Page 108 of Burning Heir

Our fingers touched.

I went to tuck them behind me, but Archer wound his within mine, eyes laced above. “Sometimes what we want will never make sense. Nor will we deserve it.”

I sucked a clipped breath in.

He had no idea how fast my heart was beating.

The quell show began. A dozen palms reached toward the milky sunset, and I’d never seen anything so beautiful, so unison. Cheers sounded from all around as quells rippled into the sky. It was a shatter of daylight breaking through, twisting, and curling with an illusionist’s dragons. It was the blazing heat of a dozen Summer quells as the wind rushed around us.

I raised my palm, and a soft flame sparked from my fingertips, twirling in a snake-like slither through the golden sky. Archer cupped my cheek. We both stared up, and each one of those stars was cindered in flames.

I gasped slowly. Even the shadows below us were outlined with sparks. No ash littered my tongue, but a faint coal and mist taste sucked between my parted lips.

My right palm tingled.

“Archer—” A swirl of shadows broke through my skin, curling like smoke in the moonlight. It wasn’t flame, but something cooler, darker. A crescent-shaped mark etched itself into my palm. The sensation wasn’t searing like flame but a taut, almost chilling pressure.

“What is this?” I whispered, staring at the mark.

“Darkness,” Archer murmured. His voice was low, like a secret the world wasn’t meant to hear. “There are three types of quells. Ciaran chose you that day during Skyfall. I told her you weren’t ready for it, but the more I try to keep you from the shadows, the more they seem to claim you.”

My palms found his cheeks, the cool tendrils of shadow on one hand and the flicker of flame on the other, creating a strange and beautiful balance between us.

“Ciaran gave me a shadow quell?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Have you ever quell shared?” he asked, his body close, his knee pressing just in front of my thighs. His gaze was heavy, searching. “I could teach you.”

“No, I’ve never… tried it,” I admitted, my voice unsteady.

“The easiest way to quell share is through touch,” he said, his breath brushing my skin. His pinky wound itself around a loose strand of my hair.

“I feel you,” I said, and only then did I realize how tightly I had been clutching his fingers. Red marks lingered on his skin where my grip had been. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled me closer, just enough for our chests to graze. His hand tilted my chin upward, and the heat in his gaze made my pulse stumble. “Stay still.”

A silver sheen wove through the air, tracing our breaths like a whisper. My words stuttered as I struggled to find my composure. “I—I care about you. I know you said I shouldn’t, but—”

“Kissing you would be the easiest and most reckless way to quell share,” he murmured, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. “But I’ve lost all the will to deny that desire.”

“You don’t want to kiss me, Archer,” I managed, though the tremor in my voice betrayed me.

His lips quirked into a sly grin, and he leaned closer, his breath brushing against mine. “And why wouldn’t I? Because I’m a Serpent? Or do you finally see me as your brother’s friend?” His voice dropped, rich and intoxicating, as he whispered against my lips, “Kissing you is the most tameable thing I desire to do with you.”

My breath caught as my gaze flicked to his lips. “You’re a Serpent. What if someone sees?”

But even as I spoke, a voice echoed within the bond between us, soft yet commanding:“Fucking kiss me. Now.”

Before I could close the space between us, his lips claimed mine. They were cool, soft as silk, and careful—too careful. The kiss was simple, but I felt the restraint in every movement, like a storm held at bay. And still, it set fire to every nerve, the shadows around us shuddering as if they, too, felt the pull of this moment.

“Like this?” Ianswered back.

“More.”

“You want more of me?”

“I want all of you.”

I nodded, and at that moment, I was a wick floating down the river, caught in the pull of the current, as I kissed him back harder. Chaos and shadows swirled around us. I kissed him like it was my last breath.

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