“I don’t think so, witch.” I grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face me, my voice rumbling with a deadly warning. “You accuse me of masterminding this war as if it’s no more consequential than chess, yetyou’rethe one treating this like a game. I’ve tried to impress upon you the seriousness of our situation time and again. I’ve spent every night since your arrival planning and strategizing, doing everything in my power to keep my enemies at bay. Enemies that wouldtakeyou in ways so vile I cannot even bring myself to speak the words, then roast you over an open fire and eat you for dinner if I let them get anywherenearyou. So yes, Haley Barnes, Ihavehad your back, and Irespectfullyrequest that the next time you feel the need to physically assault someone, you channel that rage into your spellcraft where it might actually be useful to me.”
My throat burned at my own hypocrisy, but the warning had the desired effect. The first sign of real concern flickered in her eyes, and the smart little mouth I so badly wanted to fuck finally snapped shut.
With a deep sigh, I released her arm.
“Despite what you believe—despite what my actions would indicate,” I grudgingly admitted, “I did not come here tonight to berate or judge you.”
“No, you came here to shove your tongue down my—”
“Icamehere with news from the southern front. News that requires me to travel to… I need your help with… Something dire has happened in the south, Haley, and I…” I rubbed my jaw, frustration and worry boiling over, melting away my words.
Melantha was invading Midnight. All of us were in grave danger. And Haley was absolutely right—for all my demands and talk of war, I’d done little to prepare her for its actualities.
Now those actualities were rapidly advancing toward my doorstep, and my little thief had no idea what was coming for her.
Whowas coming for her.
“I need to show you something,” I finally said.
Her eyes narrowed. “Another close-up of your dental work? Hard pass, K-Doc.”
“Come with me.” Ignoring the buzz of magick still sizzling between us—as well as the endless ache throbbing in my balls—I turned and headed for the balcony doors, leaving no room for argument. “It’s time I gave you the crash course.”
9
HALEY
Something dire has happened… Time I gave you the crash course…
He’d just hit me with the mother of all cliffhangers. And that kiss? What in the seriously fucked-up seven hells was that?
A mistake, girl. Just like he’d said. Snap thefuckout of it.
I closed my eyes, cursing myself from here to eternity. I never should’ve allowed him to claim me like that—like some piece of property he could use and bend to his will. I never should’ve kissed him back, either. And Idefinitelyshouldn’t be following him now, ensnared by his cryptic words like some sad, clueless little fish on a hook.
But how could I refuse? If Keradoc had something to show me—something that would help me understand what the guys and I were risking our lives for—then yes, I wanted to see it.Neededto see it, dignity be damned.
Resigned, I followed him back inside, just as the bastard knew I would.
“I can’t go anywhere with you until Hudson’s back from the fields,” I said. “He should be back in an hour. Elian can’t be left alone.”
I expected an argument, but Keradoc only nodded. “One of my gargoyles will meet us outside. Dress warmly—there’s a chill in the air tonight.”
* * *
My gargoyle wasn’t thrilled about the idea of sending me on an unsupervised field trip with our captor, but after promising him I’d keep it short—and make up for my absence in bed later tonight—he reluctantly let me go.
“You’ve got two hours,” I told Keradoc when I finally made my way downstairs. “If I’m not back by then, Hudson will come looking for us, and trust me—you donotwant a pissed-off gargoyle up your ass.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that particular warning, having no experience with such things myself.” He winked at me, a thin smile twitching his lips as he opened the front door.
Okay,fine—I laughed. But only for like, a second. Then I reminded myself he was a complete narcissistanda dickhead I wanted nothing more to do with aside from finishing the damn ritual and securing our freedom.
Even if that stupid kisshadunleashed a flock of butterflies still twirling around inside me. Clearly, those assholes were drunk. Because there was nothing evenremotelyokay about what Keradoc had done tonight.
Didn’t matter that the air still crackled between us as we walked out onto the castle grounds, everything charged up like an impending storm. Didn’t matter that he’d made me hotter and wetter with every stroke of his tongue, my thighs still trembling at the memory. Didn’t matter that I kept replaying everything about that stupid kiss in my mind—the firm command of his touch, his unrelenting grip in my hair, the way his control had completely unraveled in a blink, the heady rush of his cold-roses scent washing over me, the feel of his lips melting against mine like the darkest chocolate…
I shook my head and dug my fingernails into my palms, dragging myself back to the harsh reality.
