Her pulse thundered in her ears.I fucking hate him.
She glared up at him, jaw clenched. “Get the fuck away from me before I carve out your other eye!”
“You want me to get away from you?” He leaned in, his breath brushing her cheek. “Then why haven’t you pushed me away yet?”
Her hands fisted at his chest, her talons slipping free. Their tips poked through his shirt as it bunched between her fingers, shredding the fabric.
She could have shoved him. Sheneededto shove him. But then the view of Irah and Naerysa replayed in her memory, and she suddenly couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Esmyra had ached for something familiar in this miserable existence she found herself in, journeying to Anchorage Cove in search ofthat very thing. And, of course, what she found instead was Draevyn fucking Rowe.
She loathed how much she missed this—him. The weight of him, the heat of his fire-fueled touch and the chaos that always lived between them like a second pulse.
But Draevyn was the reason her father was dead. The reason she bled herself raw for revenge. And the reason her life had turned into nothing but a cursed nightmare.
Esmyra had been ready to choose Draevyn over Maerinys and the life that was ripped from her—the truth of her past that she craved more than the air she breathed. Only, Draevyn hadn’t chosen her in return. She placed all that trust in him. Trust she didn’t give away toanyone, let alone a man. And even then, she still hadn’t been enough for him.
Draevyn had held her limp body in that crypt like she was the most precious being in the world, like she was the only thing that mattered to him. The way he had made love to her… holding her body between his and the door that led out to the rest of the world, threatening the lives of any man or woman who so much as looked at her with a hint of lust.
He had done nothing but whisper lies into her mouth while she poured her soul into him. All for him to shatter that fragile love blooming between them within hours.
And now, there was no trust left. No foundation between them. Just ashes and sharp, jagged edges.
So why did her body lean toward his? Why did his voice and the sound of her name on his lips make something inside her ache? And why did the fire in his eyes threaten to undo her completely?
Because something inside of her still loved him.
No. No the fuck she didn’t. Her fingers twitched. All she’d have to do was push him, slice him with her blade, and run.
But through all of this, her hands stayed pressed against his chest, right over his heart that was pounding as wildly as her own.
“Draevyn is not Irah.” Kaelypso’s voice startled her.
“Don’t make this any more difficult than it already is,” Esmyra snapped back at her. “To me, they are one in the same.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Draevyn said, bringing her attention back to him. It was more of a vow than a threat as his stare locked on her, eyes molten.
The words hit her like a noose tightening around her throat.
It was too much. All of this was just too fucking much.
Esmyra’s magic flared instinctively, wild and cold like a crashing tide. With a sharp twist of her body, she slipped from his grasp in a blur.
Draevyn cursed and reached for her, catching Esmyra’s wrist. Without hesitation, he spun her, slamming her against the wall again, its weathered wood scraping against her skin. His hands pinned her arms high above her head as he leaned into her, the heat radiating from him making her dizzy.
Their breaths came in short bursts, mingling with one another.
“You don’t get to trap me, Phoenix.”
“Then stop running!”
Would he ever realize she was running to avoidthis? To avoid having to face him for all she’d done?
She slid to the right, trying to pull herself from his grip, but his hold never loosened as they stood chest-to-chest, nose-to-nose, pressure building between them like a dam about to break.
Her blood turned to ice.
Esmyra’s eyes narrowed on him. “I. Am. Not.Yours!”
