I try not to show my surprise at the title. So, he took Lyriel’s place then?
“Fine.”
I stand and face away from him, toward the island. I put my arms up and lean forward, ready to jump.
A hand yanks me back harshly, and I fall back into his chest.
“Are you insane?” he yells. “You nearly just died out there!”
“I feel fine now,” I say weakly. I don’t even know if he hears me.
“Fine. I’ll paddle. Just promise to sit down, please.”
“Promise to shut up, then.”
He answers with a grunt.
He paddles in silence for a while, and the rain begins to lighten up. We’re getting closer to the shore, closer to getting away from him.
“I thought he’d have come for you by now,” Adrian says in a low, pensive tone.
I flinch, looking off in the distance. Is that confirmation that he did, in fact, escape?
“No one is coming for me,” I say at last.
“I did.”
I whip my gaze toward him. “And what good are you doing me? I’m still wearing these, still a prisoner here.” I hold up my wrists, displaying the cuffs in a dramatic fashion. “And you’re doing nothing to help me. So, no. You did not come for me. You came for you.”
He doesn’t say anything, and disappointment sneaks in. What did I expect him to do, take my cuffs off right here and now? Of course it wouldn’t be that simple.
We reach the shore, the boat bumping into the sand with a jolt. I jump out, storm up the beach to the castle, change into dry clothes, and begin my search for a drink.
Chapter 47
It’s late. The world outside the windows is black, and the lighting in the hallways is dimmed. Phaedra likes to do that at night.
I’ve just spent half the night in my room painting and getting drunk, until I decided I desperately needed a snack.
I haven’t swum in days.
The kitchen is dark, and I stumble around looking for something. Anything.
“Clouded by the drink and it makes it hard for you to think.”
I spin around, finding no one in the darkness. The voice was so strange, I must have imagined it. It had a distant, echoing quality to it, as though it were far away yet right next to me all the same.
I shake my head, surmising it must be a hallucination.
“A snack is a fine idea, yes. Soak the poison up.”
I spin again, and it makes me dizzy. I stumble against the countertop, then grab the edge to brace myself.
“Careful, princess. You don’t want to batter that pretty face.”
“Okay. Who the fuck is there?”
I see a shimmering light out of the corner of my eye.
