for burial?
She looked at the heavy arm across her wrapped body and saw Savine asleep beside her. As she stirred, he opened his eyes and looked at her with such joy she thought her heart might crack right out of these wrappings.
“Hi,” she said softly. “Did you think I needed to be mummified?”
Savine cracked a half smile. “You must be feeling better if you’re making what I can only imagine is a human joke.”
“Got me there,” she replied, lifting her wrapped arms. “But what’s the deal with the wrap job?”
“Do you recall any of last night?”
Avery thought back. It all felt like a haze as she recalled Savine putting her in the bath and Hyacinth imbuing her essence into the surrounding water. “Kind of, but the details are foggy. I knew I had a fever, suspected I had broken ribs that were causing a lung infection. Maybe pneumonia? Plus the rest of me felt bruised all over.”
Avery began tugging at the itchy wrapping around her arm. Under the layer of cloth was a thick coating of plant matter. It resembled crushed and rotting leaves. “What is this supposed to be?” Avery asked.
“It’s Hyacinth’s work. Before we unwrap you I’ve been instructed to draw a bath and call for Hyacinth.”
“I thought Hyacinth was in Bayberry. How’d she even get here?” Avery asked as Savine made his way to the door to speak to the guard in the hallway. Avery guiltily thought about Weston. He should be the one in the hallway now. The one guarding his king. Instead, Avery had taken his life only for Rylo to prove a point.
Savine must have noticed the tension on her face as he made his way back to the bed. As he sat down, he explained all that had happened after she’d become delirious with fever.
