Page 65 of Greed of Giants

“I do, you’ve made my heart light and happy. I feel as though anything is possible, that we will succeed now that we are one, unified.”

“It has always been true, but love has given us a confidence we did not have before. Now do you want to talk all morning, or do you want pleasure?”

“You’ll have to kiss me, if you want me to be quiet.”

So I did.

Her mouth, first, the corner of her lips, the soft press of the lower one. Then her jaw, enjoying the rapid flutter of her pulse against my lips, the warm hollow of her shoulder. I worked my way down, slowly, patiently, relishing everysoft sigh, every heightened moan. I lingered over the swells of her chest, the smooth plane of her stomach. I kissed her there, between her thighs, until her hips lifted and her fingers tangled in my hair. She called my name, broken, breathless, into the open sky.

And it was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.

33

Ilaris

My legs trembled from making love, and it was mid-morning by the time we dressed and approached the beanstalk. Killian showed me a few footholds, how to climb and how to rest when I grew tired. I went first, and he followed, with a promise that Jasper would meet us at the top.

The beanstalk smelled like fresh vegetables, and the slight breeze made it sway gently back and forth. It was easier to climb than I anticipated, nothing like scaling a tree. The vines were still soft, slightly hairy, making it easy to grip, although after an hour, my palms were scratched raw from constantly rubbing against it. It was like climbing a great staircase, except when I looked down, the world moved beneath me.

The higher we went, the fluffier the beanstalk became, broad leaves offering shade while hiding the ground below. The wind picked up, bending the stalk in a way that made my stomach lurch, and I slowed, clinging to the vines like amoth fighting against being blown off into a storm. Killian caught up with me, his bulk pressing close. Comforting, but no less terrifying.

He whispered soft words of encouragement in my ear, and we moved together, hand over hand, continuing the ascent. My limbs burned, and the sky had gone dusky when we reached the top. Not the top of the beanstalk, but the Sky Kingdom where the giants once dwelled. My entire body was shaking as Killian pulled me to solid stone. I sat for a moment, my head between my legs, taking short breaths, trying to calm myself.

I’d never climbed before, and nothing within me wanted to repeat that terrifying experience. It felt like death was just a touch away. The air balloon had brought us just as high, yet it felt more secure because there was a basket, a railing, something to stand against versus free-climbing a magical beanstalk. I pressed my palms flat against the stone and reminded myself that I was safe. As safe as one can be while floating on a rock in the sky.

It was only when a soft nose nuzzled against my cheek that I lifted my head. “Jasper,” I whispered, hugging his neck. Today he was the size of a large dog, and he smelled of warmth and green things growing. I held onto him longer than I meant to before gathering the courage to lift my head.

“Oh,” I sighed. Awed.

Killian stood a few paces away, clouds moving above him like a halo, and before us stretched the ruins of the Sky Kingdom, if ruin was even the right word for something so imposing it made the world feel too small. Spires towered high, bending in the wind. A row of gray statues led intothe city, and beyond them, stairs climbed upward into a bank of clouds. On either side of the stone path, rich green grass rippled across rolling hills toward a distant grove of lavender trees. The grass and the trees made a dry crackling sound as they moved, as though something hollow lived inside them. An uncomfortable sensation moved through me.

I couldn’t banish the thought that there might be living creatures here, things that had found sanctuary in the silence of an abandoned city. I knew, for certain, that no scholar had ever walked this place nor studied its magnificence. I was the first, and the thought unsettled me in a way I could not precisely name.

“Ready?” Killian’s deep voice rumbled, echoing faintly across stone.

I stood, tilting my head back. “Have you been here before?”

“No. Nor do I know Prince Castor. The giants of the Sky Kingdom kept to themselves. Aside from trade they were reluctant to leave their city.”

“Then do you know if the Unmaking came here?”

“I’m unsure, but I am certain a different kind of greed drove the giants of this kingdom. Because of their silence, their stealth, I’m unaware of what they were doing here.”

I fell into step beside him, quiet as we passed the statues. They were giants, kings I assumed, for each wore a crown and held a scepter. Across from each king stood a woman, a queen or princess, also crowned, also holding a scepter, the twin gesture something between ceremony and mirror. Runes were carved at the base of each statue, and as we passed them, a glittering white mist breathedover the carvings, there and gone. Mist threaded across the stones at our feet, dispersing like fingers. I thought of souls, and that cold, eerie discomfort settled over me again.

When I glanced back, clouds had closed around us, hiding the beanstalk. Ahead, a great monolith rose from the stone, tall and lean, golden runes glistening against the obsidian face, careening into the heavens like a black lance.

As we approached the base, I saw stairs leading up to an altar, round and raised, much like the one I had seen in the Verdant Maw where Killian and Lady Justice argued. An object sat at its center. My breath went still as the mist parted and I recognized it.

I caught Killian’s sleeve. “It’s the Heart. Is this. . .some sort of game? A trap?”

Killian’s head lifted, eyes moving across the mist. Jasper trotted ahead, nose low, and gave a sharp bark. Something was there, beyond the veil of white. I felt its attention like a cold hand at the back of my neck.

Heat surged from Killian, and I stepped back instinctively. Knowing he would not burn me and actually standing inside the radius of his fury were two very different experiences.

Jasper’s bark sharpened, then tapered off. He trotted back to us and settled beside me, tongue lolling, as though whatever he had sensed had retreated.

Killian lowered his hands, brow knitted. “There is danger and yet, there is no danger. Stay behind me.”