With a frown, I make the ribbon release him and then shove it behind me. Ravinger’s grin widens.
“Making friends?” he purrs.
I reach down to snag my dropped glove and pull it back on my shaking hand. “I’ve learned that any friends I could hope to make are wildly disappointing.”
The smirk slides off his face at that. “And why have you come to such a pessimistic view?”
Even though my insides are a turbulent mess, I meet his stare head-on. “Every person who has ever been friendly to me has done nothing but disappoint me.”
Ravinger’s expression sharpens. “That’s unfortunate.”
I lift a shoulder. “I’m used to it.”
When his jaw muscle jumps, I know I’ve irritated him. Which is good, because then I can concentrate on that, on pissing him off, rather than what I almost just did.
My hands wring in front of me, and the movement betrays me, making his gaze flick down to my broken bodice. “Corset trouble?” His damn amusement has already rallied.
“Yeah, the trouble is corsets are stupid.”
Ravinger chuckles, and the sound helps me let out the tight breath that was stuck in my throat. He lets a slow gaze drag over me, and I hate how it makes my skin heat, makes my heartbeat quicken. “Good to see you up and about, Lady Auren. I was worried that your return to your golden king was quite...restricting.”
My eyes narrow on his choice of words. “Everything is well in hand, King Ravinger. I thank you for your benevolence in releasing me,” I say with a sickly sweet tone.
He cocks his head, those mossy green eyes never leaving my face. “Does anyone need to release a goldfinch? Or does she do it herself?”
I open my mouth, but no words come out.
He arches a thick black brow, and I immediately see Rip in that gesture, which just makes my stomach sour. Then he tips head ever so slightly in a gesture of respect. “Enjoy your day, Lady Auren.”
Turning, he walks away with a confident stride, while I’m left to stare after him, grappling to make sense of everything that just happened.
“My lady.”
I jump in surprise, whirling around at Scofield’s voice. “Shit. I forgot you two were behind me.”
He shifts on his feet at my curse, sharing a look with Lowe. “We really need to go back inside now.”
His voice and the nervousness in his brown eyes makes me relent. I nod and begin to head back down the stairs, while sharp whispers are traded between my two guards.
The aftershocks of what just happened sway my steps and make my thoughts dizzy. Because that intensity of emotion, that dark desire to punish... I’ve never felt anything quite like that before.
Anger, I realize, tastes like a sugared flame. And after a lifetime of cold bitterness, a part of me wanted to indulge in it, wanted to bloom in its burning embrace.
I don’t know when it happened exactly, but it seems a darkness has sprouted inside of me, nurtured from the cruel soil I was left to wither in.
I felt so powerful. So unstoppable.
And...I liked it.
The very person I accused of being a mindless murderer was the one to stop me from becoming one.
I see you’re awake, Goldfinch.
Goddess, that cool, unruffled voice of his. I have a feeling he wasn’t just talking about me getting up out of bed, either. One sentence, and he grounded me, like gravity to the earth. His voice cut through the sinister one in my own subconscious and drew me back down.
But all the way back to my rooms, one question follows me, like a ghost haunting my steps, dumping sickly cold water over my dampening spirit.
What would I have done if he hadn’t interrupted?