The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(43)

There were people outside, the women, the fruit seller. Her eyes darted to the fluttering curtains of the window inside the room and he clamped his hand around her mouth, his fingers sears of fire against her parted lips.

“I wouldn’t scream if I were you. I don’t think they’ll look too kindly on a girl who broke into a home that wasn’t her own.” Kunal leaned in closer, his words soft. “I won’t hurt you.”

He shuffled her forward into the bedroom and eased the door shut with a soft thud, pulling her into the center of the room. She struggled and fought wildly, but his grip was tight.

Calm. She needed to remain calm.

Esha kicked her right hip back and shifted her arm out of his grip enough to aim an elbow jab at his side. It barely glanced off his skin, causing her more pain than him, and she realized he was wearing his armor under his clothing.

Clever. He chuckled but his grip on her softened and she whirled out, cursing at the pain radiating from her elbow.

“Now, do you want to tell me why you’re here? Why you left in the woods? I said I would help you get to a ship, see you off safely. Yet you left me in a tree, with no idea where you’d gone.” His tone was unsettling, like steel that covered its true form in silk.

She wouldn’t have thought the soldier had menace in him—but she had talked her way out of his grasp before. She just had to distract him enough to run.

Her eyes flashed to the window to the right, but she had latched it shut. He regarded her, his light eyes unnerving in the dim light, and she couldn’t help but glance over his body, assessing his weaknesses. Strong shoulders, lithe but muscled. It was clear he was strong, but she could tell from the way he moved that he would also be fast.

She’d just have to be faster.

“I was scared. How was I to know that you would see me safely back? You were kind, but how could I trust you?” she said, allowing her words to remain soft as she chewed on her lip.

He looked at her askance and she widened her eyes at him, letting her lips part.

The soldier laughed grimly. The quiet humor she had found behind his eyes in the forest was gone.

“You’re good, Esha. Very good. A jewel for the rebels.” He said the words without a trace of mockery, the meaning as sincere as the mistrust that now radiated from him.

Moon Lord’s mercy. He knew.

How?

She let the mask fall, matching his focused gaze with a stare of her own. It was as if in those few seconds, he understood every facet of her, light and dark, and didn’t back away.

There was no warmth, as there had been days ago. No lightness, no levity.

His eyes remained steady on her and Esha released a held breath.

But his face showed no fear. He wasn’t scared of her. Something about that called to her, reminded her of her friend from a lifetime ago who hadn’t backed away from her wild, younger self, all wide eyes and skinned knees.

“I’ll ask again. Why did you flee from me in the forest?”

He stepped closer and she resisted the instinct to step back. Why was he asking when he knew the answer? It was as if he wanted to hear it come from her mouth, to hear her curse herself with her own words.

His shoulders blocked out the light around her, shrouding him in darkness so that the planes of his face looked as if they’d been cut from marble.

“I left. I didn’t flee.”

“Esha, why did you leave? Tell me I’m wrong. I’d like to hear it. That you aren’t the Viper. That you didn’t use me to sneak into the Fort and kill General Hotha.”

His words were strangled, and he looked distressed, as if he had revealed more than he had wanted. The soldier was inches away from her now and Esha’s heart began to beat faster, in accompaniment to the rush of blood to her face. She saw his eyes widen in response, as if he sensed the change in her body. The silky light of the lone candle in the room flickered over his head, casting an intimate glow.

She wished she had her knife in her hand, her whip around his throat. Even a sharp pointed rock would do.

Esha broke away from his stare to glance at the door, the window. She was cornered, and when she looked back, his gaze was still on her, the heat of it weighing her down.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

“I did it. I killed him. Your general.”





Chapter 28


He glanced at her, startled at the confession. Esha felt her eyes go wide, betraying her own surprise.

Once the words were out of her mouth, she had no idea why she had wanted to say it, why she had lied. Maybe he would’ve believed her if she had told the truth, but it was better to watch him, to see what he might reveal.

“Why would you admit it?” He seemed puzzled, a frown on his face, as if expecting a trick.

She shrugged, her mind racing.

“You asked,” she pointed out, her brow furrowing. “Maybe it’s because my friends say I like to be contrary. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to confuse you.” She felt the words take on their own life as she looked at his face. “Maybe it’s because you seem to like me and I wonder if you will even after knowing.”

That hit too close to the truth that was beating in her heart.

He shook his head. “You admitted it. Whether I like you or not has no bearing on what I must do now. If you killed the general, you must be brought to justice.” A look like regret passed across his face. “Even if I owe you a debt.”