The office door swung open.
Wickett’s hand came up to cover my mouth, not violently, but firmly enough I couldn’t have made a sound even if I’d wanted to. His palm was warm against my lips, his fingers rough where they curved along my jaw.
We were too close. Impossibly close. Every breath he took pressed his chest harder against my back. Every slight shift of his weight made me hyperaware of just how much of him was touching so much of me.
The footsteps moved deeper into the office.
Wickett’s thumb brushed along my cheekbone, deliberate or accident, I couldn’t tell. His other arm tightened around my waist, and I felt him lean down, his mouth near my ear.
“No magic,” he breathed. So quiet I barely heard it. “I’ve got you.”
The words ghosted across my skin, raising goosebumps that had nothing to do with fear. Despite his clear command, my magic stirred. For the first time in a long time, I let a trickle of panic race down the bond to Silas.
In the darkness, pressed this close to Wickett, I couldn’t separate the hammering of his heart from mine. Couldn’t think past the warmth of his hand still covering my mouth, thestrength of his arm holding me steady, the way his breath had changed, shorter, shallower, like he was as affected by our proximity as I was.
A chair scraped across the floor.
The person, whoever they were, had settled in. Was staying.
We were trapped. Completely, utterly trapped.
And all I could focus on was the way Wickett’s fingers trembled slightly against my jaw, the way his chest rose and fell against my back with increasing urgency, the way this felt less like hiding and more like something I didn’t have words for.
Something dangerous.
Something that had nothing to do with getting caught.
Chapter 26
Syneca
When a nymph asks to borrow your hairbrush, she asks permission to dream as you. Only say yes if you would trust her with your sleeping mind.
The chair creaked as its occupant shifted their weight, settling in like they had all the time in the world.
We were trapped.
No way out.
And no way of knowing how long they planned to stay.
My mind spun through the possibilities even as Wickett held me frozen against him. Who would be in the Magistrate’s office at this hour? A guard checking the premises? One of Tiberius’s advisors catching up on work?
Or—
Vitoria.
The thought hit like lightning, hope surging through my chest with painful intensity. What if she’d come for her daggers? What if she was sitting out there right now, bold and reckless as always, retrieving her weapons from under the Magistrate’s nose?
It had to be her. It made perfect sense. She’d risk anything for those blades.
My heart raced against the cage of Wickett’s arms. If it were Vitoria, I could talk to her. Finally, after days of wondering what had happened, I could just see her. Warn her. Help her escape.
But Wickett was here. Holding me still with that iron control.
Could I knock him out? Fast enough that he’d have no idea what hit him? Did I evenwantto knock him out? My magic stirred in response to the thought.
Okay, so maybe I did a little.
