I dropped into my chair with a thump, my throat tight. Against all odds, I had found an ally. Someone who called me his hope and kissed my hand.
But on my first day, I had accomplished nothing except complaining. He must think me such a selfish child.
With a sigh, I leaned my head down on the table. I’ll search all night, I promised myself. All tomorrow too. But the words sounded hollow even inside my head; now that I knew the scale of this house, I very much doubted I would find the other hearts anytime soon.
Warm lips pressed against the back of my neck.
I bolted upright, arms flailing. Ignifex stood beside my chair, grinning down at me.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
I glared up at him, trying to rub away the phantom sensation of the kiss. “I think you know what, my lord.”
“I suppose I do.” He shrugged and stepped away from me, toward his own seat.
Before I could formulate a reply, the smell of dinner hit me again. Tonight the main dish was stewed beef with apricots. Usually I didn’t like apricots, but I had eaten nothing since breakfast, and at that moment ambrosia couldn’t have smelled better. I picked up my fork and devoured it. Only when I felt a comforting weight in my stomach did I pause and notice that Ignifex was watching me, his mouth crooked in a half smile. No doubt he was amused to see a daughter of the Resurgandi gulping her food like a common peasant.
I set my fork down slowly, wishing I could wipe that smile off his face.
“And where have you been all day?” I asked.
“Roaming the earth and making bargains.” He picked up a glass of wine and swirled it. “Do you want to hear about them?”
“I already know what sort of bargains you make. And you don’t roam the earth, just Arcadia.”
Though it suddenly occurred to me that for all I knew, he did pass between worlds to stand upon the true earth and look up at the true sky.
“Ah, yes, you are a daughter of the Resurgandi. You know of what you have been deprived.” He leaned back in his chair.
“What are you planning?” I asked warily.
“Marriage. Obviously.” He picked up a dish. “Shall I tell you about the girl who bargained away her mother’s eyes, that she might once taste stuffed dates such as these? I can’t say I was sorry when the rabid dogs attacked her.”
“You aren’t sorry about anything you do.”
He flashed a smile at me. “So you are learning.”
“I’ve known that fact all my life.”
“Then what have you learnt since coming here?”
What it’s like to kiss your shadow, I thought. I bit the words back, but the secret gave me courage.
“That your house is disorganized,” I said. “That you’re less impressive than I thought and far more annoying. And that if the gods have any mercy, I will find a way to destroy you.”
Then I realized I had said that last part out loud.
I used to guard my words so well, I thought numbly as I sprang to my feet. What was it about this house, this demon, that made me tell the truth?
At least I hadn’t hinted at the plan to use the house against him.
“Don’t leave the table yet.” Ignifex was on his feet. “The conversation was just getting interesting.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, backing away slowly. My body thrummed with the need to run, but I knew it was useless. “Death is always interesting to you, isn’t it?”
He advanced on me like a cat stalking a bird. “You want me to worry more about my own demise?”
I took another step back and smacked into one of the pillars. With nowhere to run—and knowing that running wouldn’t save me—all I could do was stare him down.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly bother you. Do go ahead and rest in comfortable ignorance.”
“The better to kill me in my sleep?”
“It would be rude to wake you first.”
It was like a dance over cracking ice. I felt dizzy with barely leashed terror, but I almost could have laughed, because I was keeping pace with him and I was still alive and that meant I was winning.
Ignifex looked almost ready to laugh himself. “But that’s no fun for either of us. You could at least bring me breakfast in bed with death.”
“What, poison? So you can show off how you’re immune like Mithridates?”
“I’m comforted that you thought of him and not Tantalus.”
“As much as you mean to me, husband, there are some things I won’t do for you.”
Our eyes met, and for a moment there was nothing but shared glee between us—
Between me and my enemy.
I felt a pulse of fear at the same moment that his eyes narrowed. Then one of his hands landed on the pillar beside me as he leaned in.
“Nyx Triskelion,” he said lowly.
My breath stopped.
He was a monster. Not even close to human. But I wasn’t looking at his cat-slit eyes or mocking smile. I was staring at the lines of his shoulder, lazy but strong even under his clothes; the pale skin of his throat, exposed where several of his coat’s gold clasps had come undone; the curve of his jaw that would be warm against my lips. For one moment, I felt like a river running down to his ocean.
Then he chuckled. The sound scraped across my skin like cat claws; I remembered who he was and what he’d done, and I knew that he was mocking me.
He leaned a closer. “Would you like to guess my name?”
I found my breath. Clenched my teeth. And glared at him with all the strength I had left.