Page 63 of Never Ever After

“Bring me the duke’s gift.”

As the magic-wielder strides toward us, I catch a glimpse of his face, though a cloth covers the lower half. My eyes round in shock. A woman, not a man as they’d thought—an easy mistake given the pitch of her voice and how she towers over me. But this close, her neck is a smooth column, her lashes long and thick.

As she crooks a slender finger at me, my blood goes cold. The air quivers though there’s no wind. My legs move forward of their own volition, even as I fight the urge. Jin stands behind me, his head still bowed.

“Where is the duke’s daughter?” I ask.

“She is well.” The magic-wielder’s eyes are serpentine in the dim light. “Now show me what the duke sent.”

“A gift of fragrance made with the rarest herbs in the kingdom.”

Jin shuffles closer. I approach too, raising the pouch, my fingers stiff like bars of ice. From behind, the sightless gazes of the statues pierce me—if we fail, we’ll share their fate.

I keep my face blank as the magic-wielder reaches for the pouch. As she lifts it to her nose, my hand goes to my concealed dagger. She blinks once, her nose wrinkling as she flings the herbs aside. “You think to drug me?”

I hurl the dagger at her—but she throws her hands up, my weapon slammed to the ground. Jin starts toward her, but an unseen force shoves him back. Something seethes as it catches fire, smoke trailing, though I can’t tell from where. I hold my breath instinctively as a delicate sweetness laces the air—an unfamiliar honeyed scent.

“A pair of tricksters and liars,” she hisses.

“Who are you?” I ask, fighting the heavy dullness spilling through my veins.

“Some call me a magic-wielder, others, a witch.” Her lips part, her hair swinging forward as she crouches down beside me. “Does it matter when all it means is I’m more powerful than you?”

She speaks with pitiless pride. I lunge at her—or I think I do, but I’m just weaving on my feet. The witch bends down to touch my forehead. A wave of drowsiness crashes over me, and then I’m falling to the ground, numbed to all else. Jin lies beside me, his face across from mine. The scent intensifies, almost suffocating now.

Don’t breathe it in, my mind warns. But it’s too late, a feverish warmth raging through my body, a fog sheathing all thought.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I’m alive.

Relief surges as my eyes flick open. For some reason, the witch didn’t kill us. Someone shifts on the bed beside me—Jin, fast asleep, his hair falling across his face. A jolt courses through me, shedding the last of my drowsiness.

I shake his arm, but he doesn’t stir. Maybe he inhaled more of the strange smoke from the courtyard. Seeking escape, my eyes move across the large room, furnished in tones of green and white. I head to the door, locked as expected, without any opening to undo. I rush toward the window at the far end, but my stomach hollows at the sight of the steep drop leading into the gorge beneath.

Something gleams above the window, fracturing the light: a wind chime formed of crystal pieces with a bluish tinge, strung from the ceiling. Just beneath it is an agarwood incense burner—

“Yining?”

Jin sits up, his eyes heavy-lidded with sleep. As he pushes the covers away, his robe gapes to reveal his chest, the smooth skin lined with muscle.

I look away, pretending to study a hideous porcelain vase painted with peacocks. “We’re locked inside, and the window opens to the gorge.”

He runs a hand through his hair, sticking up in parts. I suppress the ridiculous urge to touch it. “I expected worse.”

“Why didn’t the witch kill us or turn us into statues?” I ask.

He looks around the room, his brow furrowing. “Probably because we’re more useful to her alive.”

Jin heads to the table and pours two cups of tea. Before he takes a sip, I snatch the cup from him, setting it down. “Aren’t you afraid it’s poisoned?”

“It would have been easier to slit our throats while we were unconscious.”

He’s right. But I’m still cautious about eating or drinking anything here. As a breeze darts through the air, the wind chime quivers. Jin glances at it, his gaze narrowing.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

His lips curve into a smile. “That it’s not a bad thing to be trapped with you.”