Free Prince of Shadows by Nancy Gideon Page B

you’re not safe, all this was for nothing. Understand?”
    “Yes.” She understood perfectly. “I should go now.”
    He nodded. “Lock your door and stay put. I’ll come for you as soon as I can . . . if I can.”
    The enormity of it hit hard. Her future, her very life, was in the hands of this man she barely knew, who had no reasons beyond the obvious for taking the risks he was about to.
    He was after the crown.
    Why else would he have come back for her after she’d so unforgivably insulted him? If feelings for her were the cause for his sudden heroism, would he let her walk away, perhaps for the last time, without a quiet word or a tender touch? But this was Cale Terriot. Quiet and tender weren’t his go-to responses.
    She hesitated, wishing she could see him clearly through the dazzle of daybreak. Maybe that last look would reveal the answer to the mystery he’d become. More likely not.
    She turned without speaking only to have him put himself in front of her before she reached the door. He whisked his jacket about her shoulders and extended her shoes. Then his strong hands rubbed up and down her arms with a rough agitation. “When you’re mine, no one will dare hurt you.”
    A tremor raced through her at what this bargain would mean. Even without the bolster of alcohol to make her bold, she couldn’t convince herself that anticipation didn’t twine about apprehension as she dodged around him and was out the door.
    Carrying her shoes, Kendra dashed across the grounds, sticking to cold shadows where she couldn’t be seen. Her heart pounded, but not from the fear of discovery. Cale was her one safe avenue. He wouldn’t allow her honor to be damaged. He’d want that privilege for himself.
    Her room was dark. She could hear Rosie breathing quietly from beneath the huddle of blankets, obviously not as concerned about her welfare as Brigit would have been. Her cousin wouldn’t have closed her eyes until she’d laid in to her about her behavior at the club. Behavior that had led to far worse consequences than her splitting headache.
    Kendra grabbed up a change of clothes and slipped into the bathroom. A glimpse of her reflection shocked her. The feverish spots of color upon ghostly pallor, the misshapen hair, the puffy lips . . . She looked as though she’d enjoyed every perverse thing all would soon be imagining.
    Cale Terriot wasn’t going to be satisfied with a few lusty kisses when he came to claim her, not once he’d paid the price to have her. That disturbing certainty hurried her into the shower to scrub every trace of his scent from her overly sensitive skin. Fixing her thoughts on him distracted from the underlying horror of what had happened, allowing her to push those terrifying moments into a far corner reserved for other nightmares in her past.
    She would think only of Cale. Trepidation defied the heat of the water, leaving her cold and trembling. Missing the heat of his body against her.

    “Did you hear what happened?” Rosie whispered with scandalized excitement as she scooted into the seat opposite Kendra with her bird-sized breakfast and green tea.
    Kendra fixed her gaze on her own untouched plate of cold eggs. “What?”
    “Michael Terriot was killed last night, right behind the club, while we were inside dancing. It’s all very hush-hush. We’re all expected at the funeral. You’ll want to do something with your makeup. You look positively ghastly.” A pause. “What time did you get in?”
    “Late. I went out for a meal.”
    Rosie perked up. “A meal? With who?” One look at Kendra’s expression had her gasping. “Oh my God! You left with Cale?”
    Kendra shushed her. She could read front-page news all over her friend’s face.
    Rosie leaned forward on her elbows. “So you’ve chosen?”
    “Not officially. It’s not the right time, considering.”
    Rosie nodded, for once showing a little astuteness. “You and Cale,” she mused. “I never would have guessed