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“You were ordered not to return. That does not mean youcan’tphysically return.”
“And if that’s not the case? I’ll die if I try to enter the portal.” Rian pivoted, his mind whirling.
“You’ll die either way. This is more of an order than a request, Earth Fae. You’ll do well to take advantage of my generosity in this moment.” Domnu’s hair coiled around her face, the snake heads following Rian’s movement.
“Terra wears the knife,” Rian said.
“Then bring me Terra with the knife. Or kill her and bring the knife. I’m not picky.”
“And in return?” Rian stopped in front of the goddess, trying not to show his distaste at her hair.
“What do you want most?” Domnu sent him a smoldering smile, and his head was filled with sultry thoughts of bodies writhing in the darkness. Rian shoved away the thoughts of sex that the goddess was projecting into his mind and focused on the one goal that had been his sole focus for years now.
“I want to find out which man is responsible for my exile, and I want him to pay.”
“Are you sure?” Domnu trailed a finger across his thigh. Rian stepped back, breaking the contact, and watched storm clouds dance across the goddess’s face. She was beautiful — in an ‘eat your young’ type of way — and Rian imagined lying with her would be both terrifying and intensely pleasurable. Until she bit his head off.
“Yes, I’m certain. I’ll get the amulet for you, Goddess Domnu, so long as you deliver to me the man responsible for my exile.”
“And it will be so.”
Rian blinked at his now-empty living room, wondering briefly if he’d imagined the entire episode, and sank down into his chair. He stared out the window, where fog danced through a thin beam of light from a streetlamp and wondered if he’d just signed his own death sentence.
Did it matter though? He’d been dead inside for a long time now. Maybe, at least this way, he’d finally get answers. Now, he just had to work his magick to figure out how to sneak back through the portal and capture Terra.
The one woman he couldn’t get out of his head.
3
Their heartsong driftedto her through the inky night, the words raining down on her like stars falling from the sky. Terra closed her eyes, feeling the brush of their song kiss her cheeks, and she drew a deep breath to calm herself.
This wasn’t the first time that Rian had called to her, after all.
Did he realize what he was doing? Or who he was calling? Terra hurried to the stream, where she did all of her scrying, and pushed her worried thoughts aside to focus. It was a dumb twist of fate that had led her fated mate to be the same man who had torn her family apart. In theory, she needed to turn her back on Rian and focus on leading her people out of impending danger from the Dark Fae.
Which she could do, if she hadn’t caught the look in Rian’s eyes right before the door had closed on him, sentencing him to exile. Sure, there had been anger there, but it was the sadness and frustration that caught Terra’s attention. It was the plea of an innocent man and, despite her family’s protests, she’d spent time trying to uncover more information about the night Rian had been caught. The catastrophe that followed her investigation was enough to have her stop seeking answers, and she had left Eoghan to heal his partnership in peace.
The first time she’d heard her heartsong, Terra had been half-asleep, caught in a lucid dream where endless pleasure was bestowed upon her body by a blurry-faced man. She’d come fully awake, her hands on her body, gasping Rian’s name as the song had trailed off into the early hours of dawn. She’d risen immediately, barely throwing a cloak over her body, before racing to the stream to try and conjure his image.
Much like she did now.
Terra pulled her dress over her head and stood in the soft light of the moon, ignoring the chill that the wind brought to her naked skin. There was something so peaceful and natural about going sky clad while she worked her magick. She crouched by the stream and whispered her spell, inviting the waters to show her Rian. The surface of the water shimmered, and Terra held her breath as she waited.
When no image appeared, she sat back on her haunches, considering what had gone wrong. Had she cast her spell wrong? It wasn’t likely, as she was an expert at scrying, so what did this mean? Was Rian no longer in another realm?
“You should never wear clothes.”
The voice, as intimate as a lover’s, danced across her backside, sending a ripple of warning across Terra’s skin. Turning, she straightened, knife in hand, to find Rian leaning against a tree. Arms crossed, with his perpetual scowl across his darkly handsome face, Rian looked every inch the successful businessman.
And completely out of place in these woods.
Where had the man gone who used to practice his magicks barefoot among the trees, his hair rippling down his back in an unkempt manner? Now, everything about Rian was polished, from the tips of his shiny leather shoes to his carefully coiffed hair. A flash of gold at his wrist showcased a fancy watch that matched the gold at his belt. Terra studied him, searching for a glimpse of the man that she’d once … well, she hadn’t known him, really, but she’d always admired him from afar.
“My body is not for your commentary,” Terra said, using her magick to wrap a layer of silk, inlaid with protective armor, around her body.
“It’s a simple observation. Yours is a body made for touching. Strength and softness combined in one. Every day you wear clothes, you do a disservice to your beauty.”
Terra pushed down the thrill his words brought to her, instead focusing on what was wrong with this situation. It was as though Rian was in the woods with her, but also not fully in the woods. She had an almost insatiable urge to stalk over to the tree and punch his stomach, just to see if he was real, of course.
