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“I hate you,” she whispers against my jaw as I find the catch for her cloak and undo it, pushing the heavy fabric off her shoulders.
“Good.” I tug at the laces of her corset while her lips and teeth and tongue explore the column of my throat. “This will be more fun for both of us that way.”
She stills against me, but it takes her a moment more to shove me away. Her chest rises and falls with each heavy breath, and she presses the flat of her hand against her corset to keep it in place.
Her lips are red and swollen from my kiss, and I reach up to drag my thumb over her lower lip, dropping my hand when she flinches.
“Get out,” she says softly, and I incline my head, quietly crossing to the door. “This won’t happen again.”
I pause with my hand on the knob. “You’ll behave and not try to escape anymore?”
“No.” She shakes her head, gesturing between us. “This. This won’t happen again.”
“We’ll see.”
I step out into the hallway before she can respond and shift to my rooms. Tonight won’t be my last taste of Elora’s lips, and there’s so much more of her I want to sample.
But I’d be wise not to forget she serves a purpose here. Because I felt a change in the realm’s power when she got so close to the veil. And I can’t afford to lose her. Because losing her will cost me everything.
Chapter Nineteen
With a rattle, a tray appears on the table by my bed. The smell of venison and eggs and freshly baked bread makes my mouth water. Kaia tried—unsuccessfully—to get me to come out of my rooms for meals once she came back from Rhagana. But I need time and space to think.
The more I stay confined to my rooms, the less I have to see, hear, or interact with Thieran. I torture myself enough with the memory of the way I let him kiss me, the way I kissed him back. The way I would have let him do more if I hadn’t come to my senses when I did.
I wish I could say it was the effect the shifting had on me, but I’d be lying. There’s something about the God of Death I can’t explain. As much as I hate him—and I do hate him with a burning passion for trapping me here—I want him too. And I hate that just as much.
Annoyed with myself, I shove the covers back and swing my legs over the side of the bed. Quickly pulling on a dressing gown, I carry the tray into my sitting room and set it on the low table.
I briefly consider skipping breakfast, but my stomach grumbles in protest, so I force myself to sit. I will make another attempt at escaping. I’ll make as many attempts as it takes to get away from this place. I will not become Thieran’s pliant little prisoner while he plays whatever sick game he’s playing with me. But there’s no need to starve myself in the meantime.
Scooping up a bite of scrambled eggs, I sigh when they melt on my tongue. I’ve only met the woman who runs the kitchens once, when I went to ask for the herbs for my ritual that didn’t work, but she was a force. And she knows her way around food. I’ve never eaten so well as I have in the Shadow Realm.
Before coming here, I spent most of my time eating at taverns or cooking game over a campfire. Neither of which compare to the magick Ygris makes in the kitchen. Slathering fresh butter on bread that’s still warm from the ovens, I take a bite and sigh. The food might be the only thing I’ll miss about this place. That and the bed.
Popping the last bite of bread into my mouth, I pour myself a cup of tea from the pot and bring the steaming cup to my lips. It’s been almost a week since Thieran caught me by the river and brought me back here, and I’ve pouted for long enough. It’s time to hatch a new plan.
I’ll have to be more careful with this one. If I can’t outwit Thieran, maybe I can get around him. I’m not generally one for using my body to get what I want. I prefer the speed of my dagger instead. But seducing Nevon wouldn’t exactly be a hardship, and if I can convince him to let me out of here with a lover’s plea, it will have been worth it.
The whinny of a horse catches my attention, and I shove away from the couch to cross to the window. I must have imagined the sound because I see nothing but grass and the trees beyond. If I crane my neck and look to the right, I can make out the edge of the wide swath of cleared land that is the path to Videva.
It curves around the sheet of smooth stone and ends at the kitchens. Each day, the souls who serve here journey from the village to the palace and back again. It would all feel so ordinary and mundane if the occasional glimpse of a transparent hand or head didn’t still make me shiver.
I should explore the village myself. There could be something useful there for me. As Kaia is constantly reminding me, souls in Videva live and work as they do in the mortal world. It would likely be a better source for herbs or anything else I might need to aid in my next escape. And hopefully less of a chance Thieran will track me there and interrogate whoever supplies me.
I’ve avoided it for a reason. The idea of seeing my parents there sends a wave of grief through me, and I draw my dressing gown tighter around me. They’ve been dead so long, and I was so young when they were killed, I’m not even sure I would recognize them. Or if they would recognize me. Or if they’re even still in the Shadow Realm at all.
Stepping away from the window, I stuff the grief and the uncertainty back down. I have too many other things to think about without twisting myself into knots over the parents I lost so long ago. Whether or not they’re in the realm hardly matters now. I don’t intend to be here much longer.
I cross back to my breakfast tray; there’s a bit of venison left and my tea. I’ll be all the stronger for it if I finish both before setting off into the palace today. It’s time to stop hiding. Because the last thing I want is for Thieran to think he’s cowed me into submission.
My steps falter at a knock on the door, and I change course, pausing with my hand on the knob.
“Who is it?”
“Good morning.” Kaia’s voice is soft and cheerful.
The door swings open on her smiling face, and I nearly join her. Everything about Kaia is infectious, from her smile to her laugh to her sunny disposition. It’s irritating. I’d have expected the Goddess of Witchcraft to be a little…darker.
