Page 106 of Devil in Her Details

Thank you. But the words wouldn’t bloody form on his tongue.

She nodded once, then turned and followed her brother toward the door.

He watched her walk off and couldn’t bloody move. His limbs were just . . . lifeless. His tongue useless. His mind numb. For the first time in his life, he, Dagger Fury, was frozen.

He’d let her go.

You’d ruin her life.

And then she was gone.

Chapter Twenty-Two

There were some things in life that were better off not dwelled upon. There were also some things that were impossible not to dwell on. Lilly was fighting the battle between the two right now.

How could he just let her go like that?

She pulled her covers over her head, wishing that being cocooned beneath them would block out the world. That whole morning had felt like one of those brilliant dreams that turned into a nightmare, and you woke up with a pounding heart, disoriented and momentarily believing what had happened in the dream actually happened.

But this was no dream.

Everything had happened.

There was no waking up from this. There was no shaking off that feeling of disorientation. She hadn’t spoken to her brother since he’d secured them lodging at another inn, ordering his men to pack up her shop and townhouse. He hadn’t sought her out after that either. It seemed they both had some thoughts to process and emotions to work through. What was clear was the reason he had indulged her Brighton trip: He’d been biding his time and gathering information.

She buried her face in the pillow.

Sleep refused to come.

Oh, and Lilly had tried. She had arranged herself into every conceivable position, pulled the blankets up and kicked them off and pulled them up again, and stared at the ceiling until the shadows shifted and the candle guttered out entirely, and still nothing. Just the dark, and the quiet, and the face of the man who could not even speak to her before she’d left.

She regretted not looking back.

And sticking her tongue out at the man!

Rogue devil panther.

Lilly sighed. She understood now why he had wanted to keep her out of the dungeon and away from Calvington. That hadn’t been a pretty sight. It also revealed a not so pretty part of his character and their world, though those parts she didn’t mind as much. But she understood that he had wanted to protect her to the end. Even if it was only from himself.

I still can’t believe the man!

But there was nothing to be done. Panthers were not for keeping, and she was not the sort of woman who grieved over the inevitable.

She was not grieving.

The big hole in her heart was simply because she was not sleeping.

That was all.

A scrape at the window had her ears perked up.

Lilly flew upright, yanking the covers off her head, gaze darting to the window. Had she misheard? But there it was again. The softest knock of knuckles against glass. She was moving before her mind managed to form his name, padding over to the window. She knew before she pushed the curtain aside. Before her eyes found him on the other side, his broody face bathed in what little moonlight the clouds allowed, looking up at her with an expression that stole her breath.

She unlatched the window.

Dagger.

He placed one hand on the sill and one on the frame, and Lilly stepped aside so that he could enter. He swung his legs over, and before his boots had fully met the floor, she leaped into his arms.