Page 33 of The Dead Queen

I shake my head, refusing to think of the gruesome possibilities. “It just has to be enough to keep him from dying. It wouldn’t be enough for my father to notice. Just don’t let him die.”

“Why not?” Hunter asks, an edge of irritation in his voice. “Why do you care so much about a man you claim you’ve never met before?”

I close my eyes, willing my guilt to ease. “Because this is all my fault.”

He’s silent for a moment. The sounds of the night fill the void—a breeze blows through the reeds, frogs jump into the pond, an owl hoots in the distance.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I healed him the first time.” It comes out as a whisper.

Hunter doesn’t look surprised.

“I just ...” I stammer. “I couldn’t watch him die. Not after all the soldiers in the borderlands. Not when I knew I could save him.”

Hunter’s concern melts away, leaving worried eyes in its wake. I know I’m playing to his sympathies, but I don’t care. There’s too much at stake to worry about morals now.

He nods. “I’ll try to heal him, for you. But you have to tell me one thing, Sienna.” He moves to catch my eyes. “Why were you in your father’s rooms that night? Why did you ask me to cover for you?”

I start to give him the same fake explanation I told father, that I’d spotted the suspicious intruder and followed him.

“No.” He shakes his head. “The truth.”

My jaw snaps shut. As much as I want to trust Hunter, we have a complicated history when it comes to trust. And something in my gut tells me not to share this secret with anyone. Not yet, anyway.

After a few long moments, he sighs. “Fine.” His shoulders droop with disappointment. “But whatever you’re up to, please be careful. Your father is dangerous.”

“I know,” I whisper, looking at the ground.

Hunter watches me for a long moment. He reaches toward my face and lifts my chin so I meet his eyes. “Someday, I hope you’ll be able to trust me again. Until then, I’ll do whatever I can to prove that I’m on your side.”

Warmth pools low in my belly at the touch of his fingers on my skin. “Thank you.”

His eyes are etched with concern. It makes him look like a man twice his age. I hate that I’m the reason those lines are there.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he says. “Because I will follow you straight into the fire if I have to.”

He holds my gaze for a long, long time. There’s something between us that I can’t pretend away. It’s the spark of an ember that I thought we’d extinguished a long time ago. When he looks at me like this, my heart thumps wildly in my chest. I start to forget myself.

“Sienna,” he says, taking a hesitant step closer to me. His voice is breathy and low. He shifts his hand on my chin, moving it back to cradle my jaw. His fingers tangle in my loose hair. “You know how I feel about you, right? How I’ve always felt about you? It hasn’t changed.”

A shiver runs through me, and I’m not sure it’s from the cold.

The cemetery glows with moonlight and the insects sing a song of love for summer’s end. The early autumn breeze moves my hair across my face and Hunter brushes it away like a caress. He leans forward, placing his forehead against mine. Then he closes his eyes and takes a shaky breath.

“I love you, Sienna.”

For a moment, I let myself be swayed by this unfamiliar feeling of adoration. I want to fall into this, into him. I want to be in love and blind to all consequences.

But I’m not that person anymore. And I’m not willing to sacrifice the woman I’ve become to live in a fantasy. I don’t trust my father’s intentions for arranging this marriage, and I can’t allow myself to get distracted. I need to uncover the Fox King’s secrets. If I don’t, no one else will.

Hunter opens his deep brown eyes and stares into mine. He pulls me closer, so close I can feel his heart beating next to mine. My body is aware of every inch of his skin beneath his clothes, from the firm muscles pressed against my softer flesh, to the ragged breath that causes his chest to rise and fall.

He leans his face down toward mine. “Sienna.” His voice is deep with longing.

Despite everything, I give in to the wave of desire that surges inside of me.

Hunter kisses me deeply, and the world falls away. I melt into him instinctively, my arms winding around his neck as if I’ve done this a thousand times before. His lips are soft and warm, and the way they move against mine makes my heart ache with a bittersweet, homesick kind of longing. Something deep inside me stirs, hungry and impatient.