His piercing gaze zeroed back to her face. Saedra swallowed and her heart fluttered. She knew she didn’t have a lot going for her in the looks department. Nowhere near the great beauty her mother had been but his searching stare was unnerving and seemed far too intimate.
***
As he stared at the crouching woman beside him, Garik wondered what trick Maurin was up to next. In the beginning, he had been amused and sure he’d manage to escape. Instead, the days had come and gone again and again.
The torture and beatings had grown exponentially as Maurin and the guards tasked with breaking him grew enraged at being unable to crack his stoicism. They wanted him to beg for his life which he wouldn’t do. They wanted him to reveal Guild secrets, which he’d take to the grave first.
Lord Maurin was far more clever than Garik had given him credit for, though. The first days of his captivity had been an endless cycle of beatings, followed by starvation. When that failed to get the results he wanted, he’d left Garik in this cell with occasional visits from the guards who taunted him through the bars. Then they’d brought in women. As if he’d be so easily seduced.
But no. They brought the women in as threats. Two, three—Garik had lost count of how many were slain before him begging for their lives while Maurin demanded the names and locations of Guild safe spaces.
Garik had forced himself to harden his heart, block out the pleas of the women and retreat far into his mind to resist. His current weakened state made escape at this point near impossible.
Without means of contacting anyone from the Guild, Garik was starting to believe this would be his finale. He’d die, and none of his peers would know how he met his end.
Which brought him back to the woman in his cell. It was dark and there was only a sliver of light from the outer hall to give him a glimpse of her appearance. She was pressed close to his side, unmindful of his stench. Surely if he could smell it, she could, yet she didn’t hesitate to touch him, cup his jaw as she thought to awaken him.
Truth was he’d been aware of her the moment she’d entered his prison. At first, he assumed she was one of the guards coming to torture him again. Then curiosity had kept him quiet to ponder what new trickery Maurin would attempt to get Garik to reveal the identity of the members of the Assassin Guild. Something Garik would die before doing.
Her face was a study in shades of gray thanks to the dim lighting. Not a raving beauty, but there was a vestige of kindness in her expression. Could be a trap for all he new. A wave of weakness washed over Garik and he huffed out a breath as he tipped his had back along the wall for support. He didn’t really care how she looked. He’d always been more attracted to strength and courage in his bed partners anyway.
Which wasn’t her. This woman looked as if you could startle her straight into the bowels of death if you raised your voice. Every word she spoke held a slight tremble beneath it.
At any other time, if he’d crossed paths with her outside of this place, Garik would have walked by without noticing a single thing about her. Amusement unexpectedly filled him—or she would have run in the other direction upon spotting him. Timid mice never faced off against larger, meaner predators.
And there was no mistaking her timid nature. Her appearance practically screamed frail from the thin wrist he’d gripped when he thought she was attacking him to her long, slender form. The material of her ankle-length, dark-colored gown fitted snuggly to her frame and Garik would bet a large portion of the balance in his credit account that he could clasp her entire waist span between the palms of his hands.
“Why are you here?” he repeated harshly.
“I am called Saedra as I said and I can get you out of here.”
Her response was a non-answer. It told him nothing and Garik hadn’t survived this long in the world he inhabited by being a fool. He was one of the best for a reason. Still, if her presence allowed him an opportunity to get out of here, he’d play along. “What do you want, Saedra?”
His tongue lingered over the pronunciation of her name. Her lashes fluttered and he held in a smirk. Too easy. There were other ways besides force to lure in the unwary.
She huddled closer. “Tomorrow at first light, Maurin plans to have the guards bring you out to the public courtyard in his home. With live footage recording, he will have you executed as evidence that he is not afraid of anything and that not even one of the most infamous assassins from the Guild can stop him.”
Garik stiffened, causing his muscles to seize and spasm. He muffled the groan of pain and tried to focus on what this woman was telling him. It was bad. Very bad. Maurin was a wanted criminal who had a list of offenses to his name. There was also a capture and retrieve order on him for his thievery of a priceless artifact from the royal family of Zephil, not to mention a kill order for his slaughter of an off duty military couple.
It wasn’t a surprise Maurin had drawn the attention of the Assassins Guild nor that the Alliance had put in a request for his immediate termination once the artifact was secured.
Now it seemed to counter his assassination, Maurin planned to kill Garik in front of untold numbers as a blatant fuck you statement. The Guild would suffer a significant blow to their reputation if that happened.
That wouldn’t go over well. Garik eyed his midnight visitor again. “What does that have to do with you, or are you a dying man’s last request?”
He made sure to leer at her in a blatant manner while reevaluating her attraction in a sexual context as she shifted under the moonlight from the narrow window. Her bone structure was too sharp to ever fit the standards of paid cosmetic beauty that promoted lush lips, wide eyes and pert noses with no bridges. Maybe she was pretty in better lighting. Her features held an angular cast, her nose a delicate blade bisecting high cheekbones beneath dark eyes.
Striking. That was a better descriptor for her looks.
“I’m here to offer a request, yes. Marriage.”
As soon as she said the last word, Garik wanted to laugh outright. He just managed to contain his chuckles. If she knew how little he found humor in things after all he’d witnessed and lived through, she’d be impressed at drawing the emotion from him.
“Marriage?’ he repeated loudly for clarity once he was sure no sign of amusement would color his words.
“Shh.” She glanced over her shoulder as if checking for guards.
Garik held his breath, listening as well.
Silence.
She turned toward him again and scooted even closer if possible. Anymore and she’d be in his lap. The thought didn’t repel him. Maybe he’d been in here longer than he thought, or his body was tired of the restrictions he’d put on the sexual aspects of his life.
Her hands once more danced over his jaw as she tipped it up. Light and with a gentle touch, she stroked. This was the second or third time she’d freely put her hands on him without fear or concern. Garik had broken the bones of others for daring to touch him. He studied her closer in hopes of determining what her angle was. Trap by Maurin?
Except no one could be that oblivious, could they?
He was an assassin. He killed then disappeared. How many times had others complimented his ruthless nature, his ability to compartmentalize and get the job done? Yet, this strange woman with her way too delicate appearance, touched Garik as if she wasn’t aware of the danger he represented to her. It would be far too easy to snap her neck.