Page 98 of To Vanquish Darkness

Amalie’s mind reeled. Her mother.Her mother’s mother.She had lived, she had died. How was it possible?

Theo’s hand landed on the small of her back. "Are you ready? The others are?—"

"You can't do that." She spun, her hands clenched at her sides. He was so close, she had to tip her head to meet his eyes.

"Do what?"

"Say something like that and then tell me I need to rush out of this house. That we're in danger, when all I want is—" She sucked in a breath, heat flashing through her center.

Theo stilled, his eyes liquid pools. "What do you want?"

You bonded me. Under a blood moon.She didn't know what a bond meant or how it was accomplished. She'd only seen flashes of what Theo had been to her in her other lives, but she knew what he was to her in this one.

Her heart momentarily forgot it was supposed to keep rhythm as his scent invaded her senses. She didn't fight it.She didn't ever want to fight it again. "I want to know what this feelslike." Amalie threaded her hand around the back of his neck, urging his head toward hers.

Theo's eyes glinted in the candlelight, his expression tortured with want. His scent swirled through her as his lips brushed hers, soft and tentative. Theo pulled back just enough to say, "I've never forgotten—not for a second—what this feels like," and Amalie tugged harder, angry that he'd wasted a second of this moment on words.

Theo huffed a laugh as their lips crashed against each other, this time desperate and bruising. Amalie fisted her hand in his shirt, willing him closer even though his chest was already flush with hers. She wanted more. She wanted?—

Theo parted her lips with his and flicked his tongue over her lower lip.

“Yes.”That.She wanted more of that. Amalie tasted him. Teased her tongue against his as her hands fought with the fabric of his shirt. She thought of every time Theo had been in his room shirtless. How she'd watched him, traced the swirls of his runes with secret glances, imagined the feel of him. Even when she'd hated him, she'd wanted to run her hands over his skin, and now?—

The creak of a board in the hall sent her heart into her throat. Theo jolted, and in a flash, hid behind the open door.

The door was open? Of course it was. Theo had come in, and she hadn't even thought to check before groping him like a feral cat.

When she looked up, Bethany stood in the doorway. Her sister's sleepy eyes narrowed. "Are you alright?"

Amalie nodded, pursing her swollen lips. "Mmhmm." She turned and grabbed a pair of slacks and two tunics from the shelf with trembling hands. "I'm coming."

"Uncle says he needs us in the parlor now."

"Right. I only need to find socks."

Bethany frowned, and her eyes crinkled at the corners. "Was this how it was? The first time?"

Amalie thought back to that night. To her screaming in the woods and Uncle Oren hauling her back to the house as she stretched back toward that clearing in the trees. Toward her mother's lifeless body. How Maurielle had held onto her as Oren had thrown their belongings into a cart.

"No." Amalie shook her head. "It's nothing like the first time." Bethany's teeth worried her lower lip. "Go. I'll follow you down."

Bethany did as she asked, and Amalie swiped socks and undergarments from her drawer. When she turned, Theo was still standing in the shadows, pressed against the wall.

"You're coming with us?" Her voice trembled imagining him disappearing into the night.

Theo nodded, his brow drawn. "I drew up a plan years ago for this eventuality. I have a place."

"You expected this?"

His shoulders tensed, his voice tight. "It's the same every time."

"Helena." Amalie spoke the name faster than necessary. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew it wasn't good.

"She will find you, Amalie. Her bond is slower to form, but when our mark appears, hers is quick to follow."

Amalie twisted her arm, inspecting the two marks. Theo's hadn't appeared until the day before. "Does it always take so long? After rebirth?"

Theo shook his head. "I was careful this time."

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