by Aimee Moore
He ran ginger fingers around my shard. “This first.”
“It happened in the vault. When we try to pull it free, my life wanes.”
“You have been injured all this time?”
“You were injured, too,” I whispered, trailing my fingers over his face. “I made Karne take me back. I saw the blood. And you were gone.”
Dal pulled me close again, concern etched in his features. “Kraw are resilient. Humans are more fragile. I do not think the Nialae who took you tried very hard to remove this.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I breathed. “Nothing else matters right now. Only you.” I pulled Dal close and kissed him with an urgency that threatened to overwhelm me. Oh, sweet life, he kissed me back with a groan, pressing me against the wall. By the gods, I could never be close enough to him. I wanted him here, now. Before any other force of this world threatened to take us from each other again.
Dal kissed me with a noise in his throat that was nothing short of desperation, grabbing my legs and wrapping them around him. As if we were never away from each other, our bodies moved perfectly; the only dance I ever wanted to know. He took his time; kissing, touching, trailing his fingers over every part of me in reverence. And for the first time since being forced to wear these indecent excuses for dresses, I was glad for the sensual sheerness of this one.
He moved the delicate folds of my dress aside, the urgent strength of his hands and arms holding me tight, and then after some more adjusting, he was entering me, slowly, with such exquisite care that I nearly cried out with release right there.
Dal kissed me deeper as he buried himself, letting off a groan into my mouth that seemed to say everything I was feeling. I love you. I need you. I can’t be parted from you again. Joy mingled with ecstasy as he pushed deep, pressing himself hard into me. I couldn’t take enough of him, and he made slow love to me as if he wanted me to know every stroke held worlds of meaning.
It did to me.
The world around us faded away as my mate took me, there in the dark room, against the wall. Each thrust was deeper and more exquisite, each sigh and tensing of his body the rhythm to the melody in my heart. He pulled me closer as if I might slip through his fingers, burying himself into me one final time. The groan of his release pushed me over the edge, and I cried out between our lips. Purple exploded through my vision as climax shook my existence. I didn’t know what sounds I was making or how my body was moving, only that Dal was there with me and that was all I needed in this life or the next.
In time, after the aftershocks of pleasure had subsided, I was being set back on shaking legs. I collapsed to the floor as a laugh bubbled out of me. Dal made himself decent and sat with me, pulling me close as he caught his breath. He kissed my hair. My neck. My exposed shoulders. Lust fired up anew, and I turned and wrapped my good arm around him, kissing him again.
Dal let off a soft rumble of a laugh. “There is time, Sera.”
“No. There may never be time again,” I whispered.
Dal ran his fingers through my hair, a slight frown touching his beautiful face. “You smell of him.”
“I did before now,” I said with a half laugh.
My eyes had adjusted enough to see Dal’s smile in the darkness. He was the most beautiful thing in the world to me.
“You look like one of them. What does this mean?” He tugged the ring around my neck, firing desire into me.
“It’s part of my disguise. I have to pretend to be in bond with Karne,” I whispered.
“The one who took you.” A large hand splayed over my neck. A caress.
I nodded.
“He took you westward. What is out there?”
“How did you know where I went?”
Dal brought his hand to trail down my right arm, running a thumb over the tattoo he gave me a lifetime ago.
“This is no mere clan mark. It is a trace spell, too. I can find you anywhere in this world, Sera.”
Tears welled up in my eyes again as love and anger fought within me. “You didn’t come for me, though.” I shoved at my warrior. “You didn’t come for me! I was a slave in his house watching him rut and give orders and I was folding his sheets and servicing his guests and cleaning fireplaces and dying more inside every day you were gone and you didn’t come!”
Dal let a long breath out of his nose, tucking a piece of my blond hair behind my ear. “I did. You were ripped away from me, and I would stop at nothing to get you back. Slowed by injury, I took the road south to get to a warmer climate for Lianne, but Kalgar was eaten in the night and we couldn’t carry everything on foot.”
I covered my mouth as my eyes widened.
Dal continued. “I was always aware of you, Sera. Always trying to reach you. Lianne was angry with me. She wanted her hero’s quest. I convinced her to stay with me for her safety. When we began to head west, a ristulg met us on the road.”
“I saw,” I whispered, my gaze searching his. “You were dead; I saw both of you dead, Dal.”
“Ysiel summoned a cabin from your mind, it is logical to think this Karne filled in the scene of our battle with his own illusions. No, we lived. The ristulg became distracted on the easy prey of a deer, but not before Lianne was gravely injured.”
“Stars above; poor Lianne.”
“She spent weeks more in the cover of a charred hut while I helped her fight for life. When she recovered enough to travel, I began west, toward you. We were on the road for weeks, our progress slow with Lianne’s injuries and the new dangers of your world. Then, a new creature attacked and Lianne was unable to wake from it. I had little choice.” Dal frowned with the memory.
I traced a finger up the tattoo on his arm. “You came here.”
Dal nodded. “I knew that Gifted with healing talents resided here in Elanthia, and so I carried Lianne back. She never woke. Never showed signs of needing nourishment. The journey was long and tiresome, turning to months. Months where I was forced to travel away from you. My plan was to leave Lianne here, with healers, and go west alone for you. And then I felt you here, in Elanthia.”
My touch stilled.
“It would seem, Sera, that Lianne had a part to play in our fates after all. For without her injury, I would not be here now.”
I touched my warrior’s beautiful face, still in disbelief that he was here. “I am sorry I doubted you,” I whispered. “Gods, Dal, my paltry attempts at escaping east were inconsequential compared to your trials.”
Dal kissed me again. “Do not compare, for we have both endured hardships.” And then Dal let off a long breath. “I have missed you deeply, Sera.”
“You are all that has ruled my world, all this time. Even in death.” Then I frowned again. “Is Lianne…?”
“We have been here for one week. She is on the outskirts of town where the Gifted dwell so their gifts are not muted by Nialae in the capital. She will recover. Does Caelund know who you are?”
I shook my head. “He thinks I’m Ryelle, Karne’s wife.”
Dal let off a slight growl. “The child is easily fooled. But it is for the best. He has discovered you had a hand in killing his father.”
“How?”
“The healers questioned my identity, searching for the woman and her Kraw slave who slew the council. It is my guess that Ysiel has divulged much to the boy king in exchange for what she wants.”
“That makes sense,” I said on a sigh.
“You are not surprised.”
“Their ways are familiar to me now.”
“A regret that will always plague my waking hours. One of many I am at fault for.”
I nuzzled into him. “It matters not. The Longest Day approaches; we must not waste our opportunity to leave again.”
Dal let out a long breath, fingers grazing the space around my shard. “I cannot take you to my world with that injury still a part of you. Without knowing its power, I could lose you forever. And I do not know where to find the cure.”
“If we’d only skipp
ed Sunwold,” I whispered, keen regret washing through me. Dal’s thick arms came around me. His scent, it nearly made me cry all over again.
“Sunwold was my fault. All of this, my mistake. I am deeply sorry, Sera. For all my wisdom, I cannot seem to make decisions for you without bringing harm.”
Dal didn’t just mean Sunwold or the university, he also meant Patroma and the Warlord. I couldn’t be mad at him. Our hardships forged moments like these, where deep pain was put aside for love and understanding of equal depth.
“It’s done; we’ll get through it together,” I whispered.
Silence blanketed us as Dal held me close, and I sank into his calming heat, listening to his heartbeat, his even breathing. I would stay in this dark room forever if it meant being with him.
“He was the Nialae who was visiting you,” Dal murmured.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I should have told you right away, but I was so ashamed at my weakness when you had displayed such strength around Ysiel. If I’d just told you, we might not be in this mess.”
“It is past now.” A large hand brushed down my arm. “I want to take you away from here,” Dal whispered.
My chest squeezed. “You can’t. Dal, it pains me to say this, but if I’m stuck here because of this shard then I have to stay in their game and find the cure. It’s more important than ever now.”
His breathing stilled for a moment, then he deflated. “I have only just reclaimed you, Sera. There must be another way.”
“We can’t leave my world until the shard is gone. Karne can give me access to the information I need to rid myself of it. The Helegnaur is nearly in my grasp as well, and then the Nialae will pay.”
“Pay,” he said with a frown.
“Karne knew all this time that you’re alive. That wretch let me die inside just to keep me as his pet. He is going to suffer.”
“How many times did you attempt escape?”
I let out a long breath. “Two, at least. The first time I killed one of his staff and threatened to kill more.”
“A Kraw-worthy escape.”
I squeezed his hand. “The second time I stole a horse and got four days out before a chariot found me. Then Karne showed me your body.”
Dal stiffened, looking down at me. “A white chariot. Like we saw.”
I bit my lip with guilt.
Dal let off a scathing curse. “Did they?”
“Almost four at once,” I whispered, ashamed all over again.
Dal’s entire body was rigid, and he muttered an oath in Kraw that made me wince.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed.
Dal held me tighter, tension still quivering his muscles. “The fault is mine for allowing this to happen. What stopped them?”
“Karne did.”
Dal’s jaw clenched. “Has he taken you yet?”
I winced, turning away. “Stars above,” I whispered.
“Sera.”
“No. He hasn’t. But he almost did. Very much almost,” I whispered, more tears threatening to wash down my face. The regret was deep enough to drown in. Dal’s breath stilled, his heart racing through his skin, tapping against my own.
“You have to understand, Dal. I wasn’t me anymore. I was consumed by grief. My body was no longer worth anything to me, it was just a shell wrapped around the part of me that still possessed some part of you. I went as cold as them, trading secrets and pleasure to betray them.”
“Pleasure.”
“Oh seven hells this is hard,” I breathed. “I would be sent to the beds of his guests.”
“They have taken from you.” The warrior who lusted for blood rose in Dal’s voice.
“Not truly,” I whispered, pressing a hand to Dal’s tense arm, capturing his burning gaze. “I could have declined, but I didn’t. It was only ever women, and it was as heartless as a handshake; an exchange.”
Dal let a long breath out of his nose, pushing away tension and anger. His voice was a forced calm. “You adapted and survived, much as you did with my own people. It crushes me to know, but I cannot place blame on you.”
“You’re still the only man I’ve ever known,” I whispered.
Dal smiled, pulling me close for another kiss.
“I know you did not make your decisions lightly. I felt your grief then; knew the depths of your despair.”
“You what?” I breathed.
Dal trailed his fingers over my tattoo. “We put my blood in your skin, and something has happened. Perhaps your gods were watching after all.”
“You can feel what I feel?” I whispered.
“Not often. It is a cry on a distant mountain. Sometimes I can hear it. Most of the time not. I felt your despair months ago. And I felt you just now at the height of your passion for the first time. It was… More than I could have imagined.”
I opened my mouth to discuss this in detail, but Dal tensed, pulling a hand over my mouth and leaning us further into the shadows. I obeyed, pulling my dress out of the shaft of light slanting in through the door. Footsteps thudded by, interrupting the safe cocoon of our darkness. When they passed, he let me go.
“We cannot stay here,” he murmured.
“I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I can leave you,” I whispered.
Dal let off a long sigh. “If he sunk to such depths to halt your escapes, then it is plausible to assume that the shard is another method of control. You are being logical where I am not.”
“You will try to remove it, will you not? Perhaps your people’s gifts will work.”
We quieted as more footsteps went by.
“Your time grows short. Tomorrow I will try to remove it. And I will have a gift for you. Meet me at our stone bench when you are able.”
Panic gripped me, clutching at my throat. “No, Dal, don’t go yet. Please.”
But Dal was standing, pulling me to my feet, looking around the corner, then back at me. He moved us into the light where I could see him clearly. My chest squeezed at the sight of him.
“Always beautiful,” he said.
“I’m a stranger in my own skin,” I whispered.
His gaze stayed on my lightened eyes. “No matter what gilded wings they put on you, you will always be the most beautiful dragonfly.”
My breath came shallow.
“Tomorrow,” Dal said.
“When tomorrow?” I breathed.
“When you can make it. I will find you.” His fingers brushed over my tattoo.
I gave a soft nod, choking back the urge to sob as if I was losing him all over again. Dal looked around the corner, made eye contact with me once more, then turned through the doorway. I watched the man I love walk away from me. The man I’d mourned and prayed fervently to every god in existence to see again for just one more moment. The distance was spanning between us now as he left me.
“Dal!” I called.
He turned. I ran to my warrior; rushed into his embrace. Dal pressed me to him, kissing me as if he would never savor my kiss again. As if he could not breathe without me.
As if it might have been the last time.
Chapter 23
Games And Gifts
Karne was in an awful snit when I got back to our room.
I realized then just how intimate I’d become with him over the passing weeks. I had changed clothes in front of him. Shared meals with him. Kissed him. Almost let him have me in my callous quest to get the upper hand.
But no more.
“—Had I known you intended to leave. It was reckless of you Sera, reckless and foolish."
“You don’t get to call me that,” I said, searching my wardrobe for whatever sleeping clothes Yasmil had packed.
“You’re not listening to me,” Karne said in a low voice.
“I heard every word. How suspicious were your court friends?” I shoved aside lacey negligees and silken shifts.
“Have you heard nothing I’ve said? They wouldn’t let on if they were suspicious.”
“Hm. Then I
suppose we shall not worry ourselves,” I said.
Karne’s hand grasped my right arm, turning me toward him gently. “You’re different,” he said in a low voice.
I scowled. “I’m no different than before. Let me go.”
But he pulled me closer, inhaling deep. “You smell different.”
I wrenched my arm free, backing away. Either he could see into my head and he knew the answer or he was baiting me. I was careful to keep my mind in safe waters around him. “If you’ll excuse me, I need a bath,” I said, returning to my search of night clothes.
“What a splendid idea. I’ll join you,” Karne said.
“No. I wish to be alone.”
“Hours ago, you were writhing beneath me. Now you won’t look at me. I don’t have to know your thoughts to know you are different, Seraphine. A woman doesn’t change that drastically from a water break.”
My heart turned over as I realized he could not see into my head from earlier. But why? I grabbed some riding pants and a shirt, then strode to the doorway and turned, glancing at Karne. “At what point tonight could you no longer see into my head?” I asked. If I could but unravel the mystery of how and when I was alone in my head, I could use it as a shield.
Karne gave me a light laugh, adjusting the cuffs on his elaborate shirt. “Beginning to piece it all together at last, Seraphine? But why does it matter, I wonder?”
“It just matters.”
“And having things go smoothly while we’re here matters to me. It would appear that we are both disappointed,” Karne said in a flat tone.
I rolled my eyes, then disappeared into the bathing room. I didn’t really want a bath. Didn’t want to wash away any lingering trace of Dal on my skin. I just wanted alone time, and mercifully, Karne gave it to me. I took my time combing my blond hair, removing the pins and braiding it back so I almost felt like myself again.
I changed into the riding clothes, which were tight pants and a loose shirt, and gave myself a sigh in the gilded mirror. Dal was alive. That thought alone made me want to laugh hysterically. Hug myself and spin. But I had to keep my joy stoppered. First things first, I needed to wrestle out the sleeping arrangements with Karne and get through the night. I clasped my whorled shell necklace and gave myself a look in the mirror as I took a deep breath.