Lady of Roses and Ruin: An Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Romance by Courtney Shack

Author:Courtney Shack [Shack, Courtney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Griffin Wing Press
Published: 2023-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 31

The image of Killian’s severed head haunts me.

I can’t shake it, no matter how many times I close my eyes. No matter that Nisha—eyes yellow and watching in the corner of the room—attempts to fill my brain with images of flowers and fields and forgotten things.

Sleep just isn’t something in the cards for me.

Every nerve fires inside of me. Do something. Cramps coil in the sinews of my forearms. Scream, run, act. I don’t do any of these things. Instead, I lay there with strangled breathing trying to force away the thought that I’m about to attempt to sever Killian’s head from his body and it may very well be the thing that kills me. But that’s not even what stills my every inch. Something about the idea of his eyes going lifeless, the quirk of his mouth stilling forever and that blasted waggling eyebrow relaxed for eternity rather than lifted in animated amusement.

Stupid girl. He’s an unkillable man. You’re more likely to die than he is. Despite the doubts, they feel distant. Something potent drums deep in me, a thing of brazen glory. This is how stupid people die all the time. They believe they can do an impossible thing—like jump off a cliff, certain they are about to fly.

I stare at the canopied fabric above. Filmy white cloth stretches in a gray haze. Strange that my childhood room now hosts a mess between girlhood and womanhood. The large form of my husband sleeps next to me.

My husband.

Killian fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The strange, near-tension between us slipped to nothing after we bickered about the bed. Another argument ensued that ended in my concession. For now.

That’s about to end.

Soft snores shudder from his mouth. The grimsbane dagger is somewhere on his side of the bed. Candlelight wavers in the corner of the room, a small comfort that I didn’t even seek out. Killian lit it just before bed, dispelling the need for me to admit a fear of the dark.

A fluttering, empty feeling fills my stomach. I need to get to the dagger. This is perhaps my one shot before I’m taken to Wolf Hall, away from all of this.

Grimsbane isn’t something to be taken lightly, if the stories are true. Strong enough to kill a Grim Lord–a mythical, immortal dark creature of faerie stories. Half made of myth, soaked in godsblood. The stories say so many things about it. What the existence of the metal means is something I don’t dwell on, just the little remark Killian made earlier in the night. “Grimsbane. Clever.”

Hopefully, clever enough to save my sorry ass from an early death and my father from a painful one.

I shift silently, swinging my legs off the bed. Killian’s arm lies close, as if he seeks the warmth of another body in his sleep. I move away without touching it. I keep the pressure of my arms on the bed as I shift up and off, easing the weight gradually so as not to wake him.

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