Page 90 of Reap the Night
In the room beyond, Ezekiel is awake and waiting patiently on his cot. He stands at the sight of Orina, his golden eyes brightening, but they darken with a frown and then widen in shock before I hear it.
A feral, ominous growl.
It’s coming from Orina.
“You bastard,” she snarls. “I’m going to kill you.”
She lunges at the cage, but I hook my arm around her waist and drag her away, out of the room, but fuck, she’s strong when like this. The darkness lends her limbs power. I succeed in getting her outside, into the corridor, and slam the safe room door closed.
She thrashes and twists, attempting to get free, her burning gaze on the door. I shove her against the stone wall and grip herchin. “Look at me, kitten.” She growls and attempts to pull from my grip. But I press her harder to the stone, my grip punishingly hard. “Look. At. Me.”
Her gaze flicks to mine, pupils dark and blown, and for a moment I have her, I see her, but then she pulls free with a snarl. I grab her again and do the only thing I can.
I kiss her.
Crushing my mouth to hers, my hand splayed on the back of her head to hold her still, I claim her. She stiffens, her chest reverberating on a growl, but then her lips part, and I take her mouth fully in a brutal kiss that’s filled with the taste of blood and her ragged groan. I sink into her, our bodies meeting at the hips, grinding together as I angle her head to take her deeper, deeper, pulling her to me.
She claws at my shoulders, pushing against me now, her tongue tangling with mine as she breathes me in.
I feel it, the instant when she returns to me fully. Feel it in the softening of her body against mine, in the way her clawed fingers become a caress, and her mouth, oh, her sweet fucking mouth moans into mine. A plea, a wish that injects ice into my fiery veins, reminding me of the distance that must be kept. Reminding me of my true purpose.
I break the kiss, and she looks up at me, dazed, swollen lips parted in awe. There’s blood on her bottom lip where I nipped her, and her tongue flicks out to lap at it. The urge to pin her again, to taste her once more rushes through my blood, but I breathe through it, fighting it.
“Hemlock…what…” Her eyelids flutter closed, and she goes limp in my arms. But I’m expecting this reaction to the first surge of darkness.
I gather her into my arms and carry her away.
Away from danger.
Away from Ezekiel.
Chapter 34
ORINA
The sea churned with the warning of a storm, the sky ominously dark and low above it. I gripped the railing and stared at it unflinching, my pulse a rabid beat in my veins because if I was back in my dream vista, then?—
“You’re safe,” Ezekiel said from behind me.
Relief washed over me like a sun-kissed wave. “You’re here.”
“Of course.” He held out his hands, and I take them, allowing him to draw me into the chamber we’d built together all those weeks ago. Purple and cream against dark wood created a cozy yet chic vibe. I loved this room. But… “Ezekiel, what happened to me? Why am I here? I’m hurt, aren’t I? Healing?”
“No, Orina. You’re not hurt, merely unconscious. You’ll wake any second, so we don’t have much time.”
“Much time? For what?”
He cupped my shoulders. “You lost your blessing. Do you recall?”
My cheeks warmed. “Yes I…I had to save Ordell…but how do you?—”
“Hemlock explained it. We understand what’s happened to you. You lost your blessing, which we think was helping you to control the darkness that Loviator placed inside you.”
The memory of entering the safe room came rushing back, along with the recollection of the rush of pure hatred that had gripped me when I’d clapped eyes on him. In that moment, I’d wanted him dead.
I covered my mouth with my hand, shaking my head, horror spawning dread in my belly.
“It’s all right,” Ezekiel said. “It will be all right.”
