Page 37 of The Lure of Wolves and Whispers

Did the servants let him in, or did he actually bring me coffee?

The thought is ridiculous. I shake my head, banishing it from my mind.

“Where’s Talon?” My voice is rough with exhaustion, but I don’t take my eyes off him even as I inch toward the side edge of the bed—still close enough to grab the blades on my nightstand if I need them.

Wolf’s eyes track the movement, his jaw tightening. “Occupied. The High King ordered another search through Quayside. Consider me your warning not to try anything… escape-related. It won’t work.”

A surge of panic twists my stomach. “Another search?”

Old Ones, I can still smell the blood from the last one. How many people will the gardai slaughter over an old man’s paranoia this time?

Wolf’s green eyes narrow on my face. “What were you doing outside last night?”

My fingers twist around the edges of the blanket. Vulnerable is one thing I can’t afford to be with him, not after he’s already used my desperation to save Finn against me. If I tell him the truth, admit the panic that catches up to me more often than I’d like, he’ll find a way to use that against me too. “Like you said. Looking for a way out.” I scowl at him. “Trying to get away fromyou.”

Our gazes collide, and it’s like flint striking stone.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

I shove the blankets off me and finally climb out of bed, my back to the windows. There’s no way I’m turning my back to him. “Are you here for a reason, or do you just enjoy being an ass?”

His hard mask wavers but holds. “Who says it can’t be both?”

The clouds shift outside the window, and golden light streams in.

Wolf’s breath catches.

I hear the sudden, rough sound in his throat, enough to send embers racing up my neck. My cheeks flood crimson in an instant.

In the darkness last night, there hadn’t been enough light to worry about whether my linen nightgown was anything close to sheer.

But in the hazy daylight from the window, I realize—it’s almost fucking transparent.

I grasp for the nearest blanket from the bed and hold it across my body. I’m not embarrassed by the soft curves of my hips or the nip of my waist. ButWolfis the last person I would ever want seeing me almost naked.

“Do me a favor,” I snap, “and look somewhere else.”

“Another favor?” The corner of his mouth turns up, but he does as I say.

I quickly pull the nightgown over my head and find the extra pair of leathers and clean tunic the servants had brought me before bed, along with the nightgown. Enough for a week, and then I guess I’ll have to ask Talon about laundry. The clothes are on the bedside table along with the blades I placed there last night. I dress quickly, then slide them both into the sheaths at my sides. “Not that you’d know the difference, but sometimes a favor is just basic human decency. Not everything needs to come with a price.” I run a hand over my mussed hair. The chestnut waves are tangled at the back of my neck, and I quickly plait the dark length. “Okay. You can turn around.”

He does—slowly. His expression is unreadable as he meets my eyes again. “Maybe. But most things do, in my experience.”

Wolf’s hands tighten on the bag in his grip; I hadn’t noticed it before. He offers the leather sack to me then, and when I take it from him, it’s surprisingly heavy. I peek inside. “A book?”

“And maps.” He shifts his weight, running his empty hands over the sheaths of the blades up and down his sides like the movement is as natural to him as breathing. “Talon said you asked for them, and I thought you might find the book… useful.”

I pull the book out of the bag and feel the soft, thick cover of worn leather and the raised gold lettering across the front. Old Ones, we could never have afforded a book like this in Quayside. The edges of the pages are stenciled, with outlines in swirling spirals of ink and fading pencil. I run a finger along the title.

Blood & Steel: A History of the Queens of Eireann.

Wolf speaks before I can ask him a question. “I don’t have any books on the Assay specifically, but there are a few mentions in this one of how Assays in the past have gone.” He takes thedark cloak from the end of my bed and pulls it over his shoulders. “Worth reading, since you won’t find a way out of this castle by yourself.”

I slam the book shut.

He still thinks I’m a coward. That I would risk escaping, even knowing what he’ll do to my sister if I run.

He cocks his head at me. “You can read, right?”