Page 99 of Crown of Darkness
“Rough.” I nip him again. “But I liked it.”
There’s something primitive in the way he claimed me. Emotion too raw-edged for words. Need. Hunger. But more than that, fear. He nearly lost me yesterday, and tonight is his answer to that.
There are shadows in his eyes, and he captures my face and kisses me again, leaving both of us breathless and flushed.
“The moment I saw your face in Maia’s vision, I knew hope for the first time,” he whispers. “And every time the Darkness closed over me and threatened to drag me under, I would think of your face and know that somewhere out there—someday—you would be waiting for me. I just had to hold on a little longer. I just had to fight a little harder. And you would be my reward.”
My heart gives a little clench. “I bet you didn’t count on the psychopathic mother.”
A rough laugh escapes him. “Evil mother notwithstanding, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. When all you’ve ever known is darkness, you don’t regret a single ray of light, Vi. And you’ll fight to keep it in your life, no matter what comes your way.”
“I think you’ve been talking with Finn too much,” I joke. “That’s the sort of epic poetry he comes up with.”
Thiago looks at me. Simply looks.
And I know I tend to shy away whenever he speaks of love, because a little piece of me feels uncomfortable—perhaps even unworthy still—when he says words like that.
He clasps my hand on his chest, forcing me to still. I don’t know why, but my heart is racing.
“I love you,” I blurt.
It’s hardly poetic. I don’t think I’m getting better with practice.
“You believed in me, even when I didn’t,” I whisper. “And you makemebelieve that there’s something worth loving in me.”
Thiago’s eyes darken. But he kisses me again, and the hunger of his mouth tells me everything he doesn’t put into words.
Something pushes against my hand, and a swirl of intense blackness ripples across his chest, as if the Darkness doesn’t like being ignored.
“Were you born with it?” I whisper.
Thiago sits up, raking a hand through his hair, his spine bowed. “I’ll tell you the truth….” Reluctance bleeds through every inch of him. “But not here. Come.”
He slips from the bed, tattoos rippling down his spine as if they’re delighted to have their story told.
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Chapter Nineteen
The temple is ancient—carved alabaster glowing beneath the moon. The storm rolled over the city and now everything is wet. Every step I take leaves a trail of grass and flowers peeking through the cobbles.
Maia’s sigil—a golden sun rippling between a pair of mountains—is carved over the lintel. Even though it’s the middle of the night, the doors remain open because Maia always has time for her worshippers.
An inner courtyard gleams beneath the light of the moon, but I’m told the temple is best viewed by sunlight, for there are hidden arches that correspond with where the sun sits in the sky, and depending on whether it’s solstice or not, they light up little secret glyphs carved into the cobblestones.
Acolytes move about the temple, gowned in pure white. They’re fae maidens that have given their life to Maia, though there’ll be fae youths somewhere about the temple too. Maia was renowned for welcoming virile young men to her bed, and several of her rites tend to get… a little hedonistic.
“Is there a reason we’re here?” I ask Thiago as he gestures me over the lintel.
Maia’s Flame can ward away the darkest of spirits, but surely he’s not afraid of what he’s about to say.
“I think it’s easier if I show you,” he murmurs, leading me deeper into the temple.
We slip past one of the fountains. Golden coins wink within. Toss a coin to Maia, and she may just answer your prayers. Judging from the glimmer of golden light within the waters, a great many practitioners have knelt by this fountain. One of the cobblestones in front of it even looks a little more worn than the others.
And then we’re through the outer courtyards and facing the enormous golden doors that guard the heart of the temple.
All the past queens of Evernight are entombed within these walls as an honor for those who ruled with a fair and benevolent hand. Portraits hang in the Queen’s Gallery that reveal the identity of those within, and it’s there that Thiago leads me.
