Hollow Court (The Lochlann Deception Book 1) by Robin D. Mahle & Elle Madison

Author:Robin D. Mahle & Elle Madison [Mahle, Robin D. & Madison, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whiskey and Willow Publishing
Published: 2023-03-30T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

Galina

As exhausted as I was, sleep did not come easily.

Or at all.

The night went by in a torrent of what-ifs, until the darkness threatened to swallow me and I could feel the ghost of Alexei’s fingers grasping at my arm, gripping me closer to him. I could feel his breath on my cheek.

If you would behave, I wouldn’t get so frustrated, Galina.

His voice morphed into a Lochlannian accent, the imprint of his hand transforming into an assassin’s blade.

I threw my blankets off, practically running to the balcony. The burst of night air soothed me, cooling the thin sheen of sweat that had settled over my skin. I gulped in greedy lungfuls, letting the still, calm night wash over me.

It wasn’t enough. I was still trapped with the wall behind me and the trees stretching out in front of me. I couldn’t breathe. I needed to see the stars.

With Davin home, it was probably safe to venture onto the rooftop. Surely, if the soldiers on guard were suspicious, they would go to him.

I might have risked it anyway, with how I was feeling tonight.

After ducking into my room to throw on a dressing gown, I crept back out onto the balcony. The icy sting of the iron staircase bit through the silk of my slippers, but it was worth it for an unobstructed view of the sky.

Or, the view would have been unobstructed, had there not been a tall, broad-shouldered figure standing against the far balcony.

I froze as Davin turned to face me, cool blue eyes locking onto mine.

Even in the silver lighting, he looked nearly as exhausted as I felt, his hair disheveled from running his hand through it.

He didn’t look surprised to see me, or maybe it was the familiarity of it all. Late nights under a starry sky with only each other for company.

Then again, he knew where my rooms were. As usual, I was the only one left in the dark.

“Your rooms are across from mine?” I surmised aloud.

Though he could have wandered up here from anywhere, the explanation seemed the most likely.

“Apparently,” he muttered, his words forming a small cloud in the cold night air.

I could have turned around and gone back downstairs—should have, perhaps—but the alternative to being on this roof with him was being alone in my room with my own relentless thoughts.

Besides, it was hard to muster up any real anger toward him these days.

Though, if I was being honest with myself, I hadn’t been strictly angry with him in some time.

I crossed over to the railing, resting my arms on the balustrade and taking in the endless sea of stars. The sky felt closer from the mountains back home, the world tucked away in safety. Out here, it was easy to feel exposed.

Vulnerable.

Or perhaps that was just the penetrating gaze of the rooftop’s other occupant. We stood for several stilted heartbeats before Davin’s low tone eventually cut through the silence.

“It probably says something about our lives that the days when I was

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