The sudden urge to shove her against the wall and lick every drop of water from her skin latches onto my bones and muscles, winding its way into my heart, but I clench my teeth and resist, knowing even that shelf won’t hold the intruder back.
Is it Stein? Is it someone from the Emporium? Stein’s guards? Writhe? Von, Isadora, Cosmo?If it’s one of her friends, they could talk her into leaving me.Theyare the most dangerous, when it comes to her loyalty.
My heart races faster and I wish I’d never even thought of it. It just occurred to me now that someone worse than Stein could be out there.
Then what?
Will I let her go?
I turn away from her and head to the window, pushing aside the thick curtains. Although it’s only the second floor, we are rather high up and there is no slanted roof to walk down. It’s a straight drop with trees and shrubs below, forest beyond.
The window itself is old, the mechanism to lift the iron stiles is rusted. It might not work, but if this was a more modern hotel, I don’t imagine the windows would open at all, so at least we have luck in that.
The pounding grows more vivid, more violent, and the lock rattles in the latch of the door. When I glance over my shoulder, I see the bookshelf teetering, wobbly and nearly on its last defense.
“Sullen,” Karia whispers at my back, her voice tentative.
I turn my gaze to her, fingers flexed in fists at my side.
She glances at the door, the window, then to me. “You should run,” she says quietly. “They won’t hurt me. But you…” She bites her bottom lip, trailing off, but her shoulders are rigid, her body tense, turned toward the door.
I shake my head once. “No,” I say quietly, my voice hoarse. “Fuck no.”You are not sacrificing yourself for me, little brat.
Her throat rolls as she swallows, water gliding down her chest from the dampness of her hair. “I didn’t ask you,” she says, her complexion pale with nerves but her voice is strong.
I narrow my gaze and face her fully, then grab her wrist with my bare hand, jerking her toward me. Our bodies are inches apart, her chin lifted to hold my gaze, big cerulean eyes on mine.
“I am not letting you go,” I tell her harshly. “It’s not an option.”
Her lips part, so pretty and stubborn and more than I deserve, but before she can get a word out, a tremendouscrashricochets through the quiet of the dark room. She flinches and I hold her wrist tighter as I shoot my gaze to the door.
The bookshelf falls forward, volumes tilting and sliding and smacking to the floor the moment before the wooden structure collapses facedown. The door itself is still hindered but it’s ajar, darkness from the hallway spilling in like ink.
There’s a gap, enough space for someone to slide inside.
I pivot so my body shields Karia’s.
I hear her sharp intake of breath as I clench my fists, ready to do whatever it takes to protect her.
It’s too late for the window now.
I’ll have to fight.
I take a deep inhale.
Silence echoes in the room.
An exhale.
And someone slips inside, freeing themselves from the shadows.
Chapter 2
Karia
I’ve never seen this man before.
I have to shift my body to peer around Sullen, and the light is marginal thanks to the power outage, but I know I do not recognize him.
