Chapter Thirty One
Daphne
The moon inches across the sky, shifting the shadows gathered around the chamber. I stare at the ceiling, wide awake, sandwiched between the twins. I was too wound up trying to figure out what the Blazes Nash is hiding to enjoy any naked time with my knights. But they didn’t press me, just snuggled up against me to rest and keep me safe.
The door slides open, and Theo pokes his head through, beckoning me to join him. I slip out of the bed, careful not to wake the others, and tiptoe over to him. He takes my hand, pulling me out into the corridor and closing the door behind us with a soft click. I glare at Gwyneth’s closed door and considerusing my accidental stabbing habit to rid the realm of Charming and his bloodline. Ugh. Priorities.
“Where are we going?” I whisper. Since we’re being sneaky, I have to use my quiet voice.
He points at the wall I was staring at before the meal. The same one I swore Nash disappeared into.
“He’s been in there for about a turn. I have it on good authority that you can walk through the wall and find him in bed asleep.”
“Whose authority?” I wonder.
“Mine,” the All Knowing drawls. “Don’t come out until you’ve patched up this divide.”
I huff. It’s not me causing the damn divide. All I can do is show him that I am his, and he is mine, no matter what. That nothing could ruin our love, apart from another woman. But I’m fairly confident that isn’t the issue. If it is, I can always refer back to my stabbing solution. I could perhaps angle it just right, so that it looks like Charming knifed her, and she in return mortally wounded him. Two problems solved. Perfect.
“Are you quite done murdering fictitious females?” Theo drawls.
“I think I scared her away with my threats of violence. Don’t come between a resurrected murderous maiden and her knights.”
“A motto the kingdom should cling to,” the All Knowing mutters.
“How do I?—”
Theo pushes me. I squeeze my eyes shut, throw my hands up in front of my face, and suck in a breath, but nothing hits me. I blink, finding myself standing inside a shady bedchamber, smaller than the one I just left. An open window lets in a warm breeze, the drapes billowing around it like waves on the sea. A four-poster bed with its blankets made up neat and tidy sitsagainst the wall, but it’s missing a knight-shaped lump beneath the sheets. There’s nowhere for him to hide, so where is he? It seems remiss of the All Knowing and Theo to put me in a room without the object of my meddling. I spin on my heel and press my hand against the wall, expecting… Well, not this. Not hard, immovable stone.
I sigh in resignation. Maybe I’m in the wrong super-secret bedchamber? I’m sure they’ll realize their mistake shortly, so I may as well make the most of it while I’m here. I move toward the window. There are windows in the Living Library, but they move with scenes from stories, and I’m convinced if I opened one, it wouldn’t lead anywhere.
I gaze at the blanket of stars twinkling from above, the only light source from the half moon that appears to be bigger and slightly red.
“Wow,” I whisper. The hair on my nape prickles, and goosebumps erupt down my arms. It seems my dark knight is here after all.
“Why are you here, Daphne?” he growls in my ear as his fingers skim my arm.
“I’m rescuing you from whatever illusion you have in your head that you’re dangerous.”
“I am dangerous,” Nash points out.
I smile at the stars. “Not to me.”
“Most of all to you.”
I shake my head. “No, Nash. Never me.”
I turn, coming face to face with the eldest knight. His shadows are free, whipping in irritation around the room. His eyes are as black as the night sky, but whereas I can see a scattering of stars above us, within his eyes are constellations and wonders too vast to comprehend.
He tucks one of my curls behind my ear. “Go back to the twins, Daphne. Stay safe and warm in your bed.”
“Our bed,” I correct.
His lips curl, but he doesn’t even entertain the conversation.
I cup his chin and hold his gaze. “Ours includes yours. You don’t belong here. You belong with me.”
“I belong to you, not with you.”
