Page 94 of The Dragon and the Dove

Cursing, she ran to the window and tore her curtains apart. She gripped the sill, her pupils blown wide at what she saw glimpsed below her.

Caruso Dantes was standing in the front garden of House Armand, wearing that shit-eating grin she despised.

The Saint of Truth should never lie.

Even to herself.

‘I thought I told you to shut up,’ she muttered, feeling mildly absurd for talking to herself.

Caruso was pacing underneath her window. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he howled again. ‘AWOOOOOO!’

Grabbing the closest thing on her bedside table – a jewelled hairband – Val opened the window and flung it at him. ‘Get lost, you creep!’

He caught the hairband in one hand, and crooked a finger with the other.

She offered a finger of her own.

He howled again.

‘Have you lost your mind?’ she fumed.

His laugh was a bark in the night. ‘A long time before today, kitten.’

‘I’m all out of hairbands, Caruso. And I’m not wasting my shoes.’ He just stood there, grinning up at her like she was the damn moon. ‘Oh, piss off.’

He did not. And deep down, Val didn’t want him to. At least not before figuring out what the hell he was doing here.

Closing the window with a pointed thud, she put on her slippers and grabbed her lavender robe from the hook on the wall. Before she could talk herself out of it – not that she was ever good at that anyway – she took off down the stairwell and headed out into the garden.

Arms folded, she summoned a scowl that could wither a rose bush.

Caruso was leaning against the front wall, waiting for her. In the dark, his teeth were white and sharp. A wolf’s smile to match that wild howling energy.

Stopping several feet away from him, she said, ‘How did you know my bedroom was at the front of the house?’

He shrugged, gesturing to the slant of moonlight currently illuminating it. ‘I asked Saint Oriel to show me.’

Truth.

‘You’re insane.’

He licked his teeth. ‘Maybe the Saint of Destiny has a thing for me.’

Her eye-roll was violent.

‘Thanks for dressing up for me.’ He gestured at her robe. ‘Purple looks good on you.’

Truth.

Her cheeks flamed. Fuck. ‘It’s lavender. And also, shut up,’ she snapped. ‘We’re not playing nice. I only came down here to keep you from waking the rest of the house.’

‘Where’s Ransom? I’m surprised he hasn’t set his shadows on me.’

‘He’s asleep.’ The lie prickled down her spine. It felt like her magic was pinching her. ‘You’ll be dealing with me tonight.’

‘Then Oriel continues to favour me.’

‘That remains to be seen.’ She noted, belatedly, that he was still wearing his suit from the ball. His jacket was crumpled, the trousers stained with dirt and ash. She searched the street behind him.