Suddenly, he was right in front of me, lifting my chin. “Do that again, and I will gladly fulfill your wishes right here.”
“I—” I licked my lips after his thumb brushed against them.
He grabbed my hand and led me to the tree. My legs didn’t want to work right after his statement, and it left me trailing slightly behind. I needed the distance, albeit a small gap, to get myself together.
We reached the roots first. I was surprised by how far they stretched out from the trunk. Given enough time, I bet the knobby lengths would extend to the outskirts of the garden, then the city, eventually traveling to the edges of the realm. The tree would be so large it would take up the entire castle grounds. How far did the sky go here? Could the tree ever touch the top?
Several feet away from the base, Astaroth stopped. Dark rocks that resembled my pendant stuck up from the dirt and littered the grass around it. “Tell me your thoughts.”
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, yet I have in a million different ways. It’s hard to focus on the entire tree at once.”
“Each part will grow on you, until one day every piece fits. Then you will come to love it for what it truly is.”
Were we still talking about the tree? “And what is that?”
He met my stare. “Whatever you make of it.”
I took a deep breath and shoved all the courage I possessed behind my words. “I accept your proposal.”
Astaroth smiled and backed me against the tree. The smooth bark was sharp at the tips, scratching my skin as I tried to find a grip on something. His warm breath danced across my lips as he spoke. “You didn’t have a choice.”
His lips crashed onto mine, stealing my next breath. Tentative at first, his tongue teased and tested me before demanding more. He tasted like fresh air with a hint of the syrup from breakfast, mystery, adventure, and dark starry nights. All the things that spoke to my soul. All the things I denied myself while living infear of him. I could have them now, but at a cost I wasn’t willing to pay.
I tried to jerk my head to the side to break the kiss, but he refused and held my face steady as he delved deeper. He dragged me with him, and as I sunk, I knew given the chance, I wouldn’t need an oath to make me stay. I’d do it of my own accord.
Astaroth’s mouth slowed when one hand slid down my throat to my chest. A groan rattled inside me threatening to unleash. My back arched before I realized what he was doing. My eyes ripped open the second he touched the stone and electricity shot through my body. What sounded like a choir in a cave echoed in my head. It was hauntingly beautiful. Like a fast movie montage, I was zipped from one corner of the labyrinth to the next as if being chased by the song. A moment later, I was back against the tree nose to nose with Astaroth.
I gasped. “Tell me you saw that.”
“I did.”
“What does it mean?”
Astaroth pushed off the tree and turned his back to me. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe Mergle knows.”
He tensed at the sound of his name. Lines etched his forehead when he spun around. “Maybe.”
“Is everything okay? I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”
“All is well. He is completing some tasks.” Astaroth pulled his gloves from his pocket and slipped them on. “Come here, I want you to pick a branch.”
Conversation dismissed, I joined him. “For what?”
“To make you a weapon,” he said, grabbing a low hanging branch. “I will not leave you without protection.”
“Does this mean I can have some freedom?”
Astaroth pulled the knife from his boot and turned to me. “Some.”
“Awesome,” I said and grabbed a branch. “I’ll have my trusty stick to beat off attackers.”
He laughed, took it from me, and sawed at the branch. “It will be more than that.”
When the branch snapped from the tree, he held it out to me. I frowned and took it. “How—”
The wood heated in my palm and began to take shape. Burnt bark curled back from the tip to reveal a gleaming blade engraved with bloodsuckles down the center to the handle where they wrapped around the hilt.
