Page 58 of Shadows and Flames
Outside of Frenzy, Lylithan and Vyrkos kind had an innate sense of when we were taking too much. The pulse would weaken, the blood would slow, and the urge to pull away would swell. In the name of survival, it was far smarter to ensure one’s blood source lived to see another day.
By the look of him slumped in Tana’s embrace, though, he’d needed more.
Most of the humans accepted their fate without a fight, but some required the threat of our presence to convince them to comply.
Our voyage was almost over, and the sooner I could put feet to steady ground, the better. Then, I would end the ones who watched us with hate-filled gazes as they were led above.
“What are you thinking about?”
Meline’s question brought me back into the present, away from images of bloodshed and sating the need for vengeance within. I’d told her that revenge would not serve us today, and that was the truth.
When we disembarked, however.
My brother who was now following the captain, most likely to his cabin, would understand. Though he felt it less often than I, the centuries as Shadow made it difficult to let this sort of call go unanswered.
There was something else within me, though. Some churning within the hearth of my soul that would not truly calm until I slaked the desire.
Mamá used to call it Zoko’s Fury. The side of Her flames that needed most taming, as well as respect.
Let it guide you. Protect you. But do not let it scorch all around you. That sort of inferno can quickly slip out of your control.
And yet, I had succumbed to it when first crossing paths with my queen. When I’d let the wall of Flames roll across my senses as I found her employer, a being intent on retrieving the jewelry from a different world.
Was giving in to that side of myself the first step on the path to my queen? Would I have taken the assignment to protect her had I been able to complete the contract I’d been given? Would the spark have ignited between us without the kindling of our animosity?
I refocused on Meline, the female who I wanted to explore…companionship with. No, not explore, nottry. A small part of me had worried the image of her in my memories was exaggerated by my sorrow. Would the pull I’d spent most of our initial journey fighting still be there?
Dagger in one hand, the other clamping on the back of her neck, I kissed her.
It was more than pull. More than attraction and sparks. It was everything.
“You,” I answered. “You.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
MELINE
My nose wrinkled as we walked through the streets of Vharas. “It stinks here.”
Tana hummed and looked over her shoulder. I followed her gaze and found the Vyrkos walking in the opposite direction, simple bag slung over his shoulder. She smiled with nothing but goodness and cheer and raised a hand.
I watched him startle, then raise a tentative one in kind before slinking into the crowd. “Did he ever say why he was traveling here?”
“No, and I didn’t ask. I’m just glad he made it.”
“Yes,” I internally rolled my eyes. So intent on saving that one. Admittedly, what the humans had tried to do was despicable, and I’d every intention to end them all when I’d seen the blade at Tana’s throat.
Until El.
He and his Shadow brother were on my right, but the diversion of our thoughts was becoming clear as they engaged in their own conversation in Zonoran, heads bent together.
The contract.
The whole reason we were on the bloody ship to begin with.
Coordinated but not at all planned, we stopped as we reached the precipice of the heart of Vharas. I’d been here before once, about fifteen years ago, and if memory served, there were several inns to choose from as we formed our plan.
But, I turned, a tender, fragile part of me was mourning the time with Elián. Our shared cabin while sailing from Morova was supposed to be a time of reconnection. And, while I did feel closer to him, less desperate to burrow my way into his chest and hide—so no a soul could tell me I didn’t belong—there was still so much to sort out. To know.
