Grace and Fury (Grace and Fury #1)(41)

TWENTY



NOMI


NOMI LISTENED TO Angeline’s steady breathing with her eyes closed, the darkness pressing down on her with an almost physical weight. Asa had said to meet when the moon was high, but tonight the clouds that had lingered for days sulked in the sky and hid every scrap of moonlight. Nomi feigned sleep until she was sure her heart would burst. Until she’d counted one hundred of Angeline’s inhales and exhales. And then she counted a hundred more.

At last, she rose and slipped a silk dressing gown over her nightdress. She didn’t bother with shoes. Angeline’s breathing never changed, even as the door snicked open. Nomi peeked into the hall. Hastily, she closed the door, resting her forehead against the cool wood.

The Superior’s man was still there, at the end of the corridor.

She waited one minute. Two.

Peeked again. His sturdy form had disappeared.

Nomi took a deep breath, held it, and slipped from the room. She leaned against the door, the carved doe pressing into her back, and listened.

For the past two days, she’d stayed up later than usual, feigning insomnia. In truth, she’d been watching the men who roamed the Graces’ chambers. Most of them left when the Graces went to bed, but two remained at their posts all through the night, pacing the corridors, inspecting the terraces, stomping through the empty dining hall and ballroom. Their circuit took about five minutes. Sometimes the men walked together. Sometimes one took an alternate route.

Nomi prayed tonight they stayed together.

She clasped her dressing gown closer to her body. If she were caught, she’d say she was sleepwalking. She’d act confused. Frightened.

The last wouldn’t be too hard.

She tiptoed to the end of the hall. The men usually inspected the terraces first. She should have time to sneak the other way. It wouldn’t do to wonder what would happen if her luck didn’t hold.

She’d almost made it to the circular receiving room when she heard the thud of a shoe behind her. She ducked inside the doorway and froze, breath held.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Suddenly, she couldn’t remember which direction the guards went after the terraces. Were they coming here or heading down the corridor to the baths? Her pulse clamored in her ears, so loud she couldn’t be sure she was hearing footsteps and not the pounding of her own heart.

She made a choice and bolted for the door on the opposite side of the room, the door that led beyond the Graces’ chambers.

Her hand touched the knob. No one raised the alarm. Another second, and she was on the other side. The hallway outside was dim, lit at long intervals by flickering lamps. She hurried around the corner and down to the wall of glass.

All the partitions were closed. The darkness beyond was absolute. She couldn’t tell if Asa waited for her. With trembling fingers, she slid the glass open just wide enough to slide through.

A gust of wind blew through the gap, sending the hem of her dressing gown fluttering behind her. A hand gripped her wrist and pulled her outside.

She drew in a breath to scream.

“Hush.” Another hand covered her mouth in the dark. “It’s only me.”

Nomi sagged with relief at the familiar voice.

Asa reached around and shut the glass partition. “I’m sorry I startled you,” he murmured. “I was afraid someone would see you.”

Nomi tried to calm her racing heart, but it was difficult with the wind and the night and his body so close.

She took a step back to give herself space to breathe.

“What would happen if we were caught, Your Eminence?” she asked. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark. She could make out the shadow of his face now, turning toward the glow of the hallway beyond the glass.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ve never done this before.”

“If a person can be sent to Mount Ruin for reading…” Her voice trembled.

“No, Nomi. I would not let that happen to you,” he said earnestly. He bent toward her. “I promise.”

All the frustration, guilt, and grief she’d been holding inside, in silence, threatened to spill out. “I can’t stand this. Serina shouldn’t be there,” Nomi said, the words tumbling over themselves. “It isn’t fair.”

“You’re right—it’s not fair.” Asa led her over to the railing, farther from the light filtering through the glass. “Nothing about Viridia is fair.”

“What can I do? Surely there’s some way to persuade the Superior to free her?” Nomi knew she was grasping at straws. But she couldn’t let Serina suffer for her. Not anymore. Not if she could do something, anything. “Maybe, if I said I was the one who took the book, if I was the one who could read…”

She hesitated. Would he realize she was confessing? She wanted to confess. She wanted everyone to know her sister was innocent, that she didn’t deserve to be punished. Imprisoned.

But Asa shook his head. “Absolutely not. Father would just punish you both. He and Malachi…” She felt his shudder through his hands, still joined with hers. “The slightest infraction can be deadly. Father is always merciless, but Malachi is worse.… He’s volatile. One day, he offers mercy. The next, agony. I fear what he’ll do as Superior. His unpredictability could endanger all of Viridia.”

Nomi’s stomach twisted. She remembered that first day in the hallway, when Malachi had cornered her against the wall, so angry, only to choose her as a Grace not two hours later. Volatile, yes. And this was the man to whom her life was forever chained.