From time to time, Eddy disappeared for a few days to visit Amos. Clover took in his bare body and clucked her tongue. “Amelia is going to be upset you’re not wearing your sweater.”
The fox licked her face and wiggled until she set him down. Eddy sat in the snow and looked behind him with a yip. Clover followed his gaze but saw nothing, and a prickle of awareness made every muscle in her body tighten.
Moving quietly, she retrieved her dagger from one of the targets and took a defensive stance.
“Hello, little mouse,” a familiar voice teased, moments before Rainer appeared out of thin air. “Have you missed me?”
Clover’s breath hitched. “Rainer?” She hadn’t seen him since she was sixteen. It had hurt her feelings that he hadn’t cometo visit when he turned twenty-five and the magic released him from the Desert Kingdom, but then again, she didn’t go home either.
She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle and squeezing tight. Strong arms engulfed her, pulling her close with a rumbling laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Stepping back, she took him in. He’d filled out over the last four years, and she wondered how much bigger Amos was now. “Why are you here?”
He sighed dramatically and stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat. “To try to convince you to come home for a visit.”
The words were laced with too much amusement, and Clover narrowed her eyes. “Did Amos send you here?”
“Yes,” Rainer replied honestly. “I have a carriage, and you don’t need to pack anything.”
Clover’s skin prickled with a mixture of excitement and annoyance. She couldn’t disappear in the middle of the night without a word. “I can’t just leave with no explanation. I have a life here.”
Rainer pulled two envelopes from his pocket and tapped one. “This is a letter for Amelia, telling her you’re running an errand out of town for the bakery.” He tapped the other envelope. “This is from Amos to your brother, letting him know you’ll be in Dragon Village for a while.”
Her fists clenched at her sides. Did they think she could up and leave with no more notice than a letter, as if her life here was pathetic?Jerks. “He doesn’t get to decide I’m leaving because he wants me to.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, Amelia knows my handwriting.”
Rainer winced. “This might be the last person you want me to bring up, but Jennifer is a master at forgery. All she needs is a sample of your writing to do so.”
That meant Amos had shown Jennifer one of Clover’s private letters. She wanted to kill them both.
Rainer watched her face transform from disbelief to fuming anger. “You won’t be coming with me,” he guessed.
“No, I will not be coming with you,” she snapped. “You can tell Amos—” Her words died when Rainer pressed a white cloth over her mouth. His lips were moving, but Clover couldn’t hear him as the world faded away.
The first thing Clover noticed was the warmth around her.That can’t be right.Never had she stood outside in the mountain region and been warm.
The second thing she noticed was that she wasn’t standing at all, nor could she move her arms or legs.
Her eyes blinked open, and the room came into focus bit by bit. Not a room—a cave. What in the fuck? She tried to move her arms again, but she wastied to a fucking chair.
The last thing she remembered…Rainer.
“Hello, stranger,” a deep voice drawled. It was familiar somehow, but she couldn’t place it.
Twisting her head to survey the room, she spotted the most beautiful man she’d ever seen sauntering toward her with a wolfish grin on his perfect face.
“You had me kidnapped?” she asked, incredulous. “Are you insane?”
Amos grabbed a wooden chair from a nearby table, dragged it in front of her, and lowered his long body into the seat. “I am.”
Clover’s arms were tied to the armrests of her chair, and her ankles were tied to the front legs. She yanked against her restraints, vowing to kill him when she freed herself. “Why in thehell would you kidnap me?” The rope bit into the wool sleeves of her dress, and she clenched her teeth. “Untie me, Amos, or I swear to the gods I will kill you.”
Amos leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He sat close enough that his toes bumped against hers, and she tried to kick him, forgetting that her ankles were tied.
“Rainer kidnapped you, not me,” Amos objected. He reached out and pushed a piece of Clover’s hair out of her face.
She snapped at his hand with her teeth. “Don’t touch me.”
Amos threw his head back and laughed, looking back at her with such tenderness, Clover wondered if he’d hit his head. A burst of his affection shot down the bond, and she gasped.
