He could. He nearly did… but then he didn’t. He watched her retreating form, remembering all the reasons they couldn’t be together. She’d upended his world—she always did—but ultimately, nothing had really changed. She still lived here. He was still knight commander. And they still had an assassin to find, a war to prevent, and the very high chance they’d been seen outside the murdered woman’s bedroom.
He swallowed his words and followed her silently down the stairs, while his beast spun in his belly and howled.
Chapter
Eleven
Izzy joggeddown the stairs far faster than she’d gone up them. She had to get back to the castle. She couldn’t wait here, not knowing. Holding her breath every time someone walked past in case it was the castle guards coming to arrest her. She had to?—
You’re running away from Luka.
Absolutely true. She’d come so close to admitting that she never got over him. To explaining that Jak was a kind, decent man, but he still hadn’t felt right—in her arms or in her life—because no matter how much she respected and liked him, he wasn’t Luka.
Luka must have suspected what she was thinking because he’d got that look on his face. The one that said he was either going to devour her whole or say something that shot a blade straight through the heart. And she’d been down this road before; he never devoured her. He always broke her heart.
She didn’t want to hear it ever again. But especially not tonight with the past so close to the surface. She didn’t want to argue with him or be hurt by him. She wanted to get over him. She wanted their friendship back. So she fled instead. Not her finest moment, perhaps, but better than the alternative.
She set a punishing pace, with Luka following at her shoulder. Neither of them spoke as they strode through the city. They were almost at the outer ring of castle gardens when a shadow detached itself from the darkness beside one of the opulent stores that populated the upper side of the market.
They both stiffened, Luka growling as he stepped protectively in front of her, but they relaxed as they recognized their friend.
Aiden called a soft greeting as he swung a satchel off his shoulder and passed it across. Luka opened the satchel and pulled out a bundle of their clothes. “I grabbed those from the garden. I thought you might need them,” Aiden explained, his blue eyes twinkling in the dim light. “I’m glad to see you both. It’s cold waiting out here, and I’d started to wonder if you’d decided to… stay out.”
Izzy snorted at how unlikelythatidea was. Luka growled and Aiden chuckled, but she took her cloak and thanked him as she gladly swung it over her shoulders. It was late, and a sharp wind cut through the city. If she’d thought about it, she would’ve worn her spare, but she was in such a hurry to escape, it didn’t occur to her until they were halfway back to the castle.
Luka disappeared deeper into the darkness and rejoined them a few moments later, fully dressed, with his armor back on.Allhis armor. No emotion showed on his face. There was no softness in his features or glint in his eyes. It was as if, by returning to his commander’s uniform, he’d returned himself to command.
Damn. He’s gone,her beast rumbled.
Izzy had to agree. The moments of vulnerability he’d shown when they talked about Rayan were lost under his stony expression.
Luka gave a brief nod, as if something had been decided, and then met her eyes. “Would you go home now, Izabel? Please. Ididn’t want to leave you there alone, but Aiden can see you back and stay to guard the shop.”
Stay to guard the shop! Not stay with her. And not Luka, of course.
At least he asked this time,her beast huffed.Even if he is still an idiot.
She lifted her chin, ready to argue, but Luka stepped closer, frowning as if he’d heard her beast. “It would be safer for you to go home.”
Her beast smirked, still irritated, but slightly appeased.Safer for whom?
Izzy frowned back. She’d run from their conversation, that was true. Maybe she’d even run from Luka. But she wasn’t going back to hide in her bed. While there was danger that she could help to resolve, she would play her part. “I think I’ll come in, actually.”
Luka put a hand out as if to stop her, but then pulled it back to his side, fingers flexing, before he could accidentally touch her. “What will you say? How will you explain wanting to go into the castle at this time of night? It was bad enough the first time!”
She blinked. Why did she have to explain anything? “Aren’t we going in together?”
Luka stilled. Scales flickered over his throat as he tilted his head to the side, listening. What advice was his beast giving? Was it as determined to send her away as Luka was?
“I’ll say I’m visiting Shane,” she offered when he still hadn’t replied.
This late?
She shrugged. It worked before. By now, the guards would have rotated, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a second royal visitor.
I get the feeling a second visitor wouldn’t be too much of a shock anyway,her beast muttered.
But Luka stepped even closer. Close enough that she could hear the rattle of his beast in his rough reply. “No.”
