Page 20 of Kiss of Death
“I’ve never seen a woman with that kind of strength. That comes from the fuse with your dragon?”
I’d shared some of my life beforehand, when we were lovers in front of the fire. He seemed to remember those stories. “Yes…partially.”
“Now I understand why the Barbarians wanted to claim your kingdom.”
I gave a nod. “Have you recovered?”
“Yes.”
“How are your men? Is there anything else we can do for them?”
“No. You’ve been very accommodating.”
“And…what of their hunger?”
“We’ve brought our own food on the ships.”
“Oh…” Human slaves and vampire enthusiasts. I remembered him mentioning this before. That he had women who wanted him to feed on them willingly. That it was intimate and sexual, even if no sex was actually involved. He’d never asked or tried to feed on me when I stayed with him. Probably already knew what my answer would be.
“I think they need a few more days of recovery. Then we’ll return home.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”
He stared at me with eyes that never left my face, regarding me with an endless depth. “You mean that?”
“After what you did for us, you could stay here forever.”
He occupied the chair that Callum usually sat in, filling the seat well with his large size. But while muscular and handsome andirresistible in a different scenario, he wasn’t Callum, the man I loved beyond the veil that separated the living from the dead.
Viper’s hard stare continued across the room.
It was so intense I almost felt like I needed to address it. “What will you do about Kingsnake?”
“Meaning?”
“I imagine he’ll be angry with you when you return.”
“That’s my problem, not yours.”
“But perhaps there’s something I can offer to dull his rage?—”
“I want nothing from you, Lily.” His voice remained gentle, but there was a command in his tone. The very tone that earned the respect of his army that followed him across the sea to a battle that was none of their concern.
“I would still like to compensate you for your trouble.”
“What I want from you is something that can only be given freely.”
A sledgehammer flattened my heart. The guilt oozed out like blood from a wound. He was so straightforward about it that there was no room for misinterpretation. Last time he’d propositioned me, Callum had been present, and I was so uncomfortable by both of them being there that I didn’t know how to handle the situation.
And now that Callum wasn’t here, I was so devastated I still didn’t know how to handle it. So I let his words hang there in the air between us…unreciprocated.
He continued to stare at me like he wasn’t offended by my silent rejection. “When you came to me, you asked if I knew where to find platinum. After speaking with both of my brothers about it, I think there’s a chance it could be located where my other brother Aurelias lives, far out to the west. I sent a missive to ask him about it, but he lives so far away that I didn’t receive his reply before you called for aid.”
My heart trembled several times in my chest before I could form words with my mouth. “Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s a very cold place. There’s snow almost all year-round. When I spoke to our blacksmith, he said different elements are formed under specific conditions. Something iridescent with a diamond-like quality would probably be found in a cold climate. It snows in my kingdom, but we’ve never come across what you speak of, so I can only assume it’s not there.”
I immediately got to my feet and left the room. “Wait, let me get a map.” I moved to the desk in my bedroom, snatched the world map, and came back to him with a quill. “Can you circle it on this map?” I kneeled before him, my wet hair still slicked back from my face.
