Page 225 of A Touch of Poison
“Are you all right, divine one?” I squeezed her hand.
She threw me a stiff smile and nodded. “I am, but I’m going to the ladies’ room to catch my breath.”
I nodded and kissed her brow, then watched her saunter away. Understandably, she wanted to regroup, but this was not the same woman who’d fled him back in Albion.
84
Kat
Orrery in one hand, I splashed water on my throat, cold enough to make me gasp. The shock rooted me in the marble bathroom and Uncle Rufus’s disapproving stare faded.
From above, daylight filtered and refracted through a series of crystals set into the roof. I counted the colours like Kaliban would’ve told me to. Azure and indigo. Violet and scarlet. Orange, gold, and true, verdant green.
My pulse slowed as calm rolled over me.
I wasn’t as afraid of Uncle Rufus as I’d once been, but when I ran the cold tap over my wrists it was a relief to see only my nails were purple. As my heart had lurched at the sight of him, I’d feared my magic breaking free, despite all my progress.
Calmed, I replaced the orrery in my bodice. This dress had no pockets, but a generous cleavage could double up as storage.
I gave myself a tight smile in the mirror. The rainbow light coming through the crystals glimmered over my gown and painted my skin. I turned this way and that, taking in my reflection and the way the fabric made it look like gold paint had spilled over my body.
Perhaps Bastian’s staring was understandable.
My smile eased into something more confident. A smile the Wicked Lady had been too desperate to give. A smile Lady Katherine of Riverton Palace had been too crushed beneath rules to allow herself.
It, like this body clad in gold, was all mine.
Perhaps that was what Bastian had always seen.
I wouldn’t want to break you.
In that moment, I’d wanted to be broken. By him, on him, with him. I’d have slipped my gown off then and there if he’d offered to pull me apart with both sides of him.
Later could not come soon enough.
Fuck Uncle Rufus.
As I left the bathroom, I let my mind linger on the thought of being sandwiched between two Bastians, like some sort of fucking delicious cake. Or should that be “delicious fucking cake?”
I was biting back a laugh as I rounded a corner and stopped short. At the end of the corridor walked a fae with fox-red hair bound in a braid.
The fae from Lunden.
They disappeared around the corner, and I hurried after. “Excuse me,” I called out. “Hey!”
I had to hike up my dress to run, but it was worth it, as I finally caught up. “Hello?”
They turned, lips pursed, brow furrowed. Brown eyes bored into me.
“You… You were in Lunden, weren’t you?”
Arms folding, they nodded once and went to turn away.
“Wait, no. I’m not done.” I tried to grab their sleeve but caught the hem of their coat instead.
They stopped stock still.
But that wasn’t why my breath caught. Beneath their coat sat a sword with a bronze fox head pommel and a matching dagger.
