“No, not that.”
I replayed my words and realized I’d just told Salem I loved him for the first time.
“I love you?” I questioned and his chin dipped slightly.
“I love you, Salem.” I said, bringing my hands up and putting them over his hands that were still on my face. “I thought that was obvious.”
The corners of his mouth lifted, and he opened his eyes, “Always the truth with you.”
“Always.”
That response was obviously the right one, because I was treated to a full smile.
My smile.
The one that kicked up my heart beat, melted my insides and punted the worries I had off of a cliff. The smile that made me feel at home anywhere, even in a small hut in the woods.
The worries crawled back up in my mind, but for a few seconds, I felt like I could conquer anything, and when Salem leaned down and kissed me, it held the worries at bay for as long as the kiss lasted.
I was the one that ended it, carefully pulling back so I didn’t hurt him.
“You need to sleep.” I said, “We both do.”
“I need you.”
“And you have me, but you need to rest and heal and you’re not going to get that if we keep doing this.”
“Fine, but there is only one bed and you need sleep too.”
I’d thought about that, and took a step backwards. “I’ll sleep in the chair.”
“You’ll sleep next to me.”
“I can’t. If I jostle or roll into you, you could get hurt.”
“You’ll sleep by my side or I’ll sleep on the floor.”
I huffed out a breath, “You’ll keep your hands to yourself?”
His lips twitched, “No promises.”
“I’ll sleep on the floor then.”
He held up his hands and chuckled, “Fine, fine. I’ll behave.”
“Good, let me clean up.”
“We’ll clean tomorrow.”
“Salem—”
“Nyx. Please.”
He said it softly again, and I tried to fight it, but failed. I was a sucker.
“You’ll keep your hands to yourself?”
“Yes.” He said, laying down and pushing himself against the wall so I had over half the bed to climb onto. I did as he asked, turning onto my side so my back was to him and just as his arm swung over my hip and pulled me flush against his chest he added, “To an extent.”
I would have protested if he’d tried to start up anything, but he didn’t. Interlacing my fingers into his, I closed my eyes and it didn’t take long for either of us to fall asleep.
Chapter 17
Iwoke up long before Salem did. I finished cleaning up and then sat in the chair. I tried not to turn into the token creep by watching him sleep. I tried to keep my eyes off of him completely, I really did, but I failed.
He was here, alive and healing. The cuts and bruises already looked better and I had an entire day with him before reality came crashing down around us.
“It’s not polite to stare.”
I jumped, aside from his lips, he hadn’t moved and then I narrowed my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
His eyes opened, fixing themselves onto me. “That was a lie.”
“It was.”
He grunted and then said, “You can make it up to me by coming back to bed.”
“I got up early for a reason.” I teased, shaking my head as the corners of his mouth turned up.
“Did you? Worried about my virtue?”
“Not in the least,” I said through a laugh, and he did his best to look offended before he grinned.
“Good, because I’m not worried about yours either.”
“You’re horrible.”
“The worst.” He confirmed, reaching up to rub the last of sleep from his eyes.
“I haven’t worried about healing your stubborn, broody ass just to have you bleed out because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”
He chuckled, pushing up and wincing a little before his elbow buckled.
I was up and across the room in the next second, “Are you okay?”
“Just a little stiff from sleeping. Will you help me sit up?”
The fact he’d asked for my help should have clued me in, but I was under the impression he honestly needed assistance.
I reached for him and before I knew what was happening, his arm hooked around my waist and he yanked me onto the bed and rolled so he was on top of me.
I didn’t even have time to protest before he had buried his face in my neck, planting small, sweet kisses up my throat and jaw line, then working his way back down.
Then, he stopped.
He pulled back and moved his weight onto the elbow he’d used to trick me and his now free hand pulled at the chain bunched up at my throat.
The ring, slid out of my shirt and his eyes didn’t move from the jewelry.
“You kept it?”
“Of course. It’s mine.”
“What made you think to keep it next to the crystal?”
“It was chance. It heated through every other chain I tried to put it on, so I tried this one. Two objects born in the Underworld.”
“The crystal has magical properties. At one point, it might have been used as a talisman or the like, but most of the magic has worn out. There’s just enough to counteract my magic.”
“Your magic? What are you talking about?”
“It would have meant more if I’d told you what this was when I gave it to you. Maybe you would have understood what you meant to me then, but I thought you’d refuse it, so I kept it quiet.”
“Salem, enough with the cryptic crap. Explain.”
“This is what Baal’s been looking for, the demon who took my shape. At Christmas, we found some scrolls that talked about one of the Hades’ pulling his power from his body. It was that spell we used after Jane gave you the cluster. It was the only way I could protect you, the only way I could give you the power to return to your world. I kept enough of my magic to function and put the rest into this ring.”
My jaw dropped open as I looked down at the beautiful but generally unimpressive ring. Unimpressive, because it gave no inclination about the power it held. He’d bought it for me so long ago, long enough I had thought it was a token, not something that meant so much.
When my mind caught back up to the mention of the scrolls, panic started to swarm me and my eyes went from the ring to him.
“Salem, I found those scrolls. I found them and I told him about the spell. Can he take it or reverse it onto himself?”
“No and neither can I. You’d have to destroy it to reverse the spell completely but the magic would just revert back to me.”
“Then why don’t we just do that? If we break it—” I started, but he was already shaking his head and I stopped.
“Did you finish the scrolls?”
“No.”
“Then you didn’t read the part about the spell putting the Hades in something they cryptically called a sleep akin to death the second time the spell was used. It wasn’t until his heir came of age and the power transferred to him that he woke up. I don’t have an heir, and I can’t risk the fate of the Underworld trying to transfer my power again. This is the last time the spell can be used by me.”
I narrowed my eyes, remembering he’d told me it wasn’t dangerous. I was about to call him on it, when it hit me just how long it had been when he’d given it to me and what that meant.
“You gave your power up for me back? That was only my second trip here. We’d spent like two weeks together at most.”
He nodded, “And in doing so, you had control over the house, the River of Souls, everything. Including me.”
My mind ceased to think as he tucked the ring back into my shirt, his knuckles grazing my skin as he withdrew and then he rolled off of me, tucking me into his side as he did.
“What did you think, Nyx? That I kept you around out of the goodness of my heart? I
t was a selfish act. I worked hard to make things easy for you so you’d keep coming back. I finished as much of my work as I could so I didn’t have to leave the manor while you were here and had Joshua doing everything else during your stays, just to be in the same vicinity as you were.” He chuckled, kissing the top of my head as I listened. “I even found myself sitting outside Jane’s door to listen to you read to her, only getting caught the one time.”
I remembered that. Remembered finding him there on the floor, and teasing him about wanting a bed time story.
“I fell a little in love with you the day after the incident with Fenris in the woods.” He continued, “Briella was having her tantrum and you stood up for me. This little thing who had no obligation of fighting for the man who’d had her kidnapped and you did it all with truth in your words, something at the time I still wasn’t used to.”
“But you said I couldn’t keep coming back. We had that fight.”
“The fight after Jane had begged me to give you the cluster. I remember. I was frustrated because Jane started making sense. I wanted to offer you a place here. Wanted to offer it enough that I pictured it. Not right away, but eventually down the road if you felt the way I’d started to.”
“Is that why you were so mad with Jane? You pushed your feelings back and she did it anyway?”
He chuckled, “Too observant. Yes. I felt like maybe I’d said or done something to convince her to do it. But I fixed it and you still wanted to come back.”
“I wouldn’t say I loved you then, Salem. But I cared for you. More than I had when I left the first time.”
“My feelings grew more and more every time you came back. I didn’t realize it at first and tried to dismiss it when I did, but when I understood that I could deny you nothing, I accepted it.”
Salem had liked me from that first week. The second week he had given me his power to make me happy. Ensuring I could go back and still have a life with Callie and Iris. But most importantly, Salem loved me. Me. The weird, little Fury who hated her job, had shapeless red hair and couldn’t tell a lie to save her life. He loved me. He hadn’t said it, but he hadn’t needed to.
“I missed you.” I said, because it was all I could say. My emotions had short circuited everything else.
“I missed you more.”
I turned to look over at him, kissed his jaw and then snuggled back into him. Content to just lay here.
He was not.
He reached for one of my hands and laid it over his heart and his mouth moved over mine. He pulled away just a little at muttered against my lips. “My body’s been healing normally since we removed the knife. I will be healed completely in a few hours. But I swear, if you don’t let me touch you, I’ll be hurting for another reason entirely and it will be your fault.”
I grinned, “I guess I can’t argue with that.”
“No, you can’t.”
His mouth met mine again and I moved my hand from his heart, only because I wanted it wrapped around his neck to pull him closer.
My teeth grazed his bottom lip, an action that elicited a deep growl from his throat and he pulled me on top of him so I was straddling his waist. His hands on my hips, he pushed my shirt up so that both his hands were skin to skin.
The feeling of his hands shouldn’t have been enough to pull my sanity from me, but they did. The worries of hurting him evaporated a little at a time until they were gone completely and I had my shirt on the floor in the next second, ignoring the voice in my head telling me I should slow down.
He stopped me from attacking him with my mouth and looked me over, taking in every inch of me and the heat in his eyes did funny things to my belly.
If I’d planned this out, I probably would have worn something sexier than the white and pink polka dot bra, but it had been a save Salem from death mission, not a save him and jump his bones mission.
He knifed up, surprising me a little when he grinned wickedly before he dipped his head and planted a kiss just above the line of my bra.
“I knew he was a smart serpent.” He said, speaking as he trailed his lips to follow the fabric to the center of chest. “Warm and soft, like you thought.”
I kissed the top of his head, smiling as I did and he looked up at me when I pulled away. His mouth found mine again and those six words were the last that were spoken.
I was half on top of him with the blanket half on top of me. Salem had his eyes closed, his fingers tracing little circles over my back.
“We need a plan.” I said, not wanting to think about it, but knowing we needed to.
“I have one.”
“Which is?”
“I kill him.”
“Oh, all right. Just like that. It’s short, straightforward. There is just that part of it being easier said than done.”
“You doubt me?”
“No.”
“You doubt this?”
He stopped drawing the circles and held his hand out. I turned my head just in time to see the purple glow and the orb of electricity crackling before he put it out with a closed fist.
“No, but I want him to suffer.”
“It’s not wise to play with demons. After this is over, I’m going to have to send word to the other realms. This is the second time a demon has been sent to overthrow me. They need to be informed.”
“Lenox and Briella need to be dealt with as well.”
“They will be. Briella will be exiled for this and the Dark Fae will most likely kill Lenox.”
“Good.”
He chuckled, “When did you become so bloodthirsty?”
“When I saw you chained up in a cave half dead. Jane’s barely conscious because they let a demon into the Underworld.”
His body stiffened and his voice was soft when he asked, “How did it happen?”
“Fake you said it was a demon. I’m betting he was telling the truth and that the demon was him. He said he was going to apologize and then I saw her while we were—”
I cut myself off. The memory of his hands on me had my good feelings evaporating.
“While you were what?”
“He wasn’t sure what to do with me when I showed up,” I explained, feeling slimy. Like I’d cheated and, in a way, I sort of had. “When I all but told him that we had something between us, he exploited it and it worked. If you weren’t so pretty, and I didn’t want you like I do, it wouldn’t have.” I explained, trying not to feel the shame I did.
“He kissed you?”
I pulled away from him and turned to face the wall.
“Yeah. I should have known then, even his kisses were different. The way he touched me, it all felt forced on his part and wrong. I figured it felt different because you’d left me for so long. It hurt knowing you hadn’t come back for me. Hadn’t trusted me when you’d been so worried. But I was wrong. It was because it wasn’t you. I was pulling away from him when I saw her body. It was horrible, Salem. I thought she was dead.”
Salem surprised me by curling his body around me and then doubly when he spoke.
“I’m sorry, Nyx.”
“You’re sorry?” I said, turning to look at him.
He kissed my cheek and nodded, “I didn’t see this kind of double cross coming. I should have been prepared and I wasn’t. My meeting in the forest took place the day before I was supposed to come get you. I was distracted and not paying attention to my surroundings.”
“Salem, this is not your fault.”
“You feel that way?”
“Of course, you can’t blame yourself for this. This was Baal, Lenox and Briella. It wasn’t you.” The corners of his mouth tipped up and I assumed it was my words making him feel better, so I kept going. “You’re not all knowing, Salem, you cannot take the responsibility of others deceit. You can’t—”
“Neither can you.” He interrupted, and the real reason for his grin hit me as he continued on. “So, I won’t if you won’t. Stop feeling guilty, Nyx. Stop blaming yourself and stop beating your
self up for the actions of others. You’re not all knowing and you cannot take the responsibility for others deceit.”
I shook my head and then I smiled.
“You tricked me.”
“You weren’t going to listen to me any other way.”
I got Salem to eat more and we both got dressed. When Fenris showed up, Salem was well enough to steer the horse and I hopped up behind him this time.
“You look much better, old friend.” Fenris said, smiling at the two of us, but thankfully not in a way that showed off his teeth. They reached out and clasped each other’s forearms for a beat and then let go.
“He held me with a fae blade.” Salem said, and Fenris’ eyes narrowed.
“Minrathosani?”
Salem nodded, and Fenris’ lip curled.
“My Minrathosani. It was taken from me when they took my title.”
Salem reached into the horse’s saddle bag and pulled the blade from it. I hadn’t even seen him pick it up off the cave floor.
He handed it back to Fenris, and I ignored the dried black blood crusted to it.
“Thank you, sir. I am sorry she caused you such trouble.”
“Not your fault.”
Fenris bowed his head, sheathed the dagger and then changed the subject. “The demon knows.”
“I figured he would when Nyx disappeared.”
“I got your people out of the manor. I tried to get them to go into the city, but they refused. I took them to the mouth of the river.”
“Then we head there.”
“I will head back to my people and make sure they are kept away from the manor. He will not be able to count on their numbers against you.”
“As soon as we’re done at the manor, I will be paying this Lenox a visit.”
“That will be a pleasure.”
We took off, riding side by side until we split off from each other halfway through the forest. Fenris held up a hand before disappearing into the trees.
When we hit the river’s edge, Salem turned left and followed it and when the mouth of the river came into view I couldn’t look away.
Tasha, Joshua and Charon stood in a clearing next to a giant stone statue depicting a dragon, the green glow of souls spilling from his mouth.
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