Page 36 of The Rat King
Avery
“Nighval?”Iwhispered,andmy voice became steadier. “What happened?”
The towering man who’d delivered me to my now dead husband stroked my hip in slow, soothing circles. “What do you remember?”
My brow wrinkled, and I stared off into the distance for a moment. “I was…” A full body shudder vibrated through me as I relived the memory, and he squeezed me tight. I turned my head back up to him. “I was about to be executed. I was on my knees, in a puddle of blood, but you… You saved me. I killed your brother, and you saved me. Why?”
His hard features softened a hair, like he was pleased with something. “It wasn’t your fault what they were asking you to do. The witches should have told you what you were up against. And my brother—”
“He attacked me,” I said. Nighval became stiff as a board behind me and his arm, which was on my hip, snaked around my waist and locked in like a vice grip. “Jesus,” I coughed, batting at his hold.
“Tell me what he did to you.” His voice held a deadly edge.
“He didn’t. Well, he tried to, but—”
“Avery, I need you to tell me what he did to you that made you drive a knife into his stomach. Did he hurt you?” Nighval brought the giant horse we were riding to a halt, his large hand gripped my cheek, raising my eyes to his.
I shook my chin out of his grip. “I’m fine. We had agreed on the next full moon I would give myself to him, and I tried. I really did, but the way he touched me—I just couldn’t do it. He was kissing me down there, trying to make me feel good, but I couldn’t stop the tears. That made him angry, and he said something about knowing how I wanted it, rough or something, though I don’t remember why, and he changed. Then I grabbed the knife from my nightstand, and it was in his stomach, and I was covered in his blood. I promise you, I didn’t mean for it to happen.” I could feel myself trembling as a flood of emotion hit me at once, and tears streamed down my face.
A gentle hand cupped my cheek, his rough thumb brushing away the tears. “Shh…” he soothed. “You did nothing wrong. What happened was his fault, and if he weren’t dead by your hand, he’d be dead by mine. Do you understand me?”
I sniffed and met his gaze. “Really?”
“Of course,” he said. “You have my word. As long as you are in this plane, I will never let anyone hurt you. You are with me now.”
He nudged the horse, and we were moving again. With the way he said it and the tight hold he had on my waist, I believed him. “Wait, where are we going?” I asked him. “What about the curse?”
That drew his attention. He searched my face for a moment before he answered, seeming to consider his words. “We’re going somewhere outside of the curse’s reach. You don’t need to worry about it any longer. I’ll make sure everything is handled.”
“Will I be able to go back to my plane?” I asked.
Nighval’s lips pressed into a line, and he exhaled a breath through his nose. “No, I’m afraid not. It requires a large draw of power to be able to break the planes and unfortunately, with the few hours we get a month of access to ours, I’d hardly be able to summon enough myself. I doubt I could get other warlocks to do the same.”
Something he said made a memory flicker, and my eyes drew to the night sky and the moon dipping below the horizon. “You haven’t turned into one of those creatures.”
His eyebrows raised, and another grin transformed his face. “No, I haven’t. Myself and where I’m taking you are shielded from that aspect of the curse.”
“How?” I asked, incredulous.
His grin turned into a smile as we made it to the edge of a small town. “Magic,” he said.
The street and the little inn where we stopped felt familiar. Even the way the innkeeper eyed me felt familiar, but I hadn’t left the castle grounds since I’d been here, so it must be a weird déjà vu. Besides, the harder I tried to think about it, the sharper the pinch between my eyebrows became. I took a deep breath.Let it go. Whatever I thought I remembered wasn’t worth a migraine.
Once he made the arrangements with the innkeeper, he ushered me up the stairs, a protective hand finding its way to the small of my back. He unlocked a room, then led me inside. There was a mid-sized bed, a fireplace, and a table with two chairs. There were probably about two or three hours of night left and even though I’d slept as we’d ridden, I was exhausted.
Nighval pointed to a door on the long wall. “There is a bathing chamber through there. The door next to it is to my room. I’ve called for some heated water to be brought up for you. You may get cleaned up, and sleep some.” He pointed to something leaned against the corner near the bed.
“Oh my God!” I screeched. “My backpack.” I don’t know what inspired me, perhaps my vanity or my obsession with makeup and my other creature comforts, but I crossed the room in a few great strides and threw my arms around the excessively tall man’s waist and pulled him in for a hug.
His chest rumbled, and I felt the vibrations with my cheek which was plastered to his broad chest. He grabbed my arms pulling me off of him, holding me still to give me a quizzical expression. “I saved you from certain death, moments before an axe severed your head, and this backpack is what you’re ecstatically grateful for?”
I nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
“I’m dying to know what is in it now,” he said, releasing me so I could rush over to it.
I set it on the bed and pulled a few things from it, namely my violet make-up bag with my skincare routine in it. I ran a hand across my cheek. I’d spent a month in a dank prison cell and needed some serious exfoliation and hydration. Did I smell? Oh Goddess. Maybe he hadn’t noticed. Who was I kidding? He probably thought I was disgusting, but it’s not like I cared, right?
“I don’t know if I’ve been this happy since I learned I was going to be a queen. I guess I’m not a queen anymore, am I?” I shrugged. “How did you know?”
