Chapter 14
NYRA
W hen I had awakened this morning, Dacre had been missing from his room. I laid there in his bed with his sheets tangled around my legs. I was still wearing his clothes, covered in his scent, and he was nowhere to be seen.
I was half angry and half mortified when I woke up, clinging to a pillow that smelled exactly like him.
I quickly gathered my scattered clothes from the floor, tiptoeing out of his room like a thief in the night, sneaking back to my room as if I had done something wrong.
And the way Wren hadn’t been able to stop smiling at me, even throughout our training today, made me feel like I had.
“You’re getting a lot better.” Eiran ran a hand over his face and wiped the sweat from his brow. He had just handed me my ass in the training circle, but I would take his compliment over Dacre yelling at me about what I had done wrong.
Which was why I hated myself for searching the grounds for him now.
Not only had he not been in his room when I woke, he also hadn’t been at the training grounds when I showed up this morning.
I had been fully prepared to ignore him and try as hard as I could while barely speaking a word in his direction, but I didn’t get the chance.
And that just made me angrier than I had been this morning.
“We’re all hanging out tonight.” Wren wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and I had been so distracted by looking for her brother that I hadn’t seen her approach.
“What?” I was still trying to catch my breath from where Eiran had knocked me on my ass.
“We’ve been training hard and deserve a break.
” She grinned like it was the best news she could deliver, and honestly, it was.
My body needed a break, and apparently, I needed an even bigger one from Dacre.
“So, you, my dear, are stuck with me tonight.” She wagged her eyebrows, and I nudged her side with my elbow.
I didn’t want anyone to know I spent the night in her brother’s room, let alone Eiran.
“You’re stuck with me as well.” Eiran smiled, and it was a smile that should have made my stomach flip. But it didn’t. “I’m going to head back to clean up, then I’ll meet you all before we head out?”
“Sounds good.” Wren tuckedher arm around mine and didn’t give me a choice as she led me away from the training grounds and back to our room.
She also hadn’t given me a choice when she tossed clothes at me as soon as I had finished bathing.
“Everyone is used to seeing you in your leathers. If we’re going to find you a man in this rebellion, we need to change it up.”
“I’m not interested in finding anything,” I huffed as I flopped onto the bed and tossed the clothes to the side.
“Uh-huh.” Her eyes narrowed, and she studied me. Her lips thinned before a sneaky smile slipped through before she could stop it. “That’s why you came back this morning wearing my brother’s clothes.”
“That’s because of you!” I pointed at her, and her smile finally slipped.
“Do you know how many of my roommates have hung out in the hall while I had a visitor?” She arched an eyebrow.
“Gods, I don’t want to know.”
“Far too many.” She chuckled and pressed her hand against her hip. “Do you know how many of them Dacre has let sleep in his bed because he didn’t want them out there in the cold?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“None.” She said it so quickly I was barely able to finish my sentence. “And he certainly doesn’t have girls in his bed that don’t look thoroughly ruined the next morning.”
I winced as jealousy raged through me. I couldn’t help but think of the woman from the night before who gave him the wine and looked at him as if she knew him. “That’s your brother.”
“Trust me. I’m aware.” She made a gagging noise, and I rolled my eyes. “The fact that he insisted that our rooms be side by side so he could watch over me has completely backfired on both of us.”
I held up the shirt she had handed me, and my eyes widened. It contained less fabric than any shirt I had ever seen before, and I quickly dropped it back to my side. “I think you might be as insane as your brother.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged before pointing at me. “Now get dressed. It’s already late.”
I scowled and grumbled as I reluctantly pulled on the too tight shirt, desperately trying to make it reach the waistband of my trousers. No matter how hard I tugged, the fabric strained against my chest and refused to stretch.
“Stop fidgeting. You look gorgeous,” Wren whispered as we made our way down the stairs.
Eiran turned in our direction and his eyes ran over me appreciatively.
“Let’s get out of here.” He grinned and motioned us forward.
Wren led us through the city, and Eiran pulled me alongside him. He kept looking over at me with a soft smile on his face, and I returned it.
It wasn’t until we had gone over around half a dozen bridges and the floating lanterns started becoming more scarce that I started wondering where we were going.
“Where are you two taking me?” My voice echoed off the cave walls, and Wren laughed.
“Can’t tell you.” She leaned in and inclined her head toward me. “We’re not supposed to be there.”
“That sounds promising.” I sighed heavily and glanced at Eiran .
Even though I desperately wanted to trust Wren, she was a part of the rebellion, and I couldn’t trust any of them completely.
Wren was my friend now, but if she knew the truth…
As we walked farther into the cave, the air grew colder and the light grew dimmer. I could hardly see as Eiran led me forward, but he reached out and took my hand in his to help me.
I tried not to let myself think about how it felt so different from Dacre’s. How the simple slip of his skin against mine had me burning like an inferno while Eiran’s fingers wrapped around mine felt nice.
Dacre had felt anything but nice.
We edged around the bend, and a faint orange glow appeared in the distance.
The farther we walked, the brighter it grew until the leaping tongues of fire illuminated our way forward.
When we emerged from the shadows, I saw several people gathered around the fire, their faces lit up by the dancing flames.
Bottles of wine were scattered on the ground next to them, and laughter echoed off the walls.
The darkness in this part of the cave was almost absolute, with the only source of light coming from the flickering flames of the fire. Stalactites jutted from the rocky walls like sharpened teeth.
“This is our secret spot.” Wren turned toward me and walked backward as a smile lit up her face. “Us bringing you here means you can’t tell anyone else.”
“Who am I going to tell?” I chuckled as I glanced around.
“Me.” Dacre’s voice raked down my spine, and I turned to see him lounging against a large boulder.
He had one knee bent with an arm draped over it and the other hanging down loosely with an almost empty bottle of wine gripped between his fingers.
His dark eyes were piercing as he spoke.
“I am in charge of your training. You shouldn’t even be here. ”
My body went rigid beside Eiran, and a deep flush crept up my neck as Dacre spoke. His tone was condescending, and a part of me wanted to just ignore him and walk away, but my pride kept me rooted in place.
“Well, seeing as you didn’t show up to training today, Eiran took over for you, and he invited me.” As the words tumbled out of my mouth, I could feel my cheeks redden further and wished fervently that Dacre couldn’t see it. The truth was, I wouldn’t have come at all if it hadn’t been for Wren.
Dacre cocked his head and studied me. Gods, he looked over every inch of me with his slow perusal as if he didn’t care that everyone around us could see exactly what he was doing. Eiran’s hand tightened around mine as if he could protect me against Dacre’s scrutiny.
Dacre was wearing his leathers, but his vest was missing, and I only noted one dagger at his side. His body was relaxed, his gaze glazed over from the wine, and he was devastatingly handsome.
“Eiran took over, did he?” He lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a long drink. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and the bottle clinked against his teeth before he lowered it again.
I could see Wren looking back and forth between us out of my peripheral, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off him.
“Does that mean you’re going to strip down in his room tonight and sleep in his bed?”
Eiran went rigid beside me, and Wren sucked in a sharp breath that echoed in the silence as everyone watched the exchange. But Dacre was only looking at me.
Heat crept up my neck, and I became acutely aware of how small my shirt was, how tight it felt pressed against my skin. Eiran’s fingers twitched against mine as he held on tighter, but I was too focused on the way Dacre’s gaze smoldered as if a fire would erupt at any moment.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I bared my teeth as I spat out the words.
Dacre leaned forward, his eyes glittering with an unsettling amusement. His chuckle was low and twisted, sending shivers up my spine.
“What’s wrong with me? Nothing at all. I was just telling the man the truth.” He lifted the wine bottle and pointed the neck toward Eiran. “Don’t you think he deserves to know you were in my bed last night since he’s clinging to you as if tonight you’ll be in his?”
My whole body tensed as a wave of humiliation crashed over me. I wanted to snatch my hand away from Eiran, but I refused to give Dacre the satisfaction.
I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I pivoted on my heel and let my silence settle in. I felt his eyes on me, burning holes into my back like a thousand suns. I shifted my weight and looked instead at Eiran. His eyes were narrowed so tightly on Dacre that he hadn’t even noticed me looking at him.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Dacre wasn’t finished.
“Come here, little traitor,” he whispered, and I shivered, hating that he drew a reaction from me so easily. “Come show me what Eiran taught you today.”