Page 45 of A Kiss From Death
Sadness and longing flicker in his eyes for a fraction of a second, but then his walls go back up like armor building around him. He shuts me out and his emotions in. A sadistic smile grows across his face in its place, his mask firmly back in place. It’s dizzying, attempting to track all the different sides to him. “I never claimed to have a heart. I never have, or will I ever,needanyone in my life. Relying on others makes youweak.” He spits the words, stoking the fire erupting inside me.
Proving his point, a black tendril of magic appears out of thin air, wrapping tightly around my throat like a tentacle. It swiftly drags me up off my feet, making my shoes slip off. Slowly, as if taunting me, it moves me forward so my neck is now pressed against my own dagger still clutched tightly in my shaky hand, making my face tilt up to bare my throat. Both of us are now pressed against each edge of the blade, noses and lips a breath apart.
I hate him down to his core. Hate the way he’s so cold and distant. Hate his harsh words and even bolder actions. Hate the way he toys with me like it’s a game. But what I hate the most is the way he makes my body come alive. The way it heats under his gaze. The way my breaths turn labored when he sucks all the air out of my lungs. The way he makes me yearn for the feeling of living again. The way he makes me crave the chaos he dishes out, like he’s a drug I’m violently hooked on.
IhateHade, and I think he might hate me too. I’m losing myself to that dark place of rage and heartache at the thought of betraying Theo. I try to calm my chaotic breaths, but the more I try, the harder they seem to take off in a gallop, each time pressing a little more into the sharp blade resting just below my chin.
He zones in where the blade meets my skin. “Careful, or you’ll ruin thatperfect,pretty skin of yours.”
Scoffing, I gain my composure. He’s baiting me, wanting to see the fire back in my eyes instead of the darkness starting to take over, dragging me back to this game with him—whatever this game even is.
“Trust me, my skin is far from perfect.” Pressing myself further into the dagger, I add, “And I like pain. It reminds me I’m alive.”
Hunger dances in his eyes. “You know what they say goes perfectly with pain?” He smirks.
I smile back, going along with his little game. “In your dreams.”
His eyes are molten lava now. “Oh, but you only visit me in my wicked…dark…nightmares,Nyxi.” He whispers my name, making me shake with full body tremors.
Words have lost me. A slow gulp is all I can muster while I slowly shake my head. Slowly, he walks towards me, the black tendril still wrapped around my neck, making me float backward until my knees hit something hard behind me.
The black tendril spins me around until I’m bent over a hard surface, staring into a deep, dark hole with water sitting at the bottom. “You know what this is? It’s a wishing well.” He whispers it next to the shell of my ear, but it still somehow echoes eerily off the walls, all the way to the bottom of the well, like it’s haunting me.
“There’s an old wise tale behind it. It’s said the original owner of this castle built this garden so after they passed away, there would be a place for people to visit for wishes. The spirit would bless those deserving as a way to keep the castle virtuous and honest.”
He leans in closer. “You know what I think, though? I think even without this here, you would still bewishing,beggingfor just a singletaste of me.”
This is a side of Hade I’ve never experienced, a new door unlocked for reasons unknown.
I’m cracking at my seams, ripped apart piece by piece. Is this what a heart attack feels like? Every part of my body aches, but not with tiredness or pain. It aches to be touched, explored like uncharted land. I feel out of control, a concoction of hesitancy and the feral desire to jump in head first towards the disaster that’s undoubtedly to unfold. My mind struggles to fight this unbreakable pull towards him that’s only grown since first meeting.
Looking behind me the best I can, I see both of Hade’s eyes are now black as night, his white scar glowing like a warning of corruption. He looks like he wants to ruin me, to take and take until I have nothing left except my flayed, broken heart.
Surprisingly, we are both panting, our chests heaving, wild and in sync. Mine tingles each time his presses close to my back.
My words come out choppy. “Mark my words, Hade: I will never beg for a single thing from you, even if I’m dying and you are the only antidote left to save me.” I smile sadistically. “I would gladly die with a smile on my face.”
The tendril of magic twists me so the side of my face turns towards him. Black smoke appears from behind Hade, the tip slowly dragging up my exposed leg peeking out from the slit of my dress. It scorches me, leaving a path of burning desire where it slithers across my skin, making me squirm in his grip. It continues its exploration of my body, dragging across the delicate dip of skin between my breasts, where my dagger was previously nestled. Painstakingly slow, it drags up the side of my neck, making goosebumps spread across my skin. I gasp when it delicately tucks a rogue curl behind my ear, then curls itself around the shell of my ear.
“Is that a challenge?” It purrs in my ear, and it’s my downfall. Hade’s mouth remains firmly shut, his seductive voice somehow traveling through the tendril of magic nestled at the edge of my ear.
“No,” I whisper pathetically, “it’s a promise.” I side eye him the best I can with the position this damn magical limb has me in.
“Your traitorous heart is racing, Nyxi.”
“I’m thinking about Aeron,” I lie on a shaky breath.
He tsks. “I never took you for a liar. Your body betrays you, the way it trembles in my hold. Your breaths are so loud, they’re all my damn mind can focus on. Your voice has turned to velvet as you scramble for lies to feed me.” A small, traitorous whimper escapes my throat before I can stop it. “I’m a starved man, ravenous, even. So keep feeding me those lies, Nyxi, because you’re only fooling one of us here. Maybe one day, you will come to your senses and decide whether you want to play with aboyor aman.”
“I…” My brain fails me. I’m falling apart right in front of him, and by the smile blooming across his face, he knows it. “I?—”
“Hade,” an annoyed female voice booms behind him. “Aire is requesting your presence. He’s waiting to be filled in on the details of tomorrow’s Crucible trial.”
The Empress comes into view behind him in all her wicked glory. She’s wearing a giant poofy dress covered in black and red playing cards bearing her face to fit the theme. Its sweetheart neckline is adorned with straps that droop low off her shoulders. I internally gasp when I notice all the cards are moving, the Empresses smiling and waving.
She takes in the two of us, Hade refusing to release me. She looks thoroughly pissed off that her personal guard is out here, doing whatever the heck he’s doing with me. I can’t even explain what this is, if I’m being honest. I curse under my breath for letting myself get tangled in this mess, putting a target on my back forthe Empress, of all people.
She looks me up and down, looking unimpressed. I recede into myself, instantly self-conscious.
