The Detective's Damsel

xv.

"KISASSZONY?"

Corinna jolted awake, vision blurred with sleep. Izsak hung over her, his blue eyes gray in the sunlight cutting through the window.

"What is it, Izsak?" Her voice was thick and heavy as she blinked at her chef, but instead of his typical friendly expression, his face was stricken with panic.

"You must hide. Mr. Báthory is—" The sound of thunderous footsteps on the creaky stairs roared through Corinna's eardrums, finishing Izsak's sentence for him. She had spent seven years with those footsteps. Niklos. All of a sudden, it felt like she had been showered with a pitcher of freezing water, rendering her wide-awake and frantic. She nodded to Izsak and turned to Knight, ready to find a hiding spot, but she immediately froze in place.

Knight was still asleep, dark hair falling in loose waves across his forehead, his long lashes rimmed with sunlight in the oncoming morning. He clutched her quilt to his chest, slender fingers wrapped around the fabric. His legs were entangled with hers, the fabric of her dress utterly squashed beneath his sock-covered feet. Corinna felt her cheeks heat up. Had Izsak seen that? Is that why he had woken her first? But while she would have considered the possibilities further, she knew Niklos would find them if she did not act quickly.

Corinna carefully untangled herself from Knight and stood over his sleeping form, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. She felt his chest rise and fall beneath her hand—once, twice. She could feel the warmth underneath the fabric of his shirtsleeves and hesitated. He looked peaceful, but as long as she could have stood there, they did not have that kind of time. Corinna huffed out a breath and shook him. Knight sat up quickly and Corinna jumped back a few inches, startled. His eyes were glazed over and unfocused as they passed over the room lazily. The sunlight painted the edges of his dark hair gold, and he had an indent on his cheek from where he had fallen asleep on his arm. If only Corinna had the time to think about how beautiful he was.

Niklos's booming voice came from the other room. She grabbed Knight's hand without thinking, yanking him behind the couch. Or, well, she tried to. Knight was heavy and Corinna bit back a grunt as she attempted to pull him into action. After a few groggy seconds, he seemed to catch onto the fact that something very terrible was about to happen if he did not move quicker. Knight staggered to his knees and followed her, collapsing into the small space between the couch and the wall.

Corinna bunched up the remaining fabric of her dress and pulled it the rest of the way behind the couch with shaking fingers. Satisfied, she let out a small sigh and pressed her back to the tearing fabric of the couch, pulling her knees to her chest. If Niklos had come down to the servant's quarters, it had to mean he was growing suspicious. Or desperate. Corinna hoped she would not have to see him face-to-face to ask him which of those options it was.

Knight finally seemed to come to life beside her, shifting in place and pressing his feet against the damask wallpaper. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

Corinna tilted her head to look at him. "Niklos."

Knight nodded and leaned his head back into the couch, his eyes sliding closed as he tilted his head into the sunlight entering through the windowpane. For a single moment, Corinna simply watched him. Light stubble had appeared on his chin, making him look older. She was about to apologize for waking him when he popped upright, his eyes wide with sudden realization as they met hers. Corinna bit back a yelp.

"Shit," he said. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What?" She whispered.

"Our shoes," he said.

Before she could even so much as open her mouth to form a reply, Knight had scrambled to his feet and bolted back into the open space. Corinna heard Niklos's voice again, this time louder and closer. He could not be far away. If Knight was seen... Corinna bit down on her lower lip hard, holding her breath and resisting every urge to turn around and make sure Knight was not about to give away the only safe location Corinna knew in Nyírbátor.