Page 64 of Reaper’s Curse

Icrashed back first to the surface of the bed and stared at the ceiling. The last several hours had turned the day into something else. If only I could figure out how I felt about that something else.

Valen’s rude treatment and then later inquisition and apology, the Killian telling me he wanted me dead…dead! And Chace. What in all of reaping hell had happened there?

I pressed two fingers to my lips, thinking maybe I could still feel the tingle of his kiss.

Kiss. I had kissed Chace Badden, and…if I was being honest with myself…I didn’t care what either of our fathers thought. I’d enjoyed those moments with him, a lot, and I refused to regret my actions.

What did this new development mean for whatever was happening between Winter and me? And did either development weigh upon the other?

“Oh no, my lady.” Neive dashed in from the adjoining room. “You mustn’t soil the clean bed linens with your muddied attire.”

Too proper to lay a hand on me and drag me from the bed, Neive pinned me with an expectant gaze, as if attempting to will me into submission.

I rolled my eyes. “But I’m tired. And besides, I’m the one who will have to sleep with said soiled sheets. Not you.”

“But, my lady—” Neive gasped at the flutter of wings against the terrace doors.

Several crows landed upon the veranda floor and furniture, scavenging for anything of interest.

“Oh no. Pesky birds.” She threw open the glass doors and chased the birds away. “There have been so many of them lately. It has been quite annoying.”

I lolled my head to the side to better view the feathered flurry and escaping flight. A few of the birds refused to scare, and Neive jumped and hollered, attempting to chase them away. One stubborn bird cawed in response.

I covered my mouth and laughed.

The laughter was a drug easing a part of me that had been wound too tight for far too long. I felt…oddly enough…rather high on life. Sure, my situation was less than favorable. I was isolated from my family, had lost my mentor, and had an unthinkable reap resting on my shoulders, but I’d just fought the Killian…and I wasn’t dead! And I’d kissed Chace…and I wasn’t even sorry.

Plus, I’d started my day free of icy magic thanks to my mutually beneficial relationship with the winter prince.

So, despite the refuse pile that presently made up the majority of my life, I smiled. And I laughed. Laughed so much that I didn’t hear the apartment door announce the new arrivals.

“What is so funny?” Lucas asked at the same time Winter said, “Now that is a sound I have not had the pleasure of experiencing nearly enough. I believe the last time you laughed with such heart was the week we met. You were still staying at the Bridge Crossings Pub.”

The prince leaned against the bedchamber doorframe, his bent right arm held high against the casting, a crystal decanter in his raised grasp. Relaxed at his side, his left hand held a soft canvas bag.

The fact that Winter would recall the frequency with which I laughed struck a chord within me. Who, besides my parents, ever paid that close attention to me?

Pushing up to my elbows on the bed, I scrutinized him but said nothing. We shared an assessing gaze that spread into mirrored grins.

“We brought refreshments,” he said, breaking the silence and swirling the decanter, setting the amber liquid to swoosh.

I stretched my legs out on the bed, crossing them at the ankles. “So you did.”

Neive returned from the terrace and closed the double glass doors. When she spun back into the room, her gaze dropped upon me, and her eyes blew wide.

“Oh no, my lady!” She rushed forward and tapped the toe of my boot. “No shoes on the bed.”

With another chuckle, I obeyed and swung my feet to the floor. “And that, dear Lucas, would be the answer to your question. Aside from the bird activity outside my door…” I tilted my head toward the terrace. “My unladylike behavior seems to have gotten under Neive’s skin this evening, and for some odd reason, I find that fact rather entertaining.”

Lucas snorted. “I am having dinner sent up. It should be here shortly.”

He turned back into the adjoining room and walked out of view. Neive glanced between Winter and me, gave a tiny start, and then followed Lucas at a dash. The two servants made enough noise in the next room so that their movements were easily traceable.

I narrowed my gaze on Winter and swung a slow, sharp point indicating Neive and Lucas’s odd departure. “Did you have something to do with that?”

Winter’s grin kicked up a notch. “And why would you think that?”

“Why would I not?” I retorted. “I know I haven’t spent a ton of time with them…” Yet. “But that exit was just all kinds of awkward.”