I dipped my head, liking how her breath caught—how her sweetness increased. My lips followed the path of my fingers before I even realized they had touched her skin. Her desire thickened in the air as I tilted her head back. Our mouths were now mere centimeters apart. I could kiss her. I could likely do a hell of a lot more, but my chest was too tight.
So, I didn’t.
I couldn’t even say why. Because I needed to. I wanted to. I just couldn’t.
You care about her.
Cursing myself and Kieran for even putting that thought out there, I tilted my head, bringing my mouth to her ear. “Poppy?” My voice sounded thick to my ears.
“Yes?” she breathed.
I slid my fingers down the elegant line of her throat. “How did you get out of the room without me seeing you?”
She gave a little jerk. “What?”
I’d surprised her with that question. Disappointed her even, because she wanted my mouth doing something more than questioning her. I smiled at that. “How did you leave your chambers?”
“Dammit,” she muttered, tugging at my hold once more.
I let go this time, my body immediately missing the heat of hers and regretting the decision.
Her face flushed as she retreated and lowered the book she held, but her chin lifted. “Maybe I walked right past you.”
“No, you didn’t. And I know you didn’t climb out of a window. That would’ve been impossible. So, how did you do it?”
Poppy turned from me, raising her face to the cool air coming in through the window. “There’s an old servants’ access to my chambers.”
I smiled widely, enough that if she’d faced me, she would’ve seen all my lies.
“From there, I can reach the main floor without being seen.”
“Interesting.” I kept my voice level. “Where does it empty out on the main floor?”
She faced me. “If you want to know that, you have to find out for yourself.”
“All right.” I let that go since I already knew the answer. “That’s how you got onto the Rise without being seen.”
Poppy shrugged.
“I’m assuming Vikter knows all about this. Did Rylan?”
“Does it matter?”
Yes, it did. “How many people know about this entrance?”
“Why do you ask?” she shot back.
“Because it’s a safety concern, Princess.” And it truly was. “In case you’ve forgotten, the Dark One wants you. A woman has already been killed, and there has already been one abduction attempt that we know of.” I took a step toward her. “Being able to move unseen through the castle, directly to your chambers, is the kind of knowledge he’d find valuable,” I told her, even though it wasn’t valuable in the way I implied. I was more worried about the Ascended making use of the access.
She swallowed. “Some of the servants who’ve been at Castle Teerman for a long time know about it, but most don’t. It’s not a concern. The door locks from the inside. Someone would have to break down the door, and I’d be ready if that happened.”
“I’m sure you would be,” I murmured.
“And I haven’t forgotten what happened to Malessa or that someone tried to abduct me.”
“You haven’t? Then I guess you just didn’t take any of that into consideration when you decided to go gallivanting through the city to the library.”
“I didn’t go gallivanting through anything. I went through Wisher’s Grove and was on the street for less than a minute,” she argued. “I also had my cloak up and this mask on. No one could even see a single inch of my face. I wasn’t worried about being snatched, but I also came prepared, just in case.”
“With your trusty little dagger?” I grinned.
“Yes, with my trusty little dagger,” she retorted. “It hasn’t failed me before.”
“And that was how you escaped abduction the night Rylan was killed?” I asked another thing I knew, but we hadn’t spoken of. “The man wasn’t scared off by approaching guards?”
She exhaled loudly and a bit dramatically. “Yes. I cut him. More than once. He was wounded when he was called off. I hope he died.”
“You are so violent.”
“You keep saying that,” she snapped. “But I’m really not.”
I laughed again, enjoying how quickly her ire rose. “You really aren’t all that self-aware.”
“Whatever,” she muttered. “How did you even realize I was gone?”
“I checked on you,” I lied, dragging my hand over the back of the settee. “I thought you might want company, and it seemed stupid for me to stand out in the hall bored out of my mind with you inside your room, most likely bored out of yours. Which, obviously, you were since you left.”
“Did you really?” She took a deep breath. “I mean, did you really check on me to ask if I…I wanted company?”
I nodded. “Why would I lie about that?”
“I…” She looked away, her lips pursed. “It doesn’t matter.”
But I thought it might’ve.
I leaned against the settee. “How did you end up on the ledge?”
“Well, that’s kind of a funny story…”
“I imagine it is. So, please, spare no details.” I crossed my arms.
She sighed. “I came to find something to read, and I stopped inside this room. I…I didn’t want to go back to mine yet, and I didn’t realize that anything about this room was special.”
I followed her gaze to the liquor cabinet. That hadn’t given away that this was a private chamber?
“I was in here, and I heard the Duke outside in the hall. So, hiding on a ledge was a far better option than having him catch me here.”
“And what would’ve happened if he had?”
She shrugged again. “He didn’t, and that’s all that matters. He had a meeting here with a guard from the prison. At least, I think that’s who it was. They were talking about the Descenter who threw the Craven hand. The guard got the man to talk. He said that the Descenter didn’t believe that the Dark One was in the city.”
“That’s good news,” I forced out.
She glanced over at me. “You don’t believe him?”
“I don’t think the Dark One has survived as long as he has by letting his whereabouts be widely known, even by his most fervent supporters,” I replied.
“I think…” Her grip on the book she held tightened. “I think the Duke is going to kill the Descenter himself.”
I remembered what she had asked me. “Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know.”
I tilted my head. “I think you do, and you just don’t want to say it.”
Her lips pursed. “I just don’t like the idea of someone dying in a dungeon.”
“Dying by public execution is better?”
She stared at me. “Not exactly, but at least then it’s being done in a way that feels…”
My heart was kicking faster now. “Feels like what?”
Poppy gave a shake of her head. “At least then it doesn’t feel like it’s…” She glanced at me.