Page 272 of Blade of the Nightking

I needed him.

Gods, I wanted him.

He lifted his head just enough for our eyes to meet. His pupils were blown wide, the silver now mere slivers around the black, the last fragile thread of his control stretched almost to breaking.

"Now?" The question was all gravel.

My answer came without words. I hooked a leg around his waist and drew him against me until there wasn't a breath of space left between us. Through our sea-soaked clothes I felt the hard, thick ridge of him press against my center, the friction exquisite and maddening, every shifting inch of contact sending sparks racing beneath my skin.

His hand skimmed down my side and caught my thigh, drawing it tighter around his waist as he drove forward. A gasp escaped me. His dimple appeared in his cheek as his mouth curved into a sinful grin.

A sharp thrum sounded behind him.

A thin whistle split the air.

Rìan’s eyes widened. He spun around.

A sickening, meaty thud—and his body jerked violently. He staggered, then slowly dropped to one knee.

A gleaming spike protruded from his chest, black fletching still quivering.

CHAPTER 57

Gritting his teeth, he seized the shaft jutting from the top of his chest with both hands and ripped it free in one savage motion. Blood burst from the wound in an arc, soaking the front of his shirt almost instantly. He sagged forward, catching himself against the tree.

"Well, well." A chuckle from the darkness. "What do we have here?"

My blood froze in my veins.

"Dreamwalking filth..." the male drawled. "... and a traitorous Eidra whore."

Thalassis stepped from the waves themselves, as though the sea had borne him to shore, a dozen armed males fanning out behind him, spears and harpoons gleaming in their hands. Thalassis carried a crossbow with almost lazy ease, another bolt already nocked and aimed directly at my chest.

Rìan lurched to his feet and placed himself between me and the weapon. "Thalassis," he snarled, baring his teeth.

A slow, arrogant smile curved the High Lord’s mouth, turning his once-handsome features into something cruelly inhuman, every sharp angle of his face lending him an almost demonic cast.

"Tell me, Rìan. Can you ever just die easily?"

"No," Rìan said. "But you can."

Silver light flooded his eyes as his magic gathered, swelling with enough force to make the air tremble around him—only to gutter out an instant later. He doubled over, clutching the wound high on his chest, blood pouring between his fingers.

Thalassis’s smile grew feline with delight as he ran a finger down the length of the bolt. “Iron-coated,” he said simply. “Excruciating.”

My stomach dropped. I reached for him, fear tearing through me but Thalassis tightened his hold on his crossbow. “Ah ah, Eidra,” he said. I stopped abruptly.

Rìan shuddered, his legs buckling beneath him as he dropped back into the sand.

"I wanted to believe Aedric," Thalassis said sadly, fixed on me. "I truly did. That you were everything he claimed. That you were different from your kind. That your human side made you weak and stupid enough to be useful. That, when the time came, you would stand with us."

His gaze slid to Rìan, distaste curling his lips.

"Yet here I find him at your side. No... not merely at your side. Practically inside." He clicked his tongue. "What will your High Lord think when he learns of your faithlessness, I wonder? Especially after fighting so hard to spare your life. It only confirms what I've always believed—females are all duplicitous creatures, no matter the species."

I bit the inside of my cheek until the metallic tang of blood flooded my mouth.

He laughed softly. "I'm almost offended, Elowen. Did you truly think that I'd allow the Dark Prince and the last Eidra to stroll out of my Court so easily? The two pieces capable of deciding the entire game?"