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But instead, I grabbed his lapel and pulled him close and kissed him.
Zehr's lips were cool, hard, unyielding. I started to pull away, embarrassed.
He cupped my chin, holding my face still, and Zehr brushed his lips against mine like a question.
I rested my hands on his broad shoulders and parted my lips. Zehr’s kisses grew deeper, more intense. He kissed me like he needed me, and I couldn’t imagine life without him.
My fingers sank into his shoulders, pushing him gently away as we separated.
His black eyes met mine, a question in their midnight depths.
“Live because I want you to,” I said, my voice coming out breathless. “Together we can make the world a better place. And for all your faults... and they are many and varied... you've tried to protect the Scourge.”
His lips twisted. “And yet, your plan is to kill all the Scourge, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. “I want to heal them.”
“They can’t be healed, Honor. They can be stopped.”
I cocked my head, staring at him. “I thought you were trying to protect the Scourge all along.”
“I am. But the Scourge curse has to be ended. It's better for them to die than to hurt others.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to kill anyone.”
His lips twitched in a smile. “Then don't think of it that way. Think of it as healing them. They won't be zombies anymore.”
I couldn't accept that. I had to find another way. But with my body pressed against his, another question bubbled to my mind. “And what about us? Are we going to die too?”
“Probably.” His hand slid around the back of my neck. “But let's make it worth living while we're here.”
The two of us were in a dreamworld, but it was all dark around us right now. “Where should we go?”
“Someplace beautiful,” he said. “The garden, perhaps.”
In a flash, we were in the garden outside the palace where Zehr had turned Arren. I frowned. “I don’t have the best memories from this garden.”
“Let’s give you better memories then,” he said, and the words echoed Talisyn’s so much that my frown deepened, wondering how much Zehr saw inside my head. Did my men get glimpses of each other’s thoughts, as if we were all connected through the marks I carried?
I glance around the stone bench, the burbling fountain. The moon shone down us, bright and silvery and perfect, the way it had the night I gave Zehr a poisoned kiss. “We both wronged each other here.”
“It’s in the past.” He stroked the back of his hand gently down the side of my face, waking my body. “You want me to live.”
I made a face. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
He smiled down at me. “You don’t realize it yet, but it meanseverything.”
“You could explain it,” I said, “and then I’d realize whatever it is.”
But it was Zehr, and he was maddening, so he just kissed me. When he kissed me, something hummed beneath my skin—as if our magic was coming back together. It felt incredible, and I was glad he was alive, and I gave in to my longing and kissed him back.
This time, I was the one who caught his lapels and drew him down to me, kissing him hard. His hand tangled in my hair, tightened there, drawing it into a knot at the nape of my neck as if he would try to control me. I just smiled against his lips. He could try. I did enjoy those kinds of games.
The two of us stumbled back and forth across the grass, as if we needed each other desperately. He delved beneath my shirt, and the hum of energy beneath my skin grew the second his hands touched bare skin. His lips, his hands, were always cool, but my skin felt fevered against them.
I was too hot, and the fountain was right there. I couldn’t resist. I broke away and scooped a handful of water from the fountain, splashing him with it. He grinned at me in response, caught me around the waist—and shadow traveled us both into the fountain. One second, I was standing in the grass; the next I was in knee-high water, the fountain spraying us both.
“You!” I accused, even though I’d started it and I was laughing.
