Page 83 of Sharpen Your Claws

“Alvina is right to be concerned about Fearworn’s abilities to regenerate.” Henry tapped his fingers, lips set into a grim line. “She found pieces of him, a finger and toe, hair and teeth. I don’t know what you did, Nicholas, but there wasn’t much left of him.”

Nicholas beamed proudly.

“But if he can regenerate from that, then we have to ask ourselves how we’ll be rid of him. As Evera mentioned, we could bring him to Terra, perhaps incinerate all that is left of him, because if his shadowed disciples get even a piece of him, I bet he could be brought back.”

Evera sat on the edge of the table, one leg crossed and the other dangling. “Then the plan is simple. We slaughter the shadowed disciples and drag him to Terra.”

“Except his body protected itself. Alvina said as much,” William brought up. “We need to sever the connection between him and Faerie.”

“And I certainly do not know how to do that.” Henry flipped a few pages. “Neither does Alvina.”

“We’re also making a lot of guesswork. Alvina thinks he may use mortal life force to open a portal to another realm, but why? Does he expect that to help with his regeneration?” William grumbled.

Nicholas set his hands on the table and leaned forward to speak sternly, “We don’t need to know why if we snatch the patients and kill the disciples. Fearworn will be left undefended and without whatever he needs, then we can take some time to research how to sever him from Faerie entirely.”

“My mother would work with us to sever him, seeing as what his life has led to. We have to make sure we get his corpse afterward, otherwise she may try something else moronic.” Evera hopped off the table. “I vote we go with Nicholas’ plan.”

“I don’t like you agreeing with me,” Nicholas muttered. She ignored him.

“We don’t have a better option, nor the time to think of one. I wish we did, but the more time we take, the more likely he is to make his move and we have to attack while he’s weakest,” Charmaine agreed. “Let’s rest tonight and leave at first light.”

“That could be in days. The sun rises when it wants.” Arden poked his head out of the shelves where Amos took to following him. He probably would have kicked Arden out entirely if Nicholas wasn’t there.

Charmaine rubbed the back of her neck. “Okay, we leave in six hours? That should give us time for a brief rest.”

Henry took to putting the notes away. Arden followed Charmaine and Evera out of the room, the latter of which shouted, “Don’t go anywhere alone.”

“Then wait for me!” Henry fumbled after them, offering William a smile before he could argue otherwise. With the library safe from Arden’s prying, Amos wandered into the shadows.

Nicholas took William’s hand. “Shall we be off, then? We should get some sleep.”

“We can try to,” he replied.

“Oh?” He ran his lips over William’s neck. “Do you have something else in mind?”

“I sometimes wonder how your mind can be so dirty when we’re in a place like this.”

Nicholas shrugged. “We got off in a worse location.”

He chuckled and playfully nudged Nicholas’ side with his elbow. “Don’t remind me of those woods. It gives me the shivers.”

Smiling, they walked hand in hand, so blissfully normal that he expected things to turn south. He imagined the walls caving in or Amos coming up behind them to rip out his throat. No such thing happened, and they made it to an empty room without losing any limbs.

The door shut. They were alone. In six hours, they would head out to face Fearworn for the last time, one way or the other. Even if they survived, it would be another nightmare that would stay with him until the end of his days. He couldn’t deny that he liked Nicholas’ idea, that he’d like to take time to enjoy one another.

“Come here,” he said, taking Nicholas by the waist.

The fae fell into him. Nicholas smiled against his mouth. They kissed like it was their first, like they were back in that cold waste of the Deadlands, so overcome by the other they couldn’t resist temptation.

He draped his arms over William’s shoulders. “You aren’t teasing me, are you?”

He propelled them toward the wall, trapping Nicholas between his body. Nicholas’ pupils dilated, becoming so black they were obsidian mirrors reflecting his own wanting.

“That depends. What do you want?” He marked Nicholas’ neck, savoring the taste of him and the flutter of his heart against the tip of his tongue.

“I want us to be scandalously intimate.”

He chuckled against Nicholas’ nape. His teeth grazed over the goose feathered skin. Nicholas moaned when he brought their hips together. He slipped a thigh between Nicholas’ legs to rub against him. Nicholas caught his fingers in William’s hair. He rubbed harder against William’s thigh.

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