licked my hand. “Very well,” he grumbled. “As long as you stay out of trouble in the meantime.”
“Don’t I always?”
He snorted. “Never.”
I grinned and scratched his head again. “Well, you’re the one who’s going to be in trouble if you don’t find someplace to hide. See if Lyra can help you. I asked her to watch out for you earlier, and she’s probably flying around the palace searching for you. If you’re nice to her, maybe she’ll find you a quiet tower or parapet to sleep on.”
Grimley snorted again. “I can find my own tower. Although the bird is an excellent hunter. Perhaps she could help me track down a rat or two to nibble on,” he admitted, a bit of grudging respect rumbling through his voice.
He nuzzled his head up against mine, then drew back, flapped his wings, and shot up into the sky. Another smile stretched across my face. Despite the danger I was still in, things were so much better now that he was here—
Creak.
One of the balcony doors swung open, and a shadow fell over me. I shoved my hand into my pocket. The tearstone arrow was the first thing I felt, so I yanked it out and whirled around to face the enemy sneaking up on me.
The arrow wasn’t the easiest weapon to wield, but I gripped it like a dagger and lashed out with it, and the black-cloaked figure scrambled away. I lunged forward, whipping the arrow from side to side and driving the figure back across the balcony.
The figure banged into one of the closed doors, and I charged ahead, preparing to plunge the arrow into my enemy. The figure jerked to the side, and the black hood slipped off its head, revealing a familiar face.
I stopped short, the tip of the arrow an inch away from Leonidas’s throat.
He stared at me, wariness filling his eyes. We stayed like that, frozen in place, for several seconds.
I let out a breath, stepped back, and lowered the arrow. “Sorry. I thought you were . . .”
“Who?”
“Milo, Emperia, Corvina, Wexel, Maeven. Take your pick.” My eyes narrowed. “Why are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?”
“I was worried about you.”
The simple admission made something warm and treacherous pool in my heart, but I crossed my arms over my chest, careful not to poke myself with the arrow. “Well, you have a funny way of showing it, leaving me behind in Milo’s workshop. It’s a wonder I didn’t get caught and executed.”
Leonidas grimaced. “That wasn’t me—that was the liladorn. It has a mind of its own. Sometimes, it . . . interferes, although I’ve never quite understood why.”
He glanced at a nearby vine, a puzzled look on his face. I frowned. Could Leonidas not sense the presence in the liladorn? Could he not hear its voice like I could? Strange. If anyone could communicate with the vines, then it should be the prince. Then again, all mind magiers were different, and no one’s magic worked exactly the same way. Still, I found it curious that I could speak to the liladorn, and he seemingly could not.
Leonidas turned his gaze back to me. “It wasn’t my intention to leave you behind. The liladorn shut me off from the workshop, then dragged me through the secret passageway and spat me out in the rookery. By the time I made it through the palace and back over to Milo’s wing, I couldn’t sense your presence anywhere near his workshop. So I took a chance that you had escaped, and returned here to wait for you.”
He cleared his throat. “Even if you had gotten caught, I would have protected you. I would never just abandon you.”
That warm, treacherous pool in my heart expanded, oozing down into my stomach and spreading out to other areas. Still, his words reminded me of our childhood encounters. No matter how intriguing I found the Morricone prince, I needed to remember that he had betrayed me back then and he would betray me again now in a heartbeat, if he ever realized who I really was.
Leonidas’s gaze swept over my gown, which was torn and dirty, along with the rest of me. “Are you okay?” He frowned. “Where are your shoes?”
“I’m fine. My shoes are in my pockets. I had to take them off to climb down the roof.”
He blinked in surprise. “You climbed down the roof? Is that how you got out of Milo’s workshop?”
“Yes. I climbed up the wall to