Page 87 of Serpent and Shadow

We were trapped.

19

Aetheria

Alaric’s talisman clicked off.

I found myself staring up at Bones, shocked by the sight of his flushed face coming back into focus. It was so hard to look at him. Even with the threat of Malefic standing there, watching both of us in amusement, I couldn’t tear my eyes off him, or off the gold irises glowing from his shadowed face.

He let go of me as soon as I was visible, releasing my neck and thigh right after he swam into view. Startled, I released his hair when he stepped back, and let my hand slide out from inside his shirt when he disentangled himself from my embrace.

He was staring at me then, holding my wrists, but only to keep me from moving closer to where he stood. He turned us around, so that his back faced the opening to the corridor, and mine faced the deepest part of the crevice.

For that instant, he only stared at me, panting.

That’s when I noticed the gold ring around his neck.

I’d opened his shirt while we’d been kissing, and the ring glinted there now, reflecting light from the magical torch on the other side of the corridor. The gold markings on his chest glowed with their own light below where the ring rested just above his clavicle.

He looked completely inhuman to me, standing there, with his back to the corridor light, his eyes and chest glowing, that strange, collar-like piece of jewelry around his neck.

He also looked shockingly beautiful.

I felt our primals connect high over our heads. That connection felt somehow more intimate than sex, or maybe just more intimate than how sex had been with anyone else.

He stared at me, and his eyes grew cold, even as his magic wrapped more intensely into mine. I felt that connection spark, making me gasp as a light bloomed over our heads. Completely at odds with what I felt in his magic, his face lost more and more of its expressiveness as he stared, until it resembled something closer to a mask.

The glow in his gold eyes darkened, leaving nothing.

“Don’t fucking come back,” he growled.

He stared at me, emotionless, unflinching.

I opened my mouth to answer––

––when he shoved me, with all of his strength.

I was so caught off guard, I didn’t even try to fight him.

I doubt it would have done any good if I had.

Magic added kick to the increased force behind his fight-strengthened arms. I felt the difference in him, saw muscles stand out on his neck, chest, and jaw as he threw me away from him with everything he had. He’d never aimed his strength at me like that before. He’d never really tried to hit me, not even while we were sparring.

He used the full force of his strength against me now.

I flew backwards, briefly terrified as my feet left the ground. I knew a stone wall stood not far behind me. I felt myself flying through space.

I braced for impact, clenching my jaw––

––and my vision flashed to pure, blinding white.

When I emerged into a much darker light, I was still flying backwards.

I went flying briefly into the air, flailed my arms and legs over a mottled, white-gray expanse, and then gravity caught me at the top of the arc.

I began to fall before I could focus on where I was.

Instinct had me throw my hands and arms forward, first to keep from slamming my face into the stone, and then to grip hold of it before I went sliding down the steep edge on either side. I gripped the top of an arched peak in a desperate hug, and then hung on for a few seconds, gasping. My gut and chest hurt, and it took me a few seconds more to realize I’d knocked the wind out of myself when I fell.