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She falls into a thick silence. And then, “Do you believe him?”
“Depends on what he discovers. If it really is just Hera up to some hijinks, he’ll play it off as nothing and order me to forget about it.”
She nods, her expression tightening with bitter lines. “Because why go tempting one’s husband into a frothing rage for no good reason?”
“Sometimes a shitty status quo is better than a raging war.”
Her fingertips tremble. Her inhalation is just as wobbly. “And what if he learns it’s more than basic spousal shenanigans?”
“Then I’ll listen to what the situation entails and weigh stuff out.”
“Stuff like what?” She surges back to her feet with a nervous breath. “And why?”
“Like what kind of scope Hera’s thinking on.” I get up too. “Is her scheme just some elaborate jab at Z, or does she want to rope you and me into the mix too? If that’s the case, then how far is she tossing that rope? Has she reached out to Hades to unwind what he and Hecate agreed to?”
“Oh my God.”
“Kara? Hey, wait!Whoa…”
I shout it as she gives flight into deeper recesses of the trees. As in,flight. Words clutch to silence in my throat as my gaze travels to the swirling twigs and leaves around her bare calves and feet—only to realize the foliage isn’taroundher.
It’s…under her.
My gorgeous demon soul mate is also an incredible witch of Iremia…who can fly.
But three seconds is all the time I have to process that. I know it as soon as Kara slows, stops, and glances back to the path I’ve cleared through the tall grass. Though she’s still hovering by a few inches, the new fire in her eyes gives me enough to translate her truth—and the vulnerability beneath it.
And the agony. And the uncertainty.
She’s still expecting Hades to materialize any moment. And I don’t blame her.
I let her have the moment, even with the wilder whorl of debris between her feet and the ground. My own shock and guilt, no matter how abject, are secondary to the pain that consumes the rest of her features.
“I thought it was over.” The words practically trample each other to be free from her lips. “I thought…I’d never have to worry about that place ever again.”
“And you won’t.”
My own syllables fight each other for dominance, grating from my dry throat as I reach again for her hands. Though our contact brings her an inch lower, it sparks a lot of other results. The instant ignition between our bloodstreams. The flares of awareness, blinding my senses to everything around us. I see nothing but her.The universes in her round brown eyes. The spell of her rich cinnamon scent. But most of all, the wallop of her mounting dread.
“You won’t.” I repeat it with twice my conviction. “Kara. Listen to me. I’m not going to let it happen again. I swear to you, with every breath in my body and corner of my soul…I’ll give up both before Hades lays so much as another fingertip on you.”
“No.” She seizes my elbows. “Don’t say that.” Her features gain new creases. “Just don’t, okay?”
I pull her in close, brushing my lips into her hair. I’m fervent but compassionate, communicating that I understand.
“Doesn’t matter if I do or don’t. If he ever comes for you again, I won’t hesitate to kill him.”
She laughs. The sound makes me aware of the world again. It’s like the spell of the wind in the trees and as musical as the countless chimes around the complex, blending in an airy symphony, as she sinks the last few inches to stand before me again.
“You’ll kill him, huh? The king of hell?”
I narrow my gaze, studying the dancing lights in her own. “You don’t think I can?”
“That’s not it. But he’s the ruler of an entirerealm.” She grips me a little harder. “You don’t yank out a cosmic keystone like that without consequences.”
“You mean like a parade in my honor? A promotion from hell invader to underworld hero?”
A new topography overtakes her forehead. I should be focusing on the hundred reasons behind her stress but am consumed by the fantasy of erasing those furrows with my lips while my body does other tension-tamping things to hers.
