Page 84 of The Shadows Between Us
A large weight joins me on the bed, but since it’s half on top of me, I know it isn’t Kallias.
“Well, hello there,” I say to Demodocus.
Kallias snaps his fingers and points to the foot of the bed. With a sad, downcast face, Demodocus rises and lies down by my feet instead.
Kallias claims the spot beside me. He interlaces his fingers over his chest, staring up at the canopy.
“I haven’t done this in a while,” Kallias says.
“Lie next to a woman?”
“Climb into my mother’s bed.”
There are several feet between us, but I manage to reach over and clasp a gloved hand in mine. He doesn’t pull it away.
“You don’t have to stay with me. I can—” I start.
“Hush. Go to sleep.”
The interruption brings a smile to my lips. I try to do as he suggests. I really do, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a man in my bed. Sleep is the last thing on my mind. Even if anything else is impossible.
And then I remember what happened in the garden. After the attack. Kallias had his hands on me. Checking for injuries, but then things changed. His touch changed. His eyes changed. His breathing changed.
I don’t consider it an improvement. We almost died. Afterward, he was likely drunk on the energy from such an ordeal. And it made him… impassioned.
Just what would he have done if the guards hadn’t come?
I ask, “Did the assassin survive?”
“No. Between your wound and mine, he didn’t have a chance.”
“Then you weren’t able to learn anything from him?”
“Nothing, save what we already discussed about his clothing and accent. He didn’t have anything in his pockets. No note from whoever hired him, nor any money. Whoever sent him was quite careful.”
I give Kallias’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Then what’s to be done?”
His free hand rises to rest above his head on the pillow. “I thought I would have answers by now. Everyone has been questioned again and again regarding the night my parents died. There are too many people unaccounted for. Everyone was terrified when the break-in happened. No one can remember who was in the safe rooms with them, save the person on their immediate right and left. Half my nobles claim to be in places where no one else seems to have seen them.
“Ampelios has been looking into who might have poisoned my gloves two months ago. He’s found nothing. And the terrible thing is, I don’t know if that’s true, or if he’s in on it because he’s one of my council members.
“Now we’ve had a new attack, which should present us with new leads. But the assassin is dead. His body has no secrets to reveal. And all his accent and clothing suggest is that someone within my court killed my parents and is now trying to kill me. Which I already knew.”
I let my thumb stroke over his as he talks, hoping to silently comfort him.
“You know,” Kallias says, his voice dropping a little, “I wouldn’t blame you if you left.”
“Left?”
“The palace. Being close to me puts you in danger, too. You don’t have to stay. I would never force you to remain here.”
I turn my neck, but he won’t meet my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not facing this alone.” Besides, when I’m queen, people will be trying to kill me anyway. Might as well get used to it now.
His breath leaves him, as though he’d been holding it while waiting to hear what I would say.
“We will figure this out together,” I say.
Kallias nods, but I can tell it gives his troubled mind no relief.
