TWO #2
Dropping to his haunches, he begins to work on the bolts fastening the heavy grid of woven wrought iron to the thick stone slabs of the outer wall.
“Dammit!” he curses under his breath, dropping the first bolt.
It falls into the freshwater furrow, the color of poorly brewed coffee.
He fumbles with the next, his nervousness apparent in his lack of coordination.
Two more to go. Declan doesn’t move with his usual grace or efficiency as he tries to clear our path of the only thing locking us out of the manor’s grounds and our town on the other side.
My skin prickles with the sensation of being watched.
“You’re on the wrong side of the wall.”
I stiffen, looking back over my shoulder toward the woods, so dark it’s almost black. Mist settles like a white blanket over the trees, leaving only their peaks exposed to prevent suffocation.
The thundering of hooves grows louder, followed by the grating of the horses’ iron shoes over the gravel in the courtyard.
“Don’t let them through the gates without identification and just cause!
” Goosebumps rush down my arms and neck.
People rarely travel at night; they wait until sunrise, until it’s safe to do so. Until The Others are sleeping.
I need to get back to my room before someone notices I’m not there—if it’s not too late already.
Getting caught isn’t an option. Declan removes the last bolt and urges me to go first. A decent flogging and lengthy confinement.
That’s what I’ll get… what we’ll get. We’ve always known the risks, but never have we been this close to discovery.
I hold my breath, then duck under the low stone arch and balance on the narrow ledge that separates me from staying dry or taking an unwanted—and unexplainable—swim.
My steps, even though they are few, echo off the double layered stone walls, making my heart race.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I step out from under the arch and into the stable yard’s square.
Gravel crunches under the smooth, hard sole of my boot.
Every muscle in my body turns rigid as I sense someone watching me, waiting for my acknowledgement before unleashing their fury.
Cringing, I reluctantly open my eyes one at a time, straighten my spine, and search the doorways, arches, and corners in front of me, then frown in disbelief.
There isn’t a single person in the stable yard, nothing but a lone raven perched atop the stable’s roof.
Fresh hoof tracks surround me, smoothed by a strong gust of wind that twists my skirts around my ankles, evidence of horses galloping from the stable yard moments ago.
Declan crouches under the arch, balancing on the same narrow ledge I’d crossed. He’s closing the iron grid behind us, fastening each bolt except for one, which is now at the bottom of the stream.
A loud bang sounds from my right, and my heart lunges into a painful sprint.
I almost scream, feeling as if someone has thrown me a hundred feet into the air just to see me fall.
My eyes catch on the front door of Declan’s small home as it swings open with a deafening creak.
I freeze. My muscles lock into place. Everything in me halts.
My lungs, the beating in my ears, the blood in my veins…
even the small trace of warmth in my cheeks cools instantly as I wait for someone to exit, for someone to find me standing in the middle of fucking nowhere, covered in mud, alongside Declan, my handsome male companion.
A harlot, that’s what they’ll brand me as.
A harlot and the man who ruined the governor’s eldest daughter.
The door slams shut, but I remain frozen for a long second, horror confining me. Nothing. No one exits. My muscles relax a fraction. Only the wind, I reassure myself.
“Hurry up!” I look back at Declan who is seemingly oblivious to my near heart attack. If not for the sloshing in my boots, I’d be pacing. I can’t stand still, can’t wait idly until we’re discovered. Hurry the fuck up, Duskrun!
“Just a second.” He has his arm almost shoulder-deep in the icy water, his jacket thrown over his back.
“There’s no time to look for it now!” He always has to cross his T’s and dot his I’s. The son of a soldier. A perfectionist.
“They’ll see it’s missing when they do their rounds in the morning. I have to!” he hisses through clenched teeth.
“Not. Now.”
“What are you afraid of, young one? Getting caught or not being able to silence me for much longer?” The creature’s voice drips with malice, and I swear something sharp drags up my spine, raising goosebumps in its wake.
“I still have another vial left,” I tell it, boldness setting in and taking over. When backed into a corner, what other choice is there but to fight?
“By the gods, Declan, we need to get inside before they come back from wherever they went. We don’t have time!” Not when everyone is awake and not when the path is clear enough to make our way back to our rooms in secret.
“Fine,” he seethes, shaking the water from his arm while his shirt remains plastered to his skin.
He’s next to me a heartbeat later, dragging me across the square, even though I’m perfectly capable of walking by myself.
Shrugging free from his grip, I ignore the wave of annoyance radiating off him.
He isn’t the only one burning with irritation.
We dart across the open square, pressing our backs to the wall on the other side.
The drumming in my ears is deafening. I don’t bother to leap over the puddles the way I did earlier tonight and march straight through them.
Declan ushers me past the empty stables and around the corner.
There it is, the door I used on my way out and my only way back in.
His hand falls to the small of my back as he flexes his fingers against my dress beneath my cloak, his breath pluming white on a deep exhale, as though he has something he needs to say.
Our earlier conversation refreshes itself in my memory. So I can legitimately claim you.
“Wait,” he whispers, fisting my dress in his palm. I look up at him, and my stomach flutters. In his eyes is a question he dares not voice. A question I dare not answer. Is that even something I want? A romantic relationship with Declan? To be his wife?
I hesitate, my heart beating wildly in my chest. Our eyes meet, but I look away. Perhaps it’s nerves. Perhaps…
He clears his throat. “We need to get our stories straight. In case anyone asks.” The fluttering in my stomach vanishes as quickly as it came.
“I never saw you. Tonight never happened.” My gaze falls to his muddy boots. Pressing my lips together, I take a step toward the door and away from him.
“I never saw you.” His throat bobs, and he releases my dress. “And neither of us ventured outside these walls.” His voice grates against his throat.
I nod and walk away as heaviness settles in my chest, the sound of retreating footsteps holding me captive.
As I reach the door, I’m not surprised to find it ajar. The blue sandbag wedged between the door and its frame is still there to keep me from being locked out. The last thing I need is to be stranded outside with no way to get in. How would I explain that?
Pushing the bag against the wall with my foot, I turn to close the door behind me.
Do I want Declan to ask for my hand? He has been my friend for as long as I can remember, the only one to not judge me by my stepmother’s false accounts.
Unclasping my cloak, I hang it on the brass hook by the door before unlacing and stepping out of my boots.
Even in the dark, I know where to find it.
I cough into the crook of my arm; afraid someone may hear me.
“You know you can do so much better than the stable boy,” a sweet voice says from my left. Laoise steps out of the shadows and into the spear of moonlight streaming through the glass pane above the door, her arms folded neatly across her chest.