It felt as if the floor dropped out from beneath her. Esmyra’s eyes shifted repeatedly, talons extending and retracting as the sudden surge of endless emotions seared through her soul. She couldn’t see, couldn’t even breathe as memories of her days in Maerinys replayed in her head like some tortuous vision she couldn’t escape.
Lies. All anyone ever told her was fucking lies.
Her father.
Draevyn.
And nowSyrena.
The bitter taste of betrayal lingered on her tongue as Esmyra, the woman who swore to never be another man’s pawn, found herselfmanipulated by her own sister. She had been nothing but a means to an end, a mere piece in her calculated game of chess.
Esmyra’s power was all Syrena was after. She was nothing but a disposable asset. The tattoo marking her wrist burned with that eerie, icy heat as if in confirmation.
Red clouded her vision. “LIARS!” she screamed.
The energy between them detonated, and with a furious cry, she finally shoved him away. Her palms slammed into Draevyn’s chest with every ounce of rage she’d been choking on for months. Lightning erupted in the sky the moment her skin met his.
Snarling, she grabbed him by the throat and threw her entire weight into him. Her body was a weapon of divine wrath as she sent him staggering back into the other building they stood between.
Only he took her with him, wrapping his arm around her waist.
The wood cracked behind Draevyn, the wallsplintering like a hull meeting jagged rocks. A bone-deepcrackechoed through the alleyway. Dust exploded around them as the boards snapped and gave way beneath their bodies.
For a moment, she felt nothing but air, but then her stomach lurched.
They were falling again, only this time it wasn’t over a cliff. It was through a damn building.
The two of them crashed down to the floor on its opposite side, but then that too collapsed beneath them. Time slowed as the boards caved like snapped bones, and she caught a glimpse of moonlight through the broken slats.
Esmyra’s breath caught in her throat as both she and Draevyn tumbled in a chaotic knot of limbs and magic. His hand tangled in her hair, her elbow embedded itself between his ribs, and she couldn’t tell which way was up. They were just falling, lost in a spin of heat and fury.
They landed in the basement with a thunderous crash that knocked the air out of her lungs, and pain shot through her hips and spine. Esmyra creaked her eyes open, and at first, all she could make out was the dust as it fell around them, glittering like stars.
For a moment, the only sound was their ragged breathing.
Esmyra’s eyes burned as she took in the scene, trying to push herself up. She was mortified when she looked down and realized she was straddling Draevyn. Her thighs wrapped around his waist as her palms were braced on his chest, the heat of his body throbbing against hers.
Her magic crackled beneath her skin in response, and she gazed down into those maddening whiskey eyes.
What the hells are we doing to each other?
Draevyn peered around her as they both worked to catch their breath. His hands fell to the tops of her thighs, and her body stiffened at the contact. “Look what we’ve done, Wildfire.”
That name. That dreaded fucking nickname that once made her heart sing.
“I hate you,” she whispered, voice shaking.
But it wasn’t Esmyra’s hate for Draevyn that made her dizzy. It was the way he looked up at her like she was salvation wrapped in ruin. Like he’d tear the world apart to reach her—or whatever he thought was still left of her.
Perhaps he already had.
She hovered over him, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. And then, his hands slid up her thighs until his thumbs brushed her hipbones, as if holding her in place.
Her lip snarled. “Release me.”
“No,” he said, his voice strong and commanding. “Not this time. You’re going to listen.”
“I don’t owe you?—”
