A Court This Cruel & Lovely (Kingdom of Lies, #1)(49)

“Wherever you go, I know you’ll have a good life,” the quiet man said.

“Thank you. I hope you get to see your wife and daughter soon.”

“So do I.” He gave me a faint smile, and then it was Rythos’s turn.

“Get over here.”

My eyes burned as he embraced me. A sob left my throat.

“None of that, darlin’. My people believe there are those we are meant to have in our lives. We’ll see each other again.”

“P-promise?”

“I promise.”

Galon cleared his throat. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and laughed at his pained expression. I’d seen men with broken limbs look more comfortable.

Surprisingly, Galon’s discomfort with my tears helped. I gave him a shaky smile, and he reached out and ruffled my hair.

I brushed more tears off my face. “You want your cloak back?”

We both looked at the cloak, which was filthy. Since it was far too long for me, the hem had been dragged across the ground all this time, and it was riddled with holes.

Galon’s mouth twitched. “You keep it,” he said.

“Thanks.” More tears welled.

Fresh discomfort darted over his face. “You’re welcome.” He stepped back and gestured rather desperately for Lorian to take his place.

It was strange, given that a large part of me knew I couldn’t trust this group of mercenaries, but they’d still kept me safe. They’d taught me to use my magic, trained me to better defend myself, and—in their own ways—kept me from falling apart.

Despite their closed-mouthed insistence on secrets, I’d miss them.

Even Lorian.

He’d taken Galon’s place. And he was staring down at me like he was memorizing my features.

“In another life,” he said, his eyes dark. It sounded like a promise. I sucked in a shaky breath. I felt it too. That maybe in another life, we were meant to be different people. And we would have been those people together.

“In another life.” I forced a smile.

His gaze dropped to my lips.

And then he buried his hand in my hair and crushed his mouth to mine.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





Lorian’s lips were firm, warm, tender. They caressed mine like we had all the time in the world. Like this kiss could last forever. I sighed against his mouth, and his tongue slipped between my lips to tangle with mine.

His body was so hard. So large. Warmth spread from my stomach into my core. My knees went weak.

This was not at all like kissing the village boys. Lorian’s huge hand held me in place for him while he kissed me expertly. Thoroughly. He slipped his other hand to my lower back, pressing me close to him, and I shivered with want.

Tibris’s voice reached my ears. My usually mild-mannered brother was yelling all kinds of threats, Rythos and Marth holding him back.

Lorian pulled away and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Goodbye, Prisca.”

“Goodbye, Lorian.”

Tibris reached for my arm, practically dragging me away. Which was a good thing since I was still a little dazed.

“Are you crazy?” he hissed at me, leading his horse with his other hand. “The mercenary? Really?”

“He kissed me,” I snarled back. And that argument was weak. The moment Lorian’s mouth met mine, I’d participated wholeheartedly.

Tibris’s lips trembled in an almost-smile before he ruthlessly firmed them. “Fine. For now, how about you put your hood up and attempt to walk in a straight line?”

My cheeks flamed. Yes, I was walking unsteadily, as if I were drunk. After a single kiss. I was glad Lorian couldn’t see me now. His ego didn’t need the stroking.

What had he been thinking?

Oh, I knew what he’d been thinking. He wanted to make me think about him. It was yet another way to mess with my mind.

Well, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. As far as I was concerned, that part of my life was over. We were in the city now, which meant we needed to focus on rescuing Asinia and getting on a ship before the full moon. But gods, I’d miss the mercenaries.

“Where’d you get the horse?”

“Stole it,” Tibris said, his voice carefully neutral.

I sighed. My brother was good to his core. And because of me, he was now a wanted criminal. A thief. Of course, he was also a rebel.

I nodded, but my attention had caught on the scene in front of us. Next to me, Tibris went still.

The carriage was white and gold. But that wasn’t why my breath had stuck in my throat.

There was no horse attached to the carriage. And yet…it moved of its own accord.

“What magic is this?” I breathed.

“Stolen magic.” Bitterness seeped from each of my brother’s words.

“Move!” someone roared, and Tibris led his horse to the side of the road. Another carriage barreled past us, this one with a horse. Perhaps only the most powerful people in the city were using horseless carriages.

Lorian hadn’t warned me about this. From the way he’d talked about the king, it was clear he loathed him. And yet he hadn’t told me the people in the city would walk around using so much magic, it was clear they had received much, much more back than anyone living in the northern villages.