It would’ve saved me a few falls when I was first getting the hang of climbing. But Redford’s ghosts tend to be less helpful like that. The true weight of what he’s saying hits me. It could be funny if it didn’t involve Edmund, because I know my cousin, and Iknowhe had zero intention of being funny.
He took the brothers for fools.
“Edmund lied.” My voice is tight from the strain of trying not to fall.
“Obviously. But confirmation never hurts.“
“So you’ve wasted your time, then.”
“I came for verification, my lady. And thus far, the only thing I’ve verified are the effects of compulsiveness and ill-fitted jeans,” he murmurs.
Heat stings my cheeks. “Didn’t I mention this family enjoys theatrics?”
“So do I, darling, especially if the cast is this interesting.”
I try to peer at him again. At first, he’s nothing more than a silhouette: tall and composed, standing there with an opened coat. The torchlights flicker, spectral hands attempting to turn it towards him to give me a better view. Golden light catches on the high edge of his collar, but half of his face is still eaten by shadow. I beg the light to move, and it obeys, dancing across sharp cheekbones and the laziest grin I’ve ever seen. Dark blonde hair falls perfectly into his eyes, undisturbed by the wind that very much seems to hate me at this moment because I wobble again.
There he stands, my golden coin, completely unaware that Redford’s version of hell just admitted it can’t afford to spend him. Pity the bastard doesn’t know he’s just become my gilded shield.
Lucky me.
Unlucky him.
Shit.
“Are you going to help or stay there composing field notes of my underwear?” I throw the words out there, uncaring of my situation as more time passes.
I’d take mortification over a broken neck any day, despite what past therapists would have to say about this moment—cough, Dr Browning,cough. Spinal injury isn’t something I’d want to add to my trauma bingo card.
“Honestly, I’m still contemplating whether helping you would count as aiding and abetting. I’ve got a pristine reputation to care for, after all.”
“Ohplease, your reputation’s been on fire for years—just look at you, you’re exiled.”
“All the more reason to refrain from aiding a fugitive,” he ripostes.
“Fugitive?” I nearly swallow my tongue. “It’s literally my castle.”
“So you scale your own walls in the dark, then? Hm, maybe I should just remove myself from the situation and let natural selection play out.”
“Just help me down, please.”
One hand slips free from his coat as he steps forward. “Fine, but only because your pink panties are flashing like a distress flare.”
Nothing about him is unhurried, and for some reason that infuriates me. Always so composed as I fight beneath the surface to keep up. I kick away from the wall before he’s prepared.
For an endless instant, I’m completely weightless as gravity drags me down. The lake’s dead sing from behind my ribs, calling for flight, for open water. My stomach swoops; too far, too fast, but I don’t care. Then Eric’s body intercepts mine. One arm locks beneath my thighs, and the other wraps around my bare waist as he absorbs the impact without even a grunt.
I grip his lapels in tense hands and glare at him, but that further amuses him. The castle’s dawn breeze wraps around us without ever touching. When he does eventually lower me to the ground, it’s done so achingly slowly that my jumper rides higher. His hand remains on my waist, his palm comfortably and frustratingly spanning the space between my hips and ribs.
“I should report you, you know,” I say, tilting my chin up towards him. “Wandering around without a guard.”
His mouth curves into a smile that reminds me of a dagger. “I’m a guest, not a prisoner. I believe the Crown offered me freedom of movement.”
My brows lift. “Are you? Well, you’ll find that titles can easily be demoted here in Sheffolk.”
That lures a chuckle from deep within his chest. “Demote me, then, my lady. But ask yourself, what would’ve happened had I not been here? Would you be splattered here on the stone?Or dangling from that ledge waiting for Philip to remember the time?”
I don’t ask how he knows I was expecting Philip. “There’s a chance I could’ve landed well enough on my own.”
