Lenan’s hand trailed down my side to my hip. Spiders. Oh gods, spiders up my back again. Keep it together.

He leaned in to kiss just below my ear. “I didn’t expect this from you.” His lips traced a line down to my shoulder, then veered over to just below my choker. I tilted my head back, letting it happen, until one of his hands reached to unclasp the necklace. I snatched his hand and relocated it to my waist, and I felt his smile against my skin.

“I’ve heard rumors,” I said.

He pulled me close, and I pinched my thighs together as his bulge pressed into me. “What kinds of rumors?” he asked.

“Like how you might be considering marrying me.”

He pulled back slightly with a wicked grin. “And that appeals to you, does it?”

“It does,” I lied. “Is it true?”

“It’s crossed my mind.” His lips barely brushed mine, and I shuddered unpleasantly. “I can certainly make it true if you ask.”

“Make it true.”

A hand shot to my throat and squeezed. “I said, ask.”

“Can you make it true?” I gasped.

That sleazy grin returned. “I’ll have the papers drawn up tomorrow.” A hand crept down my thigh, tugging at the slit in my skirt. “Tonight, I want you on your knees.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Oh gods. I nearly gagged.

Then his hand shot between my legs. I tried to back away, but he grabbed my arm and reached under my skirt. “What the hell is this?” he demanded.

Fuck.

He plucked the knife that I’d sheathed along my inner thigh, then shoved me back to the floor. He stared at it, then at me. “Just what were you planning on doing with this?” He stalked toward me. “Answer me, Chosen.”

I scrambled back and spotted a narrow letter opener styled after a sword on the table beside me. I grabbed it, wielding it like a dagger. “Stay back.”

One of the windows cracked open of its own accord, but Lenan stomped toward me, snapping my attention back to him.

“You were going to murder me, is that it?” he hissed. “You seductive little bitch. You—”

A blade shot through Lenan’s chest, and his blood splattered across my front. My mouth gaped open, but I stayed silent in shock. He dropped to the carpet, revealing the black-haired desen glaring at me with a bloodied sword in his hand.

“Scream,” he said.

I stared at him in disbelief as I jumped to my feet, still wielding the letter opener.

He prowled toward me and slashed his sword’s tip across the little blade, sending it careening across the room. “Scream.”

I screamed, and he bolted for the window. I grabbed my knife from the floor and chased after him, but he leapt from the windowsill clear to the top of the castle’s outer wall, barely grasping its edge to pull himself up. Then he dropped over its other side, and he was gone.

Guards rushed down the hallway and I tucked my knife back in its sheath before they burst into the room, taking in the scene.

“He fled over the wall!” I shouted.

Two of them darted back out, shouting commands down the hallway.

The others approached me with their hands to their sides. “Are you hurt, my lady?”

My hands trembled, my breathing was speeding out of control, and my legs were going numb. Then they gave out. One of the guards caught me, shouting at the other to fetch a doctor.

But it was too late. Pain flooded my chest and head, and I couldn’t make out any of the words people were shouting around me. Then it all went silent and dark.