Page 128 of Burning Heir

A silhouette emerged within the crawling shadows, blue eyes burning with wicked fury.

“Severyn,” Archer whispered. “You shouldn’t be out. Not tonight.” His voice cracked.

His grip shifted to my wrist as he tried to pull me back toward my room.

“Archer?” His mask had fallen. What’s going on? You can tell me.”

“There’s too much to explain in one night. Please, stay in your dorm.”

“I was worried about you,” I said. “What was that back at the trial?”

A line creased his brow. “I have duties as a Serpent—ones I hope you’ll never have to face.”

“Why are you pushing me away?” My voice broke. I became a threat whenever he had more than five minutes alone with his thoughts.

His gaze locked with mine. “This shouldn’t be happening. You staring at me like I’m your favorite person in the world. We can’t exist, Severyn. When—if you win—they’ll never allow it. Victor… he’d have to die before an alliance between Demetria and Ravensla could form.”

“What is the worst that could happen,Serpent?” I spoke his title as if it was a poisonous bile in my mouth, burning away at my gums.

His lip curled back as he recoiled a step down the stairs. “I fall in love with you, and this becomes a hell of a lot harder.”

I gripped the wall as if I’d forgotten how to stand. “And that’s so horrible? You told me sometimes you must fight for your heart… sometimes your breath. Fight back.”

“There are a million reasons why falling in love with you is wrong, and none matter right now. What matters is you are here and safe. The king ordered you to be out of my mentorship.”

I shook my head. “I’m going to be sent to Malvoria.”

“I won’t let that happen, Severyn.”

“What happened at the Capital?” I asked,

He pulled me inside my room, sucking a hefty breath in. “I told them I care about you, and the king wanted you out of mymentorship—made up some excuse and scorned me for spending time with a student.”

“You feel something more for me. I know you do. We can fight this.”

He stood there, maskless. A face of utter devastation. “Severyn—”

“Do not Severyn me,Serpent.” I held his stare as if it were the only thing keeping me upright. “Tell me or tell me I am crazy for believing you feel something other than caring for me. Other than a promise you made to Klaus.”

“I felt something for you the moment Klaus said your name, but I can’t be anything other than what I am supposed to be. It’s best if we don’t take this any further.”

Archer waited for my reply.

“Why are you pushing me away? I thought…”

His chin leveled, but those eyes continued to hold. “Because simple makes sense. Simple is not the desire to kiss you. It is not me going mad every mile I travel away from you. Because saying I care about you is easier than saying that you consume me, Severyn Blanche. That every thought is encased by you, and I am a terrible friend because my protection swayed. My promise is null because I do not care to protect you as afriendshould.” He looked out of breath as if it took everything to tell me the truth. “You do not wantthis, trust me. A life of sneaking around, a lust silenced to darkness.” He gestured around.

The distance between us had slivered. I took his angled jaw between my needing fingers and kissed him. I kissed him like the world was on fire and we were the last people alive. I kissed him through the ash, and shadow choked through my tightened veins.

He had me against the stone wall within a second as his hands were welded to my hips. I could hardly breathe, but I used those sparse moments when the last folds of sunlight struck my lips to suck the air through my desperate lungs.

There was a clash of tongues as his mouth pressed into mine. Hands roped every inch, claiming my curves, the flesh that held me together.

He could be my lungs for all I cared.

He was already in control of my beating heart.

“Thisfeels right,” I murmured.

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