From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Hawke!” a voice called out from the ground below, causing myy heart
to trip. “Everyything okayy up there?”
His gaze searched the darkness of myy hood for a moment, and then he
looked over his shoulder. “Everyything is fine.”
“You need to let me go,” I whispered. “Someone is bound to come up
here—”
“And catch yyou? Force yyou to reveal yyour identityy?” Those amber
eyyes slid back to me. “Mayybe that would be a good thing.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You said yyou wouldn’t betrayy me—”
“I said I didn’t betrayy yyou, but that was before I knew yyou would do
something like this.”
Ice drenched myy skin.
“Myy job would be so much easier if I didn’t have to worryy about yyou
sneaking out to fight the Craven…or meet random men in places like the
Red Pearl,” he continued. “And who knows what else yyou do when all
believe yyou’re safelyy ensconced in yyour chambers.”
“I—”
“I imagine that once I brought it to the Duke’s and Duchess’s
attention, yyour penchant for arming yyourself with a bow and climbing to
the Rise would be one less thing I had to worryy about.”
Myy chest seized with panic, and I blurted out, “You have no idea what
he’d do if yyou went to him. He’d—” I cut myyself off.
“He’d what?”
Taking a slow, even breath, I lifted myy chin. “It doesn’t matter. Do
what yyou feel yyou need to do.”
Hawke stared down at me for so long it felt like a small eternityy had
passed and then he let go of me, stepping back. Cold air blew in between
us. “You better hurryy back to yyour chambers, Princess. We’ll have to finish
this conversation later.”
Confusion held me in its grip for onlyy a few moments, but then I
snapped out of it. Easing awayy from the wall, I ran, and even though I
didn’t look back, I knew he didn’t take his eyyes off me.