Page 87 of The Noldrin Witch

“Put your hand on the rock,” he demanded.

Elise did and closed her eyes. She couldn’t feel any magic, though she wasn’t surprised. What caught her off guard was finding Seth’s face only a few inches from hers when she opened them.

She began to feel a tingling in her fingers coming from the stone. Perhaps the demon was right after all.

She gasped as her gaze locked with his. His eyes were not as dark as she had thought. Up close, they were the color of honey caught in the daylight. His dark, thick eyebrows arched as he looked at her. Elise’s gaze drifted to his lips without meaning to, lingering there before wandering along the strong line of his jaw.

The arrogance and spite came with a good share of beauty to balance the deal with this demon.

“This is going to be worse for me than for you,” he said.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you. You can thank me later.”

Elise swallowed hard, and before she could react, the demon’s lips sealed over hers. She thought of landing another slap, but she could feel the energy from the stone flowing through her with greater intensity.

In the spirit of experimentation, Elise remained still beneath the demon, and much to her displeasure, found his touch not entirely repulsive.

The taste of his lips could only be described as ripe fruit touched by fire. Like biting into a perfectly ripe peach. An explosion of sensations filled her mouth. His skin was so warm it reminded her of someone with a fever. The heat was impossible to ignore. Even under the relentless rain, she found herself burning inside.

She felt Seth’s hands slip under her cape to claim her waist, his fingers pressing through the thin fabric of her dress. The heat of his body grew stronger as his hands moved around her back.

Elise felt her own temperature rising so quickly she feared she might burst into flames when the sound of footsteps brought her back to reality.

She pulled away from the demon at once.

“Good. That should be enough,” Seth gasped, catching his breath. He began smoothing his clothes when a third figure stepped out from around one of the maze’s walls.

*****

Elise felt her heart stop for a long moment.

“Kurt,” she whispered, mirroring the horror on the duke’s face.

He was soaking wet from the rain. The very picture of despair. He didn’t need to say a word for her to see how deeply he was hurting.

“I came to see you,” he said. “I followed Bruno.”

She gave a gentle shake of her head. There was no doubt about what Kurt had witnessed. Worse still, he didn’t need to have seen the entire scene to draw the obvious conclusion.

No, no, no!

“I couldn’t wait. I wanted to say a proper goodbye before…well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Fantastic. You already bid your farewells,” the demon said.

Kurt lowered his head and turned to leave.

Seth stood with his arms crossed, looking as though someone had wandered into his house uninvited.

“Please, Kurt, wait!” Elise managed.

She was completely overwhelmed by the tragic situation, but one thing was beyond doubt. She couldn’t let Kurt leave like this. In her haste to reach the duke, all the energy she had absorbed made her stumble. She lost her balance, but Seth grabbed her arm before she could fall.

Kurt stopped a few steps ahead and turned to her.

“I suppose he’s not a debt collector,” he said dryly.