The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)(70)

“What are you going to do with a weapon?” Maarit demanded as Ari snatched up a thin, delicately wrought sword that rested in a dusty glass box.

“I’m going to use it.” Ari met the older woman’s eyes. “Go hide, Maarit. I’ll do what I can to protect you until Teague gets home.”

The housekeeper glared. “Why would you protect me? I don’t like you.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. And I don’t like you either. Now go hide.”

Without waiting to see if Maarit was going to comply, Ari crept back down the hall and into the front parlor. Rain still fell in thick, misty sheets. It was impossible to see anything out of the parlor windows except indistinct blurs.

Would the person on the other side of the door try to come in through the parlor windows? Or the sitting room on the other side of the entrance?

Maybe she should just shut the doors to both and shove a heavy piece of furniture in front of the doorways to block them. She glanced around for anything that could make that plan work—the claw-footed chair with the ugly floral fabric? She doubted she could wrestle it through the doorway in time to use it from the outside of the room.

She’d have to go into the entrance hall and find something there.

Creeping out of the parlor, Ari scanned the entrance. There was an umbrella stand, a coatrack, and lanterns hanging from brackets on the wall.

“Teague!” someone yelled on the other side of the door, and Ari’s breath caught in utter surprise.

She knew that voice. She’d thought when he came for her that he’d be subtle. Careful. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she’d hear Sebastian pounding down Teague’s door.

The sword clattered to the marble floor as she ran for the door. Her shaking fingers fumbled with the lock twice before she managed to unbolt it. She threw open the door.

Sebastian stood on the porch, his hair plastered to his head, his clothes dripping wet. There were bruises and cuts on his face. His dark eyes found hers and held.

For a heartbeat or two, they stared at each other, and then he said quietly, “Princess Arianna.”

She launched herself against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Damp from his clothing soaked the front of her dress as she clung to him, her body trembling from head to toe.

His arms slowly came around her, and he gathered her so close that she could feel the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her ear. She wanted to tell him that she’d missed him. That she was so grateful to not be alone any longer. But there were no words to describe the way the hollow loneliness within her filled with warmth at his touch. She held on to him with desperate strength and cried.

He rested his cheek on the crown of her head and said softly, “I told you I’d find you.”

She gulped for breath and pulled back to look into his eyes. “How did you do it?”

“I followed Teague’s carriage the night you were taken.” He was staring at her as if he was trying to memorize her face even as he let his arms drop to his sides.

“That was five days ago.”

He looked miserable. “I had to do some things before I could come here.”

“What things?”

He shook his head. “Things that would make Teague trust me enough to let me stay here at the villa with you.”

“You’re staying?” Her knees threatened to give out as she stepped back to give him the space he needed. She’d thought Sebastian had come to see if she was all right. It hadn’t occurred to her that he would find a way to stay.

“If Teague will have me. I think I’ll make a pretty convincing case.”

Hope was a desperate, painful thing fluttering in her chest, but it was followed swiftly by the harsh slap of reality.

Sebastian wasn’t contracted to Teague. He hadn’t made promises that would cost him his life to break.

It wasn’t fair to expect him to stay with her just because he . . . Wait.

“Why would you want to stay here?” Every word hurt to say, but she said them anyway. Convincing Sebastian that he wasn’t obligated to her was in his best interest, but already the hollow space in her chest was starting to hurt again.

“Because you’re here,” he said simply.

Three simple words, but Ari felt as if he’d lit a torch inside her heart.

“But your job at the palace—”

“I quit.”

“This is dangerous,” she said.

“I’ll risk it.”

“Teague might get mad and kill you the moment he sets eyes on you.”

“I’m betting he won’t.”

She swayed toward him, and stopped herself before she touched him again without his permission. “What if he expects you to sign a contract?”

Sebastian closed the distance between them in a single step and held her gaze. “Then I’ll sign it.”

“Sebastian,” she breathed as he hesitantly raised a hand to gently wipe away her tears.

“Yes?”

Her lit-torch heart spread heat along her veins until she thought she must be glowing with the wonder of it. “You’re touching me.”

“Yes.”

“On purpose.”

Worry filled his eyes, and his fingers tensed against her cheek. “Should I stop?”