For a moment, August said nothing. He simply dragged his hand away from Wren’s wrist, pausing when it landed on the hilt of the knife. Wren tensed, lips parting in surprise, but didn’t back away. She remained rooted to the ground, unwilling to break the eye contact that had fused between them. Instead of pulling the knife away from himself, August dragged it down, stopping only when the pointed edge of the blade was aimed directly at his chest.
“Don’t you get it?” August’s voice reverberated between them. His smoke-filled eyes locked on her face, unflinching. “You can stab me. Wound me. Carve my bloody heart out. It doesn’t matter.” The next words he spoke were a whispered confession, his voice hoarse, a desperation burning in his eyes. “I already belong to you. I’vealwaysbelonged to you.”
Wren let out a shuddering breath. Her grip on the knife loosened, though she kept the blade aimed at his heart. “I swear to God, Augustine Hughes”—she shook her head, eyes welling with tears—“if you’re lying to me…if this is all some trick—”
He dropped her wrist, cupping her face gently with his hands. “It’s not.”
“—I’llkillyou. I’ll kill you ten times over—”
He nodded, thumb gently brushing the edge of her jaw. “Naturally.”
“—because…because I won’t be made to look like a fool again, like someidiot—”
August shook his head, drawing her closer. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“—and I won’t fall for it a second time, I promise you that—”
August sighed.
“Wren.”
She blinked, dazed.
“What?”
He brushed his thumb against her bottom lip. “If you’re quite done threatening to stab me, I’d like to kiss you now”—he smirked, a light flush washing over his neck—“if that’s okay with you.”
Wren’s breaths came in sharp, ragged inhales as she hesitated, eyes locked on his. “August…”
His name slipped out of her mouth involuntarily, the faintest hint of a whisper.
The knife clattered to the ground.
And then his lips were on hers.
It wasn’t the same kiss they’d shared before the final trial—hungry, desperate, rushed. This was something else entirely. This was slow…torturous. August took his time, gliding his hands down her back, splaying his palms around her waist. Every place he touched herburned. An overwhelming warmth erupted beneath her skin, spreading down her legs, coiling around her stomach.
A soft, involuntary moan escaped Wren’s throat when his tongue brushed her bottom lip. She wound her fingers through August’s curls, tugging sharply. He hissed, rearing his head back, smiling against her mouth.
“I probably deserved that…” he murmured, wincing. “Though…if I’m honest with you…I kind of liked it.”
Wren rolled her eyes, biting back her own smile. “You’ve always been a bit of a masochist.”
“For you?” August whispered. “I’m more than a masochist. I’m a fool. I’m completely and utterly hopeless.”
August cupped Wren’s face and drew her closer. His lips found her jaw, then her neck, before slowly making their way down to her collarbones. It was agonizing. Feeling his lips against hers. The warm peppermint scent that clung to him enveloping her senses. But it wasn’t enough.Nothing will ever be enough.August must have sensed Wren’s desperation, the way she arched hungrily toward him, begging for more. He let out a low chuckle, smiling through a kiss.
This was a terrible idea. A terrible, stupid, reckless idea.
They were in no position to be doing this—let alone in the middle of Onyx Unit. Not to mention that Wren still found her heart torn between wanting to trust August and knowing that, at any moment, she might lose him forever. The boy she once knew…gone. Lost to the shadows for the rest of eternity.
“You came back for me,” Wren whispered, voice shaking.
August pressed his forehead against hers. “I would have ripped apart the seams of the afterlife looking for you.”
August dragged his lips back to her mouth, kissing her with a hunger that made Wren lightheaded. His hands found purchase against her waist, dragging her shirt up higher, brushing the soft curve of her back.
“Come back to my tent with me,” Wren pleaded, planting a small kiss along his jaw. “It would be less of a risk in Silver Unit.”
