“Maybe I just wanted some answers.” I grimaced as he pulled a large chunk out of my upper thigh.
“Hold on.”
A ripple of his healing magic washed over my body, and a tendril of heat snaked through my core. Reflexively, my hips shifted forward, thighs clenching together.
“Stop moving.”
“I wasn’t moving.” My nipples had gone hard against the cold concrete, and my breath started coming faster. “Stop it,” I rasped, my voice breathy. “What’s that magic you’re using?”
“What do you mean? It’s just taking the pain away.”
Well, I wasn’t about to explain to him how amazing his magic felt on my body. I wasn’t going to tell him that I never felt desire for men, and now my body felt too hot. His magic skimmed over my skin, and I remembered how he’d looked at me when we’d first met—his eyes lingering over my legs, my breasts, my tiny shorts.
An uncontrolled ache built between my thighs. My hips shifted again as lewd thoughts started to spin in my mind.
What was wrong with me? Any moment now, I’d be writhing and moaning naked on the floor in front of him.
I still held the knife. “What is Nova Ys?” I asked, my voice sharp.
“I’m done getting the glass out. I just need to close up the cuts—”
I didn’t even hear the rest of his sentence, because his magic rushed through my body in sensual waves, heating my core. My blood pounded in my belly, nipples tightening against the cold concrete. Since when did lying against a cold concrete floor feel so amazing? I pressed my palms hard against the floor, fighting the urge to climb into his lap and wrap my naked thighs around him.
“Are you almost done?” I asked through gritted teeth.
I tried to think clearly through the haze of pleasure still rocking my body. I had basically no clothes to wear—nothing that wasn’t shredded, wet, and covered in blood.
“Your skin is healed perfectly. I need to clean you off a bit.” He dragged a cold, wet cloth over my thighs, and I shivered. His warm thumb brushed over my skin, and my breath hitched. My nipples were rock-hard against the cold concrete.
He swept the cloth higher over my backside, and I felt as if my legs were opening of their own accord. Oh gods, I just wanted his hand to feel me….
I bit my tongue so hard I drew blood. “What are you using to clean me, anyway?”
“The T-shirt I stole.” His voice held a deep growl. “I’m done. You can cover yourself again.” He sounded tense.
Relieved, I pulled the dress down, then sat up against the wall. I was still clinging to the hilt of the dagger, my fingers tense.
I was sure my eyes gleamed with wild lust. Did he realize? Did he see the way my chest moved up and down, my pupils dilated?
His gold eyes had returned to their blue color, and something looked different in his expression, too. His gaze lingered on me longer than it needed to. For just a moment, I saw myself through his eyes, as though I were enchanting him. I got that little bubble into his soul.
I saw my heart-shaped face, my big, green eyes. I looked beautiful to him, with my long sweeps of dark eyelashes. The dress was hanging off me in ragged threads, but he was more focused on the curves, on the bare skin. He thought I was delicate, which was a bit of a miscalculation. The way I was sitting, he could just barely see up my thighs….
I felt what he was thinking, too. He was thinking about how I’d looked after he’d cleaned me off. He thought my ass had looked perfect, that he could almost see everything, if I’d just opened my legs a bit more…. His desire had made him frustrated. He didn’t want to lust after me.
The bubble popped, and I was back to my own thoughts. But it was like I’d become tainted somehow, and the thoughts in my mind were growing dirtier. That ache pulsed hot between my legs, turning me into an animal. I wanted to slip my fingers between my thighs.
I gritted my teeth. The effort to stay in control had me practically vibrating with tension.
Before me, Lyr started to shift into his primal state once more—eyes blazing with gold, tattoos moving over his skin.
He moved closer, but stopped an inch from me, hands on either side of my hips. His mouth hovered over my neck, breath warm on my throat, making me shiver with excitement.
I felt wet and hot, slick with desire.
My breasts strained against the silky dress, the lightest of touches like slow, sensual torture over my nipples. A feather light tease driving me crazy until I could think of nothing but stripping the dress off and fucking Lyr right here on the floor.
Oh, gods, I want to fuck him.
His hands were either side of my hips, just barely brushing against them—another sexual torture that made my core swell with need.
“I hear your heartbeat racing when I use my magic. I see your skin flush.” His silky voice was like a hand stroking my thighs, making me shudder.
My legs fell open, and he moved in closer between them. Gently, he grazed my throat with his teeth.
A ragged strap on the gown fell down, exposing one of my breasts, my nipple hard as a breeze chilled it. I didn’t move to cover myself. Lyr kissed my neck, and I moaned, closing my eyes.
Wild heat swooped through my belly. The words erupting in my mind were almost foreign to me: thrust … fuck … lick … cock…. I wanted him deeper between my legs. I needed him to fill me, to fuck me hard, now. I started to pull him closer, when I realized I was still gripping the dagger.
My eyes snapped open.
What was happening to me? I needed to stay on guard.
Stay in control, Aenor. Think of what he’s done to your life.
Don’t let him get too close. I pulled my neck away from him and pulled up the strap of the gown.
“No,” I said with an iron will. “You don’t get to kidnap people and then seduce them. Lesson learned.”
He pulled away fast, like I’d seared his skin. He looked shocked. Then, he looked away from me.
I wanted him so bad it hurt.
Chapter 22
Sitting on the floor, he met my gaze, his golden eyes gleaming with desire. Then, his angular jaw tightened, and he stared at the ground.
“You need clothing to cover yourself. You can’t sit around in wisps of fabric all day and expect me to ignore it.”
“Oh, really? Twenty minutes ago, I was neurotically modest.”
“I’ll find some clothes for you.”
He started to stand, but I held up my hand to stop him.
“Wait. What about Nova Ys? Stay where you are.”
He stared at me for a long time, his golden eyes turning to blue, before he answered again. “The physical kingdom of Ys drowned. And the queen died. But many survived. Do we have to have this conversation now?”
“I know all the citizens of Ys scattered around the earth,” I pressed on. “Humans call that…. They have a word for it. A diaspora. But what is Nova Ys?”
He shook his head. “But the citizens of Ys did not all scatter. Many lived in the same neighborhoods in Cornwall. No one told you, because—”
“Because they all believed I was the one who drowned the island.” My ribs felt hollow. They’d made a new kingdom without me.
“We found an empty island off the coast of Cornwall. An empty one that’s shrouded in mists. We rebuilt there and cloaked it in glamour so no one could find it. I move between Nova Ys and the fortress in Acre.”
A sharp hunger cut into my gut, a desire to have what was mine—the crown of Ys and the ancient power of the Meriadoc.
I leaned back against the wall. “Has it occurred to you that the person looking to get into Nova Ys might be the same person who destroyed the old one?”
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me, assessing me. “This is all new information to me. Everyone was certain Aenor Dahut drowned Ys. I was certain of it until recently.”
“Tell me about Nova Ys,” I said.
“When we first built it, we flew the sigil of Meriadoc to honor your mother—t
he white horse rising from the water. Those flags remain. Its location is secret.”
“And you don’t think the fuath can get there with the World Key?” I asked.
“Not even my half-brothers know how to find Nova Ys. Their mothers didn’t live in the real Ys. So, no, they won’t be able to find it, and I don’t think they’ll be able to use the World Key, either.”
I glanced at his crown, eyes narrowing. “Are you the king of Nova Ys?”
“I refused the title of king. I am their protector. My job is to make sure no one finds it.”
“And you really have no idea who would want to get to Nova Ys? Who might be controlling the fuath?”
He shook his head.
Wind rushed through the open windows, making me shiver. “You still haven’t told me why you hated my father so much.”
“My mother lived in Ys. She was a lady of the court, and very well loved. She’d been blessed by the god of the sea, after all. The sea god had given her a son. That worried your father. What if they wanted me to rule in his place? I’m a demigod. I was a threat to him.”
My heart thumped in my chest. When I’d first met Lyr, I’d had no idea our worlds were so entwined.
Lyr continued. “King Gradlon invited my mother to dinner. He said he wanted to discuss marriage. How could she refuse such an invitation? The people of Ys loved her. They wanted this match—a great lady blessed by the sea, married to the king. But your father had no intention of marrying her.”
“What did he do?”
“He served her roasted quail laced with a sleeping potion. When she fell asleep on the dining table, he stripped her naked. He impaled her on an oak tree with iron nails through her limbs, which tore her flesh and poisoned her body. He broke every fae law. He let the citizens of Ys know what happened when they loved someone too much.”
I stared at him, dread spreading through my veins. That was my dad. No wonder people thought I was poisoned with evil.
Lyr’s back was straight as a rod. “King Gradlon did not do terrible things to protect his own people. He served only his own interests.”
I could hardly breathe. “I never knew. No one ever mentioned it.”
“Her name and image were carved off every building. Her sigils were destroyed. The king took her home, as well, and carved his own name into her stone walls.”
For a moment, silence reigned.
“It took her seventeen days to die,” he added. “The iron in her body stopped her from passing on peacefully, so her soul lingered in the sea hell. She stayed there until I became the Ankou to help her soul move on. And then, I did the same for others. And your mother,” he went on, “Queen Malgven, was the one who killed him. She ushered in the golden age of Ys. She was the greatest ruler the kingdom ever had.”
I wanted to be sick. I ran a finger over my lower lip, thinking about what he’d just told me. Seventeen days to die….
“I’m not really anything like my dad, you know,” I said. “Spoiled, yes. A long time ago. But I was never ruthless.”
He glanced at the dagger I was still clutching. “Do you plan to use that on me again?”
“If I have to.”
“You look cold. I’ll get you something else to wear. Then, you can see if you can sense the athame from here.”
“What will it sound like?” I asked. “I don’t know what I’m listening for.”
“It sounds like the music of your family—the House of Meriadoc. I’m not a Morgen. I can’t hear the music of magic like you can. But I know it was forged with Meriadoc blood and bones, and will sound like the Meriadoc song.”
He stood and crossed out of the room into the dark stairwell, leaving me alone to listen to the sound of the rain hammering the concrete walls. A chilly gust of wind rushed inside the room.
When Lyr left me in the dark, the silence felt oppressive. I wasn’t sure I’d felt this alone since the Nameless One had stolen my power.
I let out a long breath, still stunned by the revelation that Nova Ys existed. I wondered if they’d rebuilt the palace there.
I’d spent a century and a half trying not to think about that palace, but all this time, the kingdom had gone on without me. Memories of the old court flitted through my mind—the walls hung with gleaming cockle shells, black pearls, and gemstones from the sea. Cedar trees grew high in marble halls, gold dangling from their boughs. The strange bell song of the Ys spires filled the air. In those days, we threw parties in gardens that overlooked the sea, dressed in the finest silks.
And my true-born power bonded me to the sea.
I could control the waves. The sea was once part of my soul. I could part the waters to walk between the waves if I wanted, which I’d done once to impress a courtier. I could slip into the ocean and travel through it, fast as the speed of sound.
If I’d wanted, I could have drowned a city. A kingdom.
I hadn’t, mind you.
But the power of the sea had once hummed beneath my skin, an electrifying magic that had made me feel alive. Exhilarated.
Since the Nameless One had stolen my true power, I’d tried it, again and again. Every time, the results had me cracking into a kind of hysterical laugh-cry. I’d call the ocean to me, luring it closer with the power I should command. And what did I get? Droplets. Mist. A fisherman irritably complaining about pea soup fog. No waves or storms. No parting of the seas.
At some point, I’d had to give up. I’d buried the memory. But now, my longing for it had awakened. It felt like a gaping cavern had ripped open in my chest.
My teeth chattered, and I looked at the empty stairwell. I’d been so shocked by what Lyr had just told me that I hadn’t really thought about where he’d be getting the clothes. A half-naked fae, strutting around a residential neighborhood in the night, looking for a shop.
I felt his power before I saw him cross into the room.
He wore a black sweatshirt that didn’t quite fit across his enormous chest, and it was partially unzipped, straining against him.
“They were clean and dry. Under the cover of balconies.” He handed me a pair of tiny black shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt. “Options were limited.”
He hadn’t given me any underwear again. I wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t know about underwear, or if he’d correctly figured out that I’d be totally weirded out by wearing another person’s undercrackers. He turned away, giving me the chance to dress myself. I pulled on the T-shirt, which said Hot Skateboard Fun in silver letters. It wasn’t bad. If I’d had a pair of high heels, it wouldn’t look too far off what I normally wore.
I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or dismayed that he hadn’t picked out a bra for me as well. In any case, being in dry clothes felt good.
“You can turn around again,” I said.
Tiredness sapped my muscles. “You want me to try to just … hear the athame?” I heaved a sigh. If it were near, I was pretty sure I’d be able to hear its music already, but I’d humor him. “Let me give it a try.”
He crossed his arms, watching me expectantly.
I sat down against the cold concrete wall and closed my eyes. I rested my hands on my knees.
I could attune to magical objects through sound if they were powerful enough—and especially if they were linked to me. The song of the House of Meriadoc was powerful. It had a deep, dolorous melody that boomed around it. It was an intense and undulating sound, like a funeral choir. I listened out for it, trying to feel the vibrations of my family’s dark song.
All I heard was Lyr, his song like a melodious battle drum that rumbled over my skin. I couldn’t hear the athame from here.
My eyes opened again. “I don’t hear it. We might not be anywhere near it. I have to be within a few miles of it to hear it, and we don’t really know where it is. It might be back near Acre.”
He ran a hand over his chin. “I’ll need to find a way to get more information out of the Winter Witch.”
“Oh, you think? More than just her gibb
ering something that rhymes with fear?” The sarcasm was maybe a little harsh.
“You’re cranky. You need sleep.” He nodded at the inviting hard floor. “I’ll keep watch.”
I yawned and curled up against the wall, the concrete cool against my bare legs. I slid the dagger back into its leather sheath, then pulled it to my chest. For a few moments, as I tried to sleep, my mind filled with the image of the dead girl hanging from the walls of the castle in Acre, her pink hair draped over her delicate shoulders, neck bent at an odd angle. Blood stained her body and dress where Lyr had slit her throat.
I pulled the sheath in tighter to me, like a little girl held a doll.
I’d never sleep if I was thinking of her, so I thought of Gina instead, sitting on the fluffy stack of pillows, shoving forkfuls of omelet into her mouth. Sleep washed over me like a wave.
And when I slept, I dreamt of wrapping my legs around a beautiful, golden-haired man who smelled like almonds and the sea. In my dreams, he kissed my neck, and my body shuddered with pleasure.
Chapter 23
My dreams shifted, growing darker. The humid sky turned to icy rain. A beautiful fae woman hung nailed to a tree, naked and screaming for her son. Coldness pierced me to the bone, a teeth-shattering chill.
I dreamt of the ice that had filled my chest when the Nameless One had ripped my power from me. Ice slid through my veins, and my lips turned blue. Lyr ran a knife across my throat, then hung me from his castle wall in chains. My teeth couldn’t stop chattering.
Until, at last, warmth covered my skin.
I woke in the dark, covered in something soft. With a start, I realized Lyr had put a blanket over me. Even on a bed of concrete, the softness of the blanket felt amazing. I hugged it around myself. Then, I breathed in Lyr’s scent—oddly comforting. Almonds and the ocean.
I sat up to inspect the blanket. Once my eyes adjusted in the dark, I could just about make out a symbol stitched into the material: a triangle with a shell shape embroidered in the center. It was the same one I’d seen in the prison cell. Lyr’s cloak.
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