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“He’s been showing his teeth all morning. I’m starting to get concerned.” Griffin says, pointing toward Asmo with the neck of his wine bottle. “It’s unsettling if you ask me. I’m so used to seeing him grumpy and cynical. I’m not sure if this is better or worse.”
Asmo rolls his eyes. “Are you going to be okay here?”
Griffin shrugs. “Don’t have much of a choice in the matter, but yes. Me and the ghosts will play charades until you return. Good luck.” Without another word, he slinks into the throne room.
I stare at that doorway for a long moment, hating that Griffin can’t come with us. If anyone knows what it’s like to be forced to live alone, trapped behind stone walls, it’s me.
Gentle fingers slide down my bare arm, drawing my attention. “Are you ready?” That deep timbre has my stomach swirling with butterflies. With a nod, I take his hand, lacing my fingers with his, and the darkness and light fold in around us. Magic stings my nose, sweet like the fruit I’d tasted on his lips earlier, but stronger. the dark tresses of my hair whip around my face,swirling through the air until it disperses, leaving us on the step of Hell Hold’s castle.
Massive windows stretch up stories high, arching into intricate points. The obsidian stone gleams in the hell flame light, and dozens of stairs stretch up from where we stand to the enormous oak doors, carved into depictions of angels and demons and creatures of every kind. It’s beautiful and haunting all at the same time.
I turn in place, spying a bridge that connects the base of the castle to what looks like a village. The scent of fresh-baked bread storms my senses, making my mouth water. Though, it’s the shape of the shops that seem to catch my eye. Whereas elvish buildings are angular and pointed, modern and sleek, these look like little cottages. Flower boxes are in full bloom in the windows, most of the walls made of stone, wood, and some sort of clay-like material. The trims of the shops are painted in a variety of colors, with round windows and doors. Trees even grow through some of the buildings, their architecture wrapping around the vast trunks. And in the streets, creatures of every kind move about.
It’s nothing like I would’ve expected.
“Were you anticipating flames and public executions?” Asmo chuckles, his arm looping around my waist as he moves behind me, his fingers brushing my hair over one of my shoulders so he can kiss my pulse.
“Something like that, yes,” I admit, sucking in a breath the moment his lips press against my skin.
“Hmmm,” he says, the sound vibrating against me. “Perhaps we’ll have to go exploring later.”
I glance over my shoulder and he tugs me along, beckoning for us to head up the vast layers of stairs. By the time we reach the top, I’m breathless, but I stick close to his side. A whirlwind of anticipation dances in the pit of my stomach as he haulsopen the large doors. And if I thought the outside was beautiful, what’s waiting for us inside is nothing like I could have ever imagined.
Gold chandeliers hang in the foyer, stone gargoyles made to look like lioness creatures have been carved into pillars. Candle tapers flicker in various candelabras, and as my gaze travels over the colossal fireplace, I find a painting that’s so realistic, I could swear the king and queen and their children are standing there themselves, in the flesh.
My mouth falls agape, words lost on the tip of my tongue as my eyes follow the wall, up, and up, and up, stories high. “This is incredible.”
“This is my family home.” Asmo follows my gaze. “Though Alice has made her share of tweaks, most of it looks just as it did when I was little. As if this place has been preserved in time.”
“Sort of like you,” I say. The obsidian stone’s cool surface bites into me, gleaming beneath my fingertips as I trail them along the wall, feeling its polished smoothness. It’s so shiny, the stone could be a mirror, and I stare at my reflection in it, making sure my hair is in place.
He chuckles low. “Yeah, I suppose. Maybe the castle is immortal, too.” Taking my hand, he leads me up a tight staircase. “We’ll drop our things off, then head to the meeting.”
“We’re sleeping here? We won’t just teleport back to the keep?” I ask, huffing and puffing. My legs groan, my muscles aching from dancing and shaking and orgasms. Had I known we’d be ascending this far up, I might’ve opted to crawl.
“No. All lords and ladies are required to stay for dinner and seeing as war is now on the table, this meeting has likely been called to negotiate a treaty to avoid it.” He speeds up the stairs, carrying our bags like they’re nothing. Meanwhile, it’s taking everything I have to lug my own bodyweight up flight after flight. Though his voice still echoes off the walls of the dim stairwell.“It’ll take a day or two, at least, and until all negotiations and business are finalized, no one is allowed to leave Hell Hold. It’s an odd rule for creatures like us who can be here at a second’s notice, but for the other lords and ladies, it expedites things. Having to wait days for them to come back isn’t practical.”
I’ve completely lost sight of Asmo, his voice growing too faint to understand. Minutes of silence pass before I round the curved pillar to find him sitting on a step, a shadowy grin playing on his lips as he watches me approach.
He waited for me to catch up.
“Struggling, are we?” He presses his lips together, letting them pop. “I forgot about you being sore.”
“Just peachy,” I wheeze, my lungs screaming louder than my pride. They’re on fire.What does this man do? Sprint marathons across realms for fun?
He stands and snaps his fingers. Our bags that had been sitting precariously on the ledge of a step a second ago have vanished into thin air as he descends a few levels to meet me. His hand finds mine, intertwining our fingers as he gazes down, his height more pronounced on the staircase.
Before now, I’d noticed how tall he is. Still standing two stairs up, I barely reach his hips. My eyes betray me, locking onto the pronounced bulge in the front of his pants. Heat creeps up my neck as I snap my gaze back to his face, only to find his smirk has deepened, his eyes glinting with the thrill of catching me.
Well, if there’s one thing I learned today, it’s that the man is highly blessed in that department.
He drags his teeth over his lip and there’s no doubt in my mind… He knows exactly what I saw—what I noticed—and he’s proud of it. I clear my throat, pretending my cheeks are flame, and try to look anywhere but at him.
“Somehow, you’re even more awkward now that I’ve kissed you. I’d thought it would be the opposite, that you’d be morecomfortable around me.” He steps down one stair, the air turning hot as if it’s vibrating with the tension between us.
“I am not—It’s just my face,” I say, pressing my lips together.
“Is that so?” He closes another step, his arm reaching over my shoulder, forcing me to turn my back against the stone pillar that pierces the middle of the spiral staircase.
