What had he lost?
For all his moodiness, the man wasn’t just danger and command. He was loyalty. He was protection. He was silent storms and deep oceans and things that made her insides ache without reason. And maybe—perhaps maybe—if she could understand the boy he’d once been, she might make sense of the man who had somehow taken root beneath her skin.
Something familiar in him stirred something within her.
When had he slipped past her defenses? She couldn’t even name the moment. Perhaps it hadn’t been a moment at all, but rather a steady erosion. Every glance, every broody word, every step wearing her down until she no longer remembered where her walls had stood!
She also understood his bone-deep determination to stay one step ahead of danger. It was the same with her and Duvessa. And the fact that he was a criminal? Stars, it scarcely seemed to matter. What did it say about her that she felt more at ease here in a tavern full of rogues than anywhere else? In a den of men the world would name villains.
Did that make her a villain by association?
Hah. If so, she would rather claim that title than the one she’d been born with.
Sorry, Papa. Mama.
This was not the fate they would have imagined for her—their daughter breaking bread with brigands. And yet, somehow, she didn’t think they would fault her for her choices either. She might just have found the place she truly belonged.
Duvessa and her stepsisters would faint dead away if they saw her now. The thought of it brought a smile to her face.
She glanced at his brothers. “What about his stare? Has he always glared like that?”
Reaper flashed his teeth. “What do you think? Of course.”
She nodded. “I thought so.”
Reaper leaned forward. “What mischief brews in that head of yours,petite souris?”
Calliope glanced at the man. “What about his protectiveness? Has he always been this overprotective?”
Reaper shrugged. “I think you know the answer to that,petite souris.”
Dagger chuckled. “Or you can ask him.”
Calliope groaned. “Oh, come on! You lot are impossible.”
Reaper grinned, utterly unapologetic. “It’s a rule. No gossipingabout the each other, accept with each other. Certainly not to pretty little mouses he stares at like he’s contemplating feasting.”
Lord.More pictures of kissing flashed in her head. But! He stared at her like that? Her cheeks flushed before she could stop them. “He doesn’t,” she denied. “He doesn’t look at me like that.”
Two pairs of eyes burrowed into her.
Calliope almost threw her hands in the air. “Fine. New strategy. I’ll ask about you instead.”
“By all means,” Reaper drawled, flicking his coin into the air at catching it again.
Calliope didn’t waste time. “Why do they call you Reaper? Is that your real name? Sounds a bit grim.”
He chuckled. “I earned the name.”
“How?” she pressed.
The man stretched, like a cat. “Once upon a time, I may or may not have inspired a rumor that I don’t leave anyone standing when I’ve got a blade in my hand.”
Stars. “Is it true?”
“Now that, I can’t answer.” He winked.
Urgh. She turned to Dagger. “What about you? Is Dagger your real name or your nickname?”
