“Regardless of what that monster did,” Duke Hyton reached into his doublet and pulled out a handkerchief, “we adapt. Wealways do.”
He quickly wiped his hands clean and then tossed Derrick the handkerchief. “Clean yourself up and get out. Since I am in no position to execute another Baron, I have to decide what to do with our treasonous Frederick and I have no time to deal withyour tantrum.”
My heart raced, but I grounded myself in Mother’s assurance that Duke Hyton would not hurt Father. He could not harm another Baron, not while he was standing on parchment-thin ice with the rest ofthe Dukedom.
Derrick gripped the white handkerchief, staining it with the trickling blood from his split knuckles. “Whatabouther?”
Duke Hyton’s cheeks flushed with anger. “What about her? Keep annoying me and I will make Frederick’s punishment that I bend his daughter over in the middle of the ballroom once hermarriage annuls.”
My knees buckled but I caught myself. I let go of the curtain and took shelter in the darkness of my hiding place. I would lawfully be Duke Hyton’s property the moment my marriage annulled. He would not hurt Father, but he couldhurt me.
“You wouldnot dare—”
“Oh, I would.” Duke Hyton’s voice was the growl of a lion, each word the slash of a claw across my stomach. “Let this be a lesson to you, boy. There isnothingI will not do to show this Dukedom who is in charge. And unless you want another example of what I am capable of, get out ofmy face.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and silently begged Derrick tostand down.
Derrick choked on his next words. Footsteps grew quieter. MyDerrick retreated.
The Duke and Iwere alone.
My hands pressed tightly over my trembling lips, but I did not dare move. Duke Hyton sighed and took three more long, agonizing gulps of his spirits. My breath seized in my chest when his lips pulled off the bottle. Allwas still.
I waited for him to rush over and fling back the curtain, but his footsteps grew quieter and quieter as he left theportrait room.
I counted to thirty before daring to emerge from behind the curtain. I walked to the center of the room, avoiding the spots of blood and the spilled goblet of wine on the floor, and settled on a couch before the fireplace. I grabbed a small pillow and crushed it against my chest as my heart pounded inmy ears.
I focused on the one beacon of light to keep the suffocating numbness at bay—Derrick was truly in lovewith me.
But his love could not protect me from hisfather…or Riyan.
Riyan. The half-giant. The killer. The soldier who went back on his promises. The Duke’s hero. The pawn used to mollify the people of the Northern provinces and some cantankerous Barons. The beast who was going tokill me.
And dying was better than bending over the Duke’s knee to punishmy father.
Duke Hyton had not declared he would direct his ire on me, but he did not swear off it either. The uncertainty gripped me so tightly I couldbarely breathe.
The bulls had locked horns to decide whether to save me or ruin me, and all I could do was stand behind a curtainand watch.
I squeezed the pillow tighter as my head got lighter and lighter. I hoped Derrick had a plan to run away with me the moment the moon was in the center of the sky on the twenty-eighth night. My marriage might annul, but Duke Hyton would not put a hand on me if I were the next Duchess, even if I married Derrick in apeasant ceremony.
My heart pounded harder as my chest shook. At least Father would keep his head. Although, maybe death would be preferable to whatever punishment Duke Hyton cameup with.
My throat hitched with a sob. The corners of my eyes burnedwith tears.
No. Do not cry. Donotbe weak!
My fingernails dug deep into the pillow and snapped some of the threads. I threw the pillow aside with a scream behind my teeth and goosefeathers spilled out of the open seams. I counted to ten over and over, forcing myself tocalm down.
As I breathed through the cold fog in my lungs, I glanced over to the spots of blood smeared across the floor like a macabre portrait of the Hyton legacy.Thatwas what General Hyton had wanted me to see.Thatwashis warning.
Leave with Riyan and survive or remain with Derrickand bleed.
The tiny white feathers floated to the floor, some staining red as they landed in the blood and the wine. The tangible evidence of the Hyton chaos was plain as day, but I still was not sure who or whatto trust.
One feather like a dandelion tuft swirled down into the center of a spot of blood. As the crimson swallowed the white fluff, an oddly comforting thought finally made mybreath still.
Even theDuke bleeds.
