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I laughed louder. “Don’t be silly. The only rabid animal in this room will be you, my husband.” I stood up and pulled him with me, skipping over to the bed. “Now are you going to remind me why I put up with you, or not?”
He hesitated, but only for a second longer. A smirk stretched his lips. “If you need a reminder...” His clothes were torn off in a blink. “I’m more than happy to oblige.”
Alisdair pounced on me. Snaking around my body, he held me close to him and dropped kisses on my shoulder. The burning trail continued along my neck, behind my ear, and to a soft, sensitive lobe that received a playful nip.
Turning my head, I captured his lips—kissing him deeply, passionately, thoroughly—pouring everything I felt for him.
Alisdair tangled in my hair, drawing me closer still. Our tongues tangled—caught in our never-ending battle for dominance. I surrendered easily—letting him plunder my mouth like he plundered every part of me—taking everything, leaving no survivors behind.
He broke away, coughing.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
Growling, he snatched me back, smashing our lips together.
Just as quickly as the kiss started, it was over again. Alisdair doubled over, besieged by another coughing fit. Clutching his chest, he dropped—tumbling off the bed wheezing and hacking.
Slowly I rose up, my sweet, seductive smile bleeding away. “You really should’ve insisted that I give you the rest of those petals, dear husband.” My voice was flat. Dead.
“Wha— What did... you do?”
I gazed down at him, burning with rage even while another emotion toyed with my heart—still! Even now, after all he’d done and said, it hurt to see him this way.
“My mistake was trying to be clever. Use my mind to outwit you.” I stepped over to him and grabbed my clothes. “It was only ever my body you cared about. My body was always meant to be the trap.”
“Ana!” he shouted and paid for it immediately—hacking as the scant amount of air in his lungs fled.
“I crushed the petals, smeared it on my lips, and coated my mouth in the rest.” Before my eyes, he changed. Clutching his throat, his fangs receded, his horns shrunk, and his claws began to shrink. The larger-than-life, all-powerful beast of Lumenfell... was nothing but a man.
“You’re never going to love me,” I said softly, “and that’s okay. But you don’t get to keep me either. I’m going home, and you’re not going to stop me.”
“A-A-A... na—”
I seized his wrists, and pulled. “Goodbye, Alisdair. I wish it didn’t have to come to this, but you can take one thing for comfort during your trip.” I dragged him to the edge of the room with three walls. “Even after everything you’ve done to me, I’ll still spend the rest of my life regretting that this will be our last and final kiss.”
“Wait!”
I kicked him off the cliff.
“Ahhhhhh!”
His shouts faded down the canyon.
I didn’t waste another second. There were too many faeriken in and out of the castle with superior hearing. One or more of them would’ve heard the scream and would be along to check on their beloved king. I needed to be gone before then. Racing to my wardrobe, I grabbed the warmest coat I could find, then bolted out the door.
Riordan was long gone. He left for Lumenfell with a cart full of vegetables, and a sack full of jewels. He wouldn’t be able to carry me home.
There was only one way, and one person I could go to. I just had to get there quickly.
Escaping the castle, I crashed through the snow blanketing the garden—running a path so familiar to the one I ran that fateful night when Alisdair made me his true mate in every way.
Darkness claimed me. Bare branches ripped, tore, and appeared out of the gloom to meet me head-on. Was I running because I feared Alisdair was dead, and my own friends would hunt me down and kill me? Or was I running because I was afraid... he wasn’t?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t slow down.
Bursting through the shadows, I ran full speed, and my foot came down on nothing.
“Ahh!” I tumbled off the edge.
