Page 45 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

I could feel Bren dragging as we walked, and prayed it was merely the end of a long day, and not more pain over Ruin.

But how could it not be?

When we reached our chamber, I opened the door and ushered her in, and we both sighed with relief when I locked it behind her.

Finally, alone.

I turned to face her, to pull her in and hold her, but once again, she’d swept straight to the bathing room. ‘Did you learn anything about the dragons, or how Hanson’s using them?’ she asked as she disappeared into the dark space.

I debated following her, but decided if she’d wanted me to join her, she would have invited me, so I took a seat on the lounge and unbuttoned my jacket, loosening my cravat while I waited.

‘He did, actually. According to Ruin, the dragons are part of his way of using Hanson, keeping the Lord under his thumb. He says they don’t listen to Hanson, they listen to Carnage—which is another reason I’m skeptical of his claim he’s sent Carnage to the border. If he was a man I trusted, I wouldn’t fault him for hiding his dragon nearby. But because I don’t… I don’t know what to believe.’

‘Wait, Carnage is keeping those dragons there for Hanson?’

‘Hanson believes it’s at his behest, but they’re just leverage. Ruin says they’ll do as Carnage asks, and Carnage will release them as soon as this task is done. But again, who knows what to believe?’

She was quiet for a few minutes. I heard water running, but only for a short time. Then she appeared in the doorway, still dressed, but her hair down in a simple braid, and patting her face dry with a small towel.

“Can you help me with the corset?” she asked quietly.

I leaped to my feet and followed her into the bedroom, my chest tightening. Was she only wanting assistance with her clothes so she didn’t have to call a maid? Or did she want me to touch her?

Give me wisdom, I prayed. She hadn’t touched me—not like that—since Ruin had appeared. And even though I understood why, it was painful. I felt the flinch in her occasionally, and it broke my heart. But each time I’d raised it to reassure her, she’d thanked me, then hurried into a different conversation.

She didn’t want to talk about it.

Was it wiser to let her sit with it for a time? Or were we avoiding the inevitable?

I didn’t know, and so, when I helped unbutton the dress, then unlace the corset, I didn’t attempt to touch her in any way that wasn’t necessary. But I prayed she’d turned to me with that heat in her eyes.

She didn’t.

“So, he still didn’t tell you who he’s trying to trap?” she asked without looking at me as she held the now-open corset to her chest and trotted across the room to the wardrobe where her nightdresses hung.

That was another new development. She’d always slept naked with me before. But now she draped herself in a long nightgown. Though the fabric was so thin, I could see the shadow of her nipples through it, and in many ways I found it more tantalizing than if she’d just appeared naked.

Which was a problem after four nights without a touch.

I cleared my throat as she looked at me over her shoulder, and I realized I hadn’t answered her question.

“Uh… No,” I said, mentally scrambling to remember what she’d asked me.

What Ruin said.

Right.

“He was very up front about his suspicions that I’d kill him. He’s always been a perceptive bastard,” I growled. “But no, he didn’t tell me.”

“What did you do?”

“I broke his nose again.”

Bren’s head emerged from the neckline of the nightdress and she stared at me. “Are you joking?”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t out of control. I assessed the need. It was a very measured decision.”

She gaped at me. “But—”