I watched in horror as Derrick unlaced his shirt.
“I will go slow,” he said. “I will be very gentle.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I was not ready, I did not want to, but I had stillbeenwith him.
Suddenly noise erupted outside. People were running.
“Lord Hyton!” a voice shouted.
Derrick turned toward the door with a raised eyebrow. “What the hell—?”
The door crashed open and a group of palace guards rushed in.
“Get out!” Derrick yelled as he shielded as much of my body as he could.
I sat up on the couch, covering my breasts with my arms.
One of the guards stepped forward. His face was white and his eyes were wide. “My Lord, you have to come with us.”
“The hell I am!”
“My Lord…Y-Your Excellency,” the guard stammered. “Your father was killed.”
In the moments when my heart should have been beating, I could only focus on three thoughts.
My breasts were bare. I had been poisoned with Cupid’s Blood. Anders Hyton was dead.
I sat on the couch with my arms over my naked chest. I was too stunned to move, even as the palace guards approached Derrick.
Derrick…the new Duke of Lycaster.
The guards placed their hands on Derrick’s arms but he jerked away. “What are you doing? Get off me!”
“Orders from the General,” one of the guards replied. “We have to keep you safe while we investigate Alastar XI’s death.”
The color drained from his face as he put everything together. His shock made him compliant and the guards wrapped their arms around his back.
I should have said something,anything,but my body was still frozen.
Derrick’s throat trembled as he swallowed. “At least let me say goodbye to my mother.” The guards forced him out the door. “Let me see my mother before it is too late!”
The guards ignored his desperate plea and suddenly my fire awoke in my chest.
I had to get him to Freya before her blood bond sent her into Death’s arms.
I swung my legs off the chaise and tried to get up, but my legs refused to move. The room spun and my stomach churned. I gripped the edge of the couch and slammed my eyes shut as I forced myself not to vomit.
“Lis!” Derrick shouted down the hall. “Lis!Find Mama!”
I shoved myself off the chaise. I stumbled, but picked up my starry skirt and ran out of the room.
No time to put the rest of my clothes back on.
I gripped the doorframe as I tried to find my balance again. A narrow passage had opened at the end of the hallway. Derrick’s face peeked over the blue uniform of the guard’s shoulder as his eyes found mine.
“Serafina, find my mother!” His voice cracked and his eyes glistened. “Tell her I love her. Please!”
The guard sealed the passage shut, the brocade wallpaper masking any seams in the wall.
