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“Gods,” he rasped. “You’re so beautiful.” He angled his head closer, lining his mouth with hers, when she jerked back suddenly.
Beautiful.
What was it he’d said? It’s impossible for me to hate a beautiful woman.
This was lust and nothing more. He was attractive, and she was attractive. They were merely acting on the mutual attraction.
But in reality, they despised each other. Sol was the most pompous and despicable ass she’d ever met, except for maybe Apollo. And he saw her as a filthy urchin from the Underworld.
Clarity slammed into her, removing all heat from her body. She quickly loosened her hold around his neck, dropping her legs and shifting away from him. She couldn’t meet his gaze.
“We should get back to the castle,” she said quietly. She felt his questioning gaze on her as she turned from him and swam back to shore, overcome with a mixture of shock from what she’d almost done with him, and regret that she hadn’t finished what they’d started.
SACRIFICE
CYRUS
“Is everything ready?” Cyrus asked. He had finally rested Prue against a long chaise sofa he had uncovered in the storage vault. His arms ached from holding her for so long, but now, seeing her lying motionless on the sofa, he felt even emptier than before.
He forced himself to look at Lagos, who was busy mixing ingredients into a large cauldron. A bright green substance boiled from within, and Lagos inhaled deeply.
“All the ingredients are assembled,” said Lagos. “Cyrus, are you certain this will work? I thought only witches could perform a spell like this.”
“Anyone who possesses magic can practice,” Cyrus said. “We can perform blood bargains, after all.”
Lagos huffed a sigh. “It doesn’t need to be you. What do you think she will do if she wakes and finds what you’ve done?”
Cyrus’s heart twisted as he envisioned Prue finally waking up, only to find his lifeless body lying before her. It would destroy her. Just as it had destroyed him.
But she would be a much better ruler for this realm than he ever would. In time, she would realize this. She wouldn’t abandon her people like he had.
“It’s not like I have any other options,” Cyrus said, glancing over the worn and tattered page of the spell book. The power within thrummed at his touch, and he quickly jerked his hand back before it tried to drain his powers.
He needed to save everything he had for the spell. For Prue.
“But your brothers—” Lagos began.
“Are dead,” Cyrus said harshly, fixing a lethal stare on Lagos. “And even if they aren’t, I don’t have the time or the power to fight them into submission. We must act now, Lagos. You know this, and I know this. So stop making excuses and finish the damn spell.”
Lagos’s large nostrils flared, and he growled slightly before bowing his head and stirring the potion ingredients once more.
Cyrus sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Forgive me. You do not deserve to be treated like a servant. I can finish mixing the ingredients, if you like.”
Lagos stopped stirring and fixed his dark, emotionless eyes on Cyrus. “You… are offering to do this in my place?”
Cyrus furrowed his brow. “Yes.”
Lagos shook his head and resumed stirring, and Cyrus could have sworn he’d heard a snort of amusement. “It is no trouble to perform these tasks if it is in service of my queen.” His gaze flicked to Cyrus once more. “She has changed you for the better, Cyrus. I hope you see that.”
Cyrus nodded. “I do. I wouldn’t be sacrificing myself if that weren’t the case.”
“It would be a shame to end your life when you are on such a path.”
Cyrus closed his eyes, bracing his hands on the table where the book rested. Agony wrestled within him, making his chest constrict. “I know.” The words were ripped from him by force. How could Lagos not see there was no other way? How could he not understand that this realm needed Prue far more than it needed him? “If you have any other ideas for bringing my wife back, I would love to hear them.”
Lagos said nothing. As Cyrus suspected. The demon used the ladle to pour the vibrant green liquid into an empty chalice, which he brought over to Cyrus.
With a deep breath, Cyrus opened his eyes, his arms beginning to shake as he read through the spell one last time.
