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“Worth a shot…”

“No, it’s not” He set the tray on the bed then set up the firewood in the hearth

I was starving, so I took a seat and scarfed everything down

He got the fire going, bringing it from red embers to powerful fla shadows on the walls from the bed and the arh the crack under the door

He draped his cloak over the back of the chair then took a seat like he intended to stay With his eyes on the fire, he addressed me “How’s your face?”

“It didn’t seem like you cared about it when the queen went to town on it”

“You killed one of us If you thought there wouldn’t be repercussions, you’re stupid”

“If I’d known there would be repercussions, I wouldn’t have come back with you”

“You’re under the iiven you a choice” His hands curled over the armrests, and he made an old creaky chair look like a throne With the fire reflecting in his eyes, it was like ice being on fire, blue flames

“I don’t even feel it any for a while, but the cold nuood I watched the fire as I ate my dinner, day-old bread, assorted fruit and nuts, and a piece of meat I didn’t knohat kind of nize it I was in a world without mattresses, without servants, without hot stones between ot in

I didn’t complain about it, but it did suck

He lingered, eyes still on the fire, and I assu

When e of the bed

He still didn’t move

“What are you doing in here?”

After a long pause, he shifted his eyes to me

He stared—long and hard

It was a look I hadn’t received in a long time, an intense stare that was powerful and cruel I’d never met anyone who could make eye contact the way he could, to have such confidence in his visage “I don’t need a reason”

There was so different in the air now, a tension that was hot on my skin The relationship between us was different, but I wasn’t sure what had changed Just yesterday, I was ready to let him die so I could escape, and now…I didn’t know

The stare continued without a blink, without a break

A man had never stared at me like that before

It wasn’t hostile, but it was intimate

It made my heart skip a beat Made ed uy leaned in and pushed you up against the wall But Huntley was clear on the other side of the rooht next to me

“Why are you looking at me like that?” My voice came out weak, when it hardly ever did I wasn’t afraid I wasn’t angry I was just provoked, provoked by that stare that had the power to move mountains