So that was the kind of mood I was in.
As I walked through an alder grove, a familiar soothing magic whispered over my body, tinged with myrrh. All it took was the scent of Adonis to heat my blood, and I’d moved on from death whispers all around us to let’s get naked in a bath again. Even though, technically, he was Death.
I turned to find him walking toward me, a faint smile curling his sensual lips. Dark, finely cut clothes accentuated his perfect body, and he wore a sword slung over his back. “What are you doing brooding out here? Don’t you know that’s my job?”
“Just wondering if I’ve been wrong about nature and paradise and all that crap. And maybe the forest is a cemetery, where a seed of death lies within every berry and fern and apple tree. That kind of fun stuff.”
“You definitely sound like me. Have I gotten into your head?” He looked mesmerized as he gazed at me, and he closed the distance between us. Then, he stroked the back of his knuckles down my cheek. “No. Metatron got in your head, didn’t he?”
“Your dad is an asshole.”
“I could have told you that.” His pale eyes shone like beacons in the forest’s gloom. “But death gives rise to new life, doesn’t it? Plants grow from the soil fertilized by the dead. It’s not an endpoint. It’s just part of a cycle.”
One last ray of sunlight broke free from the clouds, gilding the perfect planes of his face. Already, his presence was soothing me, his otherworldly beauty an antidote to the ugliness of nature. “I think I have an idea of how to convince the humans to join us.”
He arched a perfect eyebrow. “How, exactly?”
“Metatron showed me images of people being tortured. I always knew it was something that happened in the world, something that humans did. But seeing it right before my eyes disturbed me on another level. What if I gave the humans a clear visual image of what they were facing?”
“Facing death, you mean?”
“The deaths of people they love. Metatron said that love makes us weak, but only if you define strength as an unyielding stubbornness. I saw a vision of a woman who died for an idea. Something theological. I’d die only to protect those I love, and so would most people. Love can give us strength, can push us to make the right choices: the will to survive, to protect those we care about. The strength to adapt when we need to. Life is too precious to waste on ideals like staying human just for the sake of it.”
“You want to remind them that they’re fighting for those they love.”
“Exactly. What if I used my powers of illusion to convince humans? They need to see firsthand what can happen to their loved ones if they don’t join us.”
“Terrify them into compliance. I like your tactics.”
“They need to understand that people’s children will die if they don’t join us.”
“There’s a little problem with your plan.”
“Oh?”
“The entire resistance has disappeared.”
I blinked. “Disappeared?”
“Yasmin has just told us. It seems there were mages among them.”
“Yeah. They were very proud of their mages. The best mages in the world, apparently. But they didn’t know what we know. We only have three days before everything ends.”
Adonis cocked his head. “And, unfortunately, I think they might have overestimated their mages’ abilities.”
A chill snaked up my neck. “What happened, exactly?
“After you told them Metatron could get through their shields, they panicked. When a king from another realm offered them asylum in his kingdom, they jumped at the chance. He’s supposedly offering them space in his castle.”
“Why did they leave so fast?”
“They thought they could plan the resistance from there, unperturbed by the angels. They transported the entire army to a magical realm. Only one old woman stayed behind, unwilling to jump into an unknown kingdom. She didn’t want to risk the journey. It seems they didn’t leave time to research the realm, and they might have jumped somewhere completely inhospitable.”
My stomach clenched. Alex was among them. Was he in trouble? “Do you have any idea how to find them?”
“I’ve found them through scrying, and I can get us there. I don’t know much beyond the location, but I can open a portal in and out.”
“You’re sure you can get them out?”
He looked affronted. “Of course I can, Ruby. I’m more powerful than their idiot human mages.”
“Let’s go, then. Now. I’ve got my bow and arrow, and I’m ready to shoot things if I need to.”
Adonis grabbed me by the hand, pulling me toward the river. The sun had now dipped lower behind the trees, and I shivered in the cooling air. Once we reached the river, Adonis pulled me toward the edge. The water flowed fast, shimmering like quicksilver in the darkening forest.
“Are you ready for a swim?”
Goosebumps covered my skin beneath my dress. It felt a little cold to jump in the river, but with Metatron on the verge of unleashing his army of immortals, time was running short.
As we stood at the edge of the river, Adonis spoke in Angelic, and his powerful magic rippled over my body, electrifying me. I stared at the river as its churning waters grew darker. Then, a few sparks of electricity ignited on its surface.
“Could this realm be dangerous?” I asked.
“Yes, but we can leave through a portal any time we need to.”
Holding each other’s hands, we jumped into the river. Icy water enveloped our bodies.
Underwater, Adonis pulled me close to his powerful chest, and warmth radiated from his body as we sank deeper below the surface. My lungs began to burn the deeper we went down.
In the water’s darkness, eels swam around us, their bodies blazing with electric pulses. That was eerie. I was starting to have a very bad feeling about this location.
At last, Adonis tugged my hand, and we began swimming for the surface. We reached the top, and I gasped for air, resting my elbows on the lip of a stone basin. I caught my breath for a moment, heaving air into my lungs. Then, I hoisted myself out, flopping to the cobblestones below like a dying fish.
My dress was completely soaked, and my teeth began to chatter as I looked around me. We were standing on a stone lane of a ramshackle old city. Rickety timber-frame buildings crowded the roads, their surfaces covered in thorny branches and—disconcertingly—Devil’s Bane.
We’d just arrived through a drinking fountain that featured a gorgon spewing water. At the top of a stone obelisk in the fountain, an enormous copper spike speared the sky. Dark clouds roiled above us, and I shivered.
Here, night was falling quickly. I wasn’t as scared of the dark as I’d once been—not since I’d stolen the power of the Old Gods. Still, this place gave me the heebie-jeebies. I shivered, relieved that I’d brought my bow and arrow with me.
From our spot in the town square, the street snaked up a hill. And on top of the hill itself stood a dark, tottering castle. Between its spindly copper spires, electricity sparked rhythmically, like a heartbeat.
I glanced at Adonis. On the journey here, he’d hidden his wings. He didn’t look particularly concerned about our current situation, but then, he rarely did.
He narrowed his gray eyes. “Whoever rules this place has covered it in Devil’s Bane. Maybe the king has heard about the Great Nightmare even from within his sealed-off realm. He certainly doesn’t want angels or horsemen here.”
A tavern sign creaked in the wind, its chipped surface reading Adam & Lucifer, with an image of a painted snake.
A man and a woman burst from the pub, slamming the wooden door open and tumbling into the street. The woman’s lips were painted red, and she wore vibrant skirts with a tight black bustier. Another woman followed behind her, breasts spilling out of her gown. Let no one say that this realm lacked for cleavage.
Still, something looked off about them—their movements a little jerky, eyes a little haunted.
Thunder boomed
, and a spear of lightning cracked the sky, touching down on the copper post to our right. I jumped, practically leaping on Adonis before recovering myself.
His lip curled in a wry smile. “A little scared of lighting, are we?”
I scowled at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
I surveyed the buildings around us once more, the thin chimneys jutting from rooftops like crooked teeth. Copper spikes protruded from some of them, and electricity sparked from their points.
I reached out for the vines covering one of the buildings. “Can this Devil’s Bane affect you even if it’s not touching you?”
“With this much around me, it’s already sapping my powers.”
I swallowed hard. Guess we’d be counting on my powers here, although the iron had wrecked me a bit. “Think we’re supposed to head up to that castle?”
“That would be my guess. But considering this world is hostile to angels, I think it’s best if we walk instead of fly.”
Even though the dark buildings around us looked like they were falling apart, a sensual and alluring scent floated on a warm breeze, skimming over my skin.
As we walked, my arm brushed against Adonis, and a shiver of pleasure rippled over my body. Here, my mind felt different, my body strangely heated. I glanced at Adonis, whose spine had stiffened.
He slid his gaze to me. “There’s an aphrodisiac in the air. Designed to distract us.”
Oh, shit. I had a feeling we were in trouble.
Chapter 21
“Right,” I breathed. “So, we have electric eels, lightning rods, aphrodisiacs. That all adds up to….”
“Yes?”
“I have no idea, actually. It’s all just fucking weird, and I can’t think straight.”
Thunder rumbled over the horizon again and lightning ignited the sky, touching down on a lightning rod over the palace spires. The skies opened up and rain began hammering down from above.
I felt my nipples harden under my soaking wet dress. As we walked along the winding streets, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I started to have the sense that someone was watching us.
My chest flushed, and I glanced at Adonis again, running my tongue over my lower lip. I couldn’t stop thinking about how his body had felt pressed against mine underwater. My heart beat faster, chest and cheeks flushing. It’s only the aphrodisiac, confusing me.
As we walked, some electric lights cast a flickering glow, sparking bright white over the tumbledown buildings. We passed another bar—this one called The Sparking Frog.
Another woman slammed through the door, this one with platinum curls piled high on her head. She smiled at me, her lips cherry red. Even if she had those same strange, jerky movements, her eyes looked heavy-lidded, a lustful expression on her features. She looked like she’d just been satiated, and I suddenly had a burning desire to feel like that, too. She tottered across the dark road.
I breathed in the exotic scent in the air, feeling as if my breasts were growing heavy and full, and I had the strongest desire to pull Adonis into an alleyway….
I gritted my teeth, trying to stay focused. We were here to find the resistance. My eyes slid to Adonis, roaming over his muscled form. Plenty of time for fucking later.
As if hearing my thoughts, he shot me a wicked smile, and I realized that I’d stopped walking just to stare at him. In fact, I was leaning against a ramshackle wall—a pub, maybe. My bow was pushing into my back, annoying me. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that heat pulsed between my legs, and my body ached for Adonis’s touch. I tugged up the hem of my dress, and Adonis’s gaze devoured every inch of my exposed thighs.
“Adonis,” I said. My legs trembled, and I yearned for him—for his dark power.
I clenched my fists, trying to remember what we were doing here.
The resistance. Resist. Resist.
“Plenty of time for fucking later,” I managed, even as his possessive hands were grabbing my hips. My arms found their way around his neck, and I pulled him closer. “Plenty of time for your mouth on my breasts, for me to rub against you, touching you everywhere….”
What was I talking about?
His hot mouth found its way to my neck, and he murmured against it. “I could hike up your dress and take you right here if you wanted.”
Oh, gods, I wanted that more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. The raw ache built in me so strongly, liquid heat surging through my body. Adonis’s magic spiraled off of him, caressing my skin up my thighs, under my skirt, in all the places I wanted his fingers to reach.
Adonis reached down, grabbing my wrists and pinning them to the wall. My back arched into him. He leaned down, brushing his lips over my throat. I felt my legs widening, and my hips pressed against him. I wanted his mouth to move lower. Instead, he brushed slow kisses up my neck until he locked his gaze on me once more—his gray eyes fierce and hungry. He was a man used to restraining himself. I wanted him to let go, for once to completely give in to pleasure. I wanted his hand to reach the apex of my legs.
His pale eyes pierced me, and I gazed into them helplessly, mesmerized by him.
I tugged at my wrists to free them, ready to move things faster, but he held me in place, staying in control. This slowness felt like pure agony, and I moaned.
“You belong with me,” he said. “Do you know that? Life and death belong together.”
Whatever. Just put those hands under my skirt and we’re good.
Instead, he leaned in, claiming my mouth in a sensual kiss. He pressed his hard body against mine, and I groaned, opening my mouth to him. His tongue swept against mine, and molten heat arced through my blood. I wanted more of him.
Still kissing me, his hands traced down my arms, skimming over my breasts, my hips. I shivered, overcome by desire.
My body ached for him. He pulled away from the kiss, his fingers now on my thighs. He was torturing me with the lightness of his touch, and I gasped, rocking my hips into him.
I felt my breasts straining against the fabric of my sodden dress, and I tugged down the front of it, exposing my lacy pink bra. Adonis growled, kissing my neck again, teeth grazing my throat until the only words I could hear were ache, need, want….
“I want you now, Adonis,” I whispered.
Maybe if I pulled off my dress and discarded my panties, I could get him to move faster. I could turn my back to him and get him to take me against the wall. I’d always wanted to fuck someone up against a rickety building covered in thorns and Devil’s Bane, in the center of a strange town….
Oh, no, wait. Had I? That didn’t quite sound right.
“Adonis,” I whispered, gripping his hair. “Something’s not right.”
He hooked his fingers into the top of my panties, tugging them down. Oh, gods, I need him to touch me.
“Yeah,” he muttered into my neck. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
Air caressed my skin as my panties fell to the ground, and my legs opened wider. I started to tug on his belt.
And yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew this wasn’t what we were supposed to be doing. The hairs rose on the back of my neck, that feeling of being observed.
“Adonis,” I said. “He’s watching us.”
Resist. Resist.
Adonis’s body tensed, and he froze. All at once, his gaze cleared, jaw clenching, and he pulled away from me. He reached over my head, grabbing a thorny branch, and he yanked it from the wall. He clutched it tightly, until blood poured from his fist into the dirt.
Of course. That was how Adonis controlled himself—for centuries, when pleasure overtook him, he used pain to control it.
The sight of his blood was enough to clear some of the heat from my body, and I took a deep, shuddering breath. Then I leaned down, pulling up my panties again. I looked furtively around me, catching the eye of a woman in a red dress. She winked at me.
Gods below.
Blood dripped from Adonis’s palms. “We’re going to have to stay focus
ed.”
I took a deep, steadying breath. “So this is what it must be like to be a horseman, always trying to resist temptation? How did you manage for all that time?”
As we moved deeper into the city, the buildings started to look more stable, some now made of smooth stone. “Yes. I could have lovers, but I had to keep myself at an emotional distance. You know what can happen if I become emotionally overwhelmed. In the fourteenth century, I had a close friend, once. A siren named Esmerelda who I met on the shores of Sicily. We used to stay up late, studying the stars. She made me laugh with her impersonations of a drunk priest we knew. One night, a sea monster attacked her, and she nearly died. Death washed off me, killing scores of people with a plague.”
Even though he was talking about something super morbid, another wave of that aphrodisiac washed over me. “What about Tanit and Kur? You’re close to them.”
“True, but nothing can kill those two. I don’t have to worry.”
“So what changed? Why aren’t you running from me?”
“I can’t. Your allure is a command I have to obey. I don’t have a choice in this, any more than the earth can choose to stop orbiting the sun. No more than the ocean can stop crashing against the shore. Your body draws me in with an inexorable gravitational pull. My own will has nothing to do with it.”
I frowned, not sure if I should be flattered—although I felt the exact same thing for him. “That sounds … strangely like a prison sentence.”
“It’s a prison I’ll happily inhabit,” he said in a voice that was strangely dreamy for Adonis. Clearly, the aphrodisiac was affecting him again, too.
We reached a small park, where willow trees grew among tall grasses. Lightning cracked the sky, illuminating a few women milling around the park. In this part of the city, the women’s dresses had become even shorter—just little lacy scraps, with black stockings that stopped mid-thigh, their breasts on display and nipples painted red….
No one would judge us here. We all wanted the same thing.
I breathed in the heavy scent of spring, and my body started to feel full again. We seemed to have drifted off course, and the tall grasses tickled my feet. I’d taken off my shoes at some point. That ache began pooling between my thighs again, and I grabbed Adonis by the shirt, giving in to that gravitational pull. I needed him near me, and the heat in my body was driving me insane. If I could just get rid of this overwhelming desire, we could move on to … whatever it was we were doing here.
Rogue Fae (A Spy Among the Fallen Book 3) Page 12