Page 97 of Her Blood Revenge

His deep chuckle travels down the length of my spine as he continues trailing kisses along my neck.

‘We need to focus,’ I add. ‘We left Shaw and Archie back there at the palace. They would have gone to the coven.’

‘You seem confident that they are still in one piece.’

‘Oh,’ I scoff. ‘I know they are. There’s no way they’re still there. Not those two against a few humans and a couple of fire witches.’

I’m positive. And even contemplating the alternative is not an option.

He lowers my hand, which is holding the chain, and pulls my fingers apart so it drops to the floor.

And he steps on it, grinding it into the dirt.

My leash is gone. He’ll never put it back on me. That’s his promise. All I had to do was swear myself to him for the rest of my life.

A vow that feels a million times more freeing than vowing to run ever did.

I reach back, my fingers sinking into the lengths of his long hair as he works my neck. He looks at my wrist.

‘That’s going to be a problem. Your glamour is gone. Your kindred markings are visible.’ His fingers caress the naked space on my wrist. ‘Do you see any spirits?’

‘No.’

But a small part of me is excited by my new power. I harnessed the queen and her death. I made her inflict it on my enemies. I know that is just a glimpse of what I can do. But I know it’s too dangerous. Especially now I know what awaits me if I give into the darkness.

‘We need to go to the coven.’

I look back at him. His dark eyes stare straight at my soul with a warning.

‘We need to go,’ I repeat.

‘You have a habit of running at danger. I loathe that trait in you.’

‘I ran to you, didn’t I?’

‘Precisely my point. Anyone sane would have run as fast as they could in the other direction.’

‘Perhaps I am not as sane as you expected, Shadow Daddy.’

He laughs deeply again and rolls his eyes. ‘You got that right, Poppet. Fucking insane is a gentle description for whatever goes on in that brain of yours.’

‘Whatever is going on in my brain is the result of what you and the other two did to it.’

He steps back a little at my words. Words I spoke in teasing, but they’ve upset him, I guess.

He leans down and allows my snake to slither up his arm.

I watch the two stare at one another. Unblinking and intense. Gods, I wish I could read his thoughts. He admires her for a moment before handing her to me.

‘I’ll check the area. Make sure we’re alone.’ He points to my familiar. ‘And give her a name already, would you? It’s demeaning to call her “snake” and “familiar”.’

I look down at her with a raised brow.

‘So you like him?’

She sticks out her tongue and tilts her head.

‘Yeah.’ I sigh. ‘I like him too.’

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