Page 60 of White Raven

It made no sense. You didn’t help your enemy.

The room suddenly became very small, buzzing with something I couldn’t explain, aware of his closeness, his gentle touch on my skin.

“Hey!” A knock rattled the door, jolting me. “I need to get in and take a shit!”

The moment broke. He sat back, tossing the rag into the bowl. He rose up, his barrier set in place, his expression marred with irritation.

“Let’s go.” He didn’t wait for my hand, seizing my arm and yanking me back up to my feet. He bent over, picking up the discarded cloak. “I’ll fix the button later.” He huffed, opening the door and shoving past the barrel-chested man in the hall.

The stranger’s eyes widened in fear at seeing Onyx, stumbling back out of the brute’s way. His head snapped to me when I followed after, his eyes opening wider. His attention instantly went to the ink over my neck and chest and his fear shifted to desire.

A lustful smile grew over his mouth. “You are a pretty one.” He reached down, rubbing his crotch. “I’m sure your owner won’t mind if I fuck your throat for a few coins. Great way to start my da⁠—”

A hand seized his throat and the man’s frame slammed against the wall, shaking the floor. He was in no way small, yet Onyx’s size eclipsed his. A deep growl vibrated the air. The Northerner was stacked with knives, but he didn’t bother using any of them. He didn’t have to. I had seen him angry before, but this had me cowering back.

“I guess you don’t understand the rule of seeing my mark. You touch what’s mine, you even look or breathe in her direction or are anywhere in her vicinity. I will flay your lungs around your neck like a scarf.” He slammed the man into the wall again, pulling up his sleeve, showing off a tattoo, his voice lowering to a deep rumble. “You know what I am. What I can do.”

“I’m—I’m sorry . . .I didn’t know.” The man’s voice quivered. “I promise, I won’t even look at her.”

“You better hold that promise, because I am not someone who gives second chances.” He shoved him harder, letting go. The man sagged against the wall. “You proposition any woman like that again, thrall or not, and I will find you. Understand me?”

“Y-ye-yes.” He nodded.

Onyx stood with his chest against the man’s before he huffed, stepping back.

The familiar nerve in his jaw twitching as he turned to me, scooping up my arm.

“Breakfast?” He guided me to the stairs. “I’m starving.”

CHAPTER 14

The downstairs buzzed with the same energy it had earlier, voices humming, men and women dancing as though time did not matter here. Even in continual light, the Day Realm had a structure of day and night, when the village would sleep and rise to start a new day. In the Shadow Rift, it didn’t seem to matter.

Drunken songs and shouts muddled with the cries of babies, clanking of dishes, and clatter of boots across the wood floor. After last night and what had just happened, my nerves were exposed and raw, blistering like the tattoo on my chest.

I was jumpy and self-aware, like the whole room was staring at me, beholding the humiliation of the fallen White Raven, taking delight in the demise of someone who grew up so privileged. Yet no one looked twice; the girl with silver hair and marks down her chest was nothing more than a thrall here. Someone sold to him from a street auction.

The Northerner weaved us over to a quieter corner, as if he knew I couldn’t handle the bombardment of noise, my system jumpy and frazzled. The people were stifling, their lightheartedness in direct opposition to my emotions, prickling irritation at the back of my neck.

“Sit.” He threw my cloak on the stool, nodding at it.

Shakily, I lowered down, having no energy to fight.

He watched me critically, sitting across from me, a furrow between his brows.

“I wouldn’t have let him touch you.”

My head dipped, staring at the scrapes in my palms.

“That’s never happened to you before?” Surprise rang in the timbre of his voice.

My lips pressed together. There were some high lords who would visit the king, alcohol bolstering their already inflated egos. They would corner me at a gala, getting handsy and assertive, but I never felt scared. Easily reminding them who I was and knowing my guards were feet away. Protection surrounded me and my handmaidens at all times. The only threat was the possibility of a Night Raven attack. We were ready for a battle. For them to come head-on. We weren’t prepared for the fight to be nothing more than a simple move on the chessboard. A thrall we had stationed in our own walls.

“You think it’s him I’m upset about?” I dropped my hands, pinning my barbed words at my assailant. “That he’s the monster here?”

His mouth pinned together in a flat line, the muscle in his jaw twitching. We stared each other down, lost in a war no one else was waging.

“What can I get you?” The familiar woman’s voice broke through our silent battle. Frida came to a stop before us, her mouth parting at seeing my tablemate. Her brunette hair was down, braided on one side, her bodice exposing more of her breasts, as though she took extra care today. “Onyx . . .” she breathed out, her cheeks pinkening. “I was hoping to see you this morning.”