Page 103 of Claim the Twilight
I sense Loviator before she speaks.
“I should have anticipated this,” she says. I look up to find her watching me with half a smile on her lips. “I hope you enjoyed your little tryst because there will be no more. Your little lover can try and reach you, but she won’t succeed. However, if you’re a good boy, I’ll let her live once I’m free. I might even let you share a cell occasionally.” She flexes her fist. And my heart misses a beat, expecting to see her barbed whip appear in her hand.
When it doesn’t, I force myself to breathe, slow and even. If she delivers pain now, it will undo all my efforts at recharging, leaving my connection too weak to do what I plan.
Her fingers flex again, but her gaze is on a point above my head, looking inward as she reflects on her own thoughts. I remain still, not wanting to provoke her.
“I’m so close,” she says. “I can feel the power. Almost enough to break out.”
The pulse in my throat throbs as realization hits. The seventy-two hours isn’t just a grace period for Orina; it’s a grace period for Loviator too.
It’s how long it will take her to be powerful enough to break free.
Thank goodness I told Orina to execute her plan with plenty of time to spare before the deadline.
Loviator clips toward the wall that houses the food slot. Stone grinds on stone as a door-shaped section pushes out and slides open for her to step through. “Relax,” she drawls. “It won’t be much longer, and once my imprisonment is over, you’ll see your precious little vampire once again.”
She slips from the cell, and the wall closes behind her, leaving me trapped in gloom once more. I’m not sure why, but it’s colder in the cell now. Maybe because of the energy I expended on remaining in the vista with Orina.
But I’m glad we had our moment. Glad I was able to taste her, feel her, consummate our love before…
Shadows shift. A tremor races over my skin as the specter materializes. “Your lips are blue,” she says. “I used to play with fire, you know. I could have warmed you. Once…” She flits closer, her expression taking on a look of secrecy. “She never knew. I was growing it. But then…it was gone, and I was…here.” She shakes her head. “Tell me that you formed a plan. A diversion to draw her away from here so I can get you out.”
“Yeah, yeah, I did.”
Her eyes light up. “Good. The secret breach isn’t far, and once you’re through, you can burn this realm from existence from the outside in.”
She thinks that I have control over the trajectory of the magical explosion, and I don’t correct her. After all, she wants Loviator dead, and that is exactly what I plan to give her.
I nod slowly. “Yes. I will.”
I feel no guilt in lying to the echo, but the guilt of lying to Orina gnaws away at me. I hope that when it’s done, she’ll understand why I couldn’t walk away and let the world burn. Not when I had the power to stop it.
Chapter 43
PADMA
There’s only one bed in the cottage, and Encantor hasn’t asked to share it, thank goodness.
The sofa looks comfortable enough for someone of my size, but not for a guy as tall and broad-shouldered as he is. But it seems like Encantor doesn’t need sleep. He just…wanders. Reads—there’s a whole room stacked with books—and tends to the garden. It’s all he’s done the past two days.
I still can’t believe that we’re stuck here. I can’t help but wonder if time passes differently in this bubble, than outside of it, and if the carriage that we came in is still waiting for us outside the wards.
I sip my coffee and watch him work on the herb garden from the living room window. He handles the plants with such care, his expression focused, lips moving softly as he speaks to them. He says they can hear him, that nature has its own sentience.
Back in the city, surrounded by brick and stone, I may have poo-pooed the idea, but here, surrounded by magical wards and saturated in nature, it’s harder to ignore the gentle buzz of life all around me—warm, welcoming, and, yes, sentient.
This will be my home now.
Just me and Encantor. The hollow place inside me yawns wider as if hoping to swallow me, and my eyes burn with regret. I’ve let everyone down. And Edwin…what will he be coming back to?
What if he gets hurt? My chest aches, and I press my knuckles to my breastbone to soothe the pain.
Outside, Encantor looks up sharply, then slowly stands, hands in loose fists at his side, his gaze on something out of my view.
Needles of awareness prick at my skin. I set my cup down on the sill and hurry to the door, pulling it open and stepping into the midday sun, my attention on Encantor. “What is it? What are you?—”
“Padma?”
