Page 62 of A Vow of Shadows
I shot him a look to rival Katrin’s.
“I kept her mind off you.” He sucked on his cigar and blew out a line of perfectOs. “Well, I tried to.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I snapped, pushing up to standing.
“Not what you’re thinking.” Sam smiled like he’d told a joke, but I wasn’t laughing. “I thought she was doing all right. We talked and made nice, but she cannot hold her liquor.”
I growled.
“Nothing happened. She had a few drinks and passed out.” He glanced to where she lay sprawled over the armchair. “You learn a lot about a person when they’re in their cups. Did you know she’s an only child? Or that she was promised in marriage, but the deal fell through when she was marked?”
I shook my head, feeling the slimy worm of jealousy take hold in my gut.
“She called out for you while she was sleeping.” Sam’s voice was quiet as his brows pulled together in concern. “What are you doing, Van?”
“I’m earning my freedom.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth, and the words tasted wrong as I spoke them.
Sam raised his brows like he saw the lie for what it was. “Is that all?”
“Of course it is,” I bit out.
“Oh, really? Because I see the way you look at her like she’s more than just a means to an end. You know this can’t end well.”
I nodded, though part of me disagreed with him. A larger, more rational part of me knew he spoke true. The Between was not a place for happy endings. It was not a place for endings at all. It was a world of eternities, never ending and never changing.
I perched on the arm of the chair Katrin occupied, needing to be near her, to know that she was safe. My encounter with Behryn had left me shaken. I exhaled shakily. Even if he’d only guessed at Katrin’s involvement with me, it was enough to paint a target on her back. The second he realized she was the girl he’d marked—the woman he’d likely been hunting since she disappeared all those weeks ago—he would stop at nothing to capture her. And I would likely see another hefty fee added to my indenture.
Katrin was my one shot at freedom. I was all in.
Sam observed me with an inhuman tilt of his head, his keen eyes missing nothing. “What has happened?”
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I blew out another breath. “I ran into Death.”
Sam lurched forward. “Where? When?”
“At the manor as I was leaving.” I stared at my hands. If only I possessed a modicum of power beyond the shadows granted to me by Death himself. “He was looking for her. Nother, specifically, but he knew there’d been a woman staying with me. Whether he’d gleaned some hint of her existence at his last visit or learned of her from one of his beasts or subjects, I don’t know.”
Sam chewed on his lip. “And he just… let you go?”
I nodded.
“Shit.”
“We should leave now,” I said, making no move to act on the statement.
“And go where? If Behryn doesn’t already suspect my involvement, this is the safest place for you. If he does—” He shrugged. “Then, I’m already doomed.”
I took in Katrin’s sleeping form, the injured leg, the dark smudges beneath her eyes that refused to abate even in sleep. “I suppose you’re right.”
Sam scoffed. “Of course, I’m right. Now, take your woman to bed before I do.”
I glanced sharply at him.
“Take her tothebed. Come now, Van.” He chuckled, but the words had their intended effect. Images of Katrin sprawled beneath me replaced the dark thoughts about Behryn.
Ignoring Sam’s knowing wink, I scooped Katrin into my arms and carried her into the bedroom. She stirred only once, her eyes fluttering open as I set her down on the mattress. Her smile nearly undid me. No one had ever looked at me that way, like Iwas her rock, her hero, her true north. As she slipped off to sleep again, I pressed a kiss to her cheek, one I’d longed to give since I’d felt the feather-light brush of her lips against my skin. My lips still tingled as I walked away, content to let her rest and heal while I worried over darker problems.
Chapter 41