Page 12 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
There was a taunting desire in her words as she asked, “Do you want to kill him?”
I did, and yet warning bells clanged through me at the twisted allure of her words. I felt the intoxicating pull of her offer, but it was tainted by my fear. What would taking the dagger of a sorceress mean for me? For us? Was she tempting me into her darkness? A knot formed in my throat, and all I knew was that this wasn’t who I was supposed to be.
My hand stalled halfway to the dagger, my wary gaze shooting looks between the obsidian weapon and Evres’s bloodshot eyes. I’d sworn that he would die by my hand and here was my chance. But instead of reaching for Maez’s outstretched blade, I dropped my hand back to my side.
Shame burned through me along with my gutless anger. “Why don’t you kill him?” I asked, unable to meet Maez’s cold eyes. I hated the meekness in my voice, the timid little lamb felt grating to my own ears.
“He’s your kill.” Maez offered the hilt out one more time, and when I didn’t reach for it, she shrugged. “Fine, then.” She turned her attention to Evres. “Consider your life a fair trade,” she said as he choked. “If you come to reclaim her, though, know that it will be forfeit.”
With a snarl, she released her grip on Evres and he crumpled to the floor.
When her dark eyes turned to me once more, I rocked back on my heels. Because as much as I’d hoped it had been a trick of the light or my own shock, it was both my mate and a stranger glaring back at me, a cursed look in her eyes. But of all people, Maez and I knew a thing or two about breaking curses. Before I could think better of it, I grabbed her by both cheeks and pulled her into a kiss. She tasted different, tangier, like fresh blood. Yet she also didn’t miss a beat. A heady, rough laugh escaped her mouth as she smiled against my lips. Her arms wrapped around me, pulling me in possessively to her as her tongue plundered my mouth. But I felt no golden rays of magic, no reversing of fates, only her carnal need for me.
Hunger, not love.
I pushed on her chest and stepped out of her greedy hold. Reluctantly, she let me.
Her grin was taunting and wicked. “So sentimental. A magic kiss, hmm?” she asked with a shake of her head. Her eyes swept over me, lingering on each curve of my body before stalling on my mouth. “Oh, sweet Briar, this isn’t some curse you can break with your honeyed lips... though I wouldn’t mind if you continued to try.”
She moved toward me and I took a step back, hating that traitorous step. I shouldn’t be retreating from my mate. But when it came to Maez, I never could be a good actress. My chest rose and fell in anxious breaths, panic lancing through me. This predator before me was far more dangerous than the one crumpled on the floor behind me.
All at once I knew: this wasn’t a rescue. It was just a different kind of death sentence.
“You’ll get used to it,” Maez said, flourishing a static-covered hand down herself. “Come on, let’s get out of this Gods forsaken place. The princeling smells like piss.”
She reached out toward me and I just stared at her hand. Inthe pit of my stomach, I had a feeling she wasn’t taking me back to Calla, that I was simply trading one prison for another. Maez’s eyes slid to Evres kneeling on the floor, still trying to catch his breath.
“Unless you’d like me to leave you here and you two can pick back up where you left off?” My eyes widened, fear gripping me tighter at the thought, and Maez chuckled. “I didn’t think so.” She stepped in, not waiting for my permission, and gathered me tight to her side as tingling zaps covered my skin. “Hold on tight, Princess.”
I didn’t have time to even register what she’d said before the world bottomed out.
Sadie
I SHED MY JACKET, THE MIDDAY SUN WARMING MY SKIN AS I SATperched on the edge of the whispering well. As we waited for Calla to contact us, I enjoyed the reprieve from the constant jostling of the wagon. I took another deep breath as the meadow air swirled around us.
“How much longer until the temple of knowledge?” I asked as I plucked a seedhead from the overgrown wildflowers surrounding the well.
“I don’t know.” Folding his arms, Navin leaned against a tree across the small clearing. “But we’re getting close or so the map says.”
“Themapis a booklet of sheet music,” I muttered. “It would be helpful if you drew it out so I could read it.”
“It would be helpful to our enemies, too,” he countered. “Maybe I should just teach you to read the songs.”
“Maybe.” I stretched my neck side to side, my muscles stiff from the constant sitting. “Goddess, I hope it’s tonight.” I groaned as Haestas circled overhead like a burgundy vulture. “I can’t take another night in that wagon.”
“Eager for a real bed?”
“A bed, a cot, an earthen floor—I don’t care as long as it is stationary,” I grumbled. “More, I want us to be able to go somewherethat isn’t within earshot of all your Songkeeper friends, too, especially your brother.”
Navin coughed out a surprised laugh. “That is something I’ve been quite eager for myself.” A yearning, desirous look crossed his face as he studied me, and he let out a frustrated sigh.
“What are you thinking about right now?” I spread my knees wider from where I sat and arched a suggestive brow at him.
“Don’tlook at me like that,” he warned. “If you spread those legs any wider, I can’t be held responsible for what I will do next.”
“Here we are, alone,” I goaded, delighting in his torment, “waiting for my Queen. Whatever shall we do with this time?”
“You better think carefully about what you’re willing to let your Queen hear,” Navin countered. “Because once I finally get to have you again, I’m not stopping, not even if your Queen is listening through the well.”
