AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Notever,"I growled, the sound thick with panic and hurt and grief. I could have lost him—I could have never evenmethim.
"I won't live forever, princess," he replied, a strange wealth of amusement in his voice.
"Wanna fucking bet?" I hissed.
"She's got a point, actually," Taj commented, stroking down my arm in a brief, comforting glance. "If anyone's stubborn enough to find the key to immortality without becoming the devil, it's our mate."
I shook, on the verge of collapse. Did he have to keep saying the M word when I was so emotionally raw?
And addingour?Uncalled for.
"You don't … think less of me?" Arkan asked so quietly, squeezing me so I knew who the question was directed at.
"Fuck no!" I exclaimed, hugging him tighter and gratified by the grunt he let out. Yeah, we hugged too tight in this circle. Our love left bruises. "I'dneverjudge you for having a mental break. I mean, have youmetme? I'm a walking, talking breakdown. But … I'm glad you're still here, Arkan. Don't fucking leave me."
"Never," he swore, kissing the top of my head. "I have a purpose now. I'll earn the devil's forgiveness, pay my penance, and—I’ll be a good mate to you."
Soft, squishy wraith. I muffled a sob, but I wasn't fooling anyone; Taj draped himself over us until I was trapped between them in a huddle of warmth, grief, and love.
After long, long minutes, I calmed until I could actually breathe. Wow, I forgot what this felt like.
"The one thing I don't understand is," Taj murmured, playing with a blue strand of my hair, "why Eidolon is going to the black armoury. The sceptre was never there."
I jerked back, headbutting him in the jaw and not even sorry about it when hope and shock blasted through me like a sun exploding to life. "You know where Dev put it."
His mouth twitched into an almost-smile. "Yeah, Lina, I know where he put it."
Gods fuckingdammit. Lina? I'd just got a hold of my emotions and everything!
I burst into horrible, body-wracking sobs.
7
"Do you think," I sniffled minutes later, "you can fuck the sadness out of me?"
Arkan's laugh puffed over my shoulder, ruffling my hair.
"Challenge accepted," Taj chuckled. "But you'll have to take me in this form; I'm still too fucked up to change back."
"Ehh, I'll cope," I replied, snuggling into Arkan's warm body. "If we ruin this couch will you get another?"
"I'll burn it here and now if you want it gone," Taj replied, fierce and serious.
Ooookay, someone was becoming a little obsessed with me. Good. It made us even.
"It can stay until I come," I decreed, leaning across to grab the back of Taj's neck and haul him in for a kiss that turned accidentally soft. Whoops. "I want the rug gone, though; rugs are my mortal enemies."
"Done," he grunted, surging forward and kissing me deeper, slower, lovingly.1
I jumped at the sudden whoosh of black flames, and then laughed gleefully as I saw the rug burn from the corner of my eye. It miraculously left the coffee table and snacks untouched and didn't come anywhere near us.
Damn, he was good. I kissed him deeper, earning a groan when I licked his sharp fangs.
Arkan's warm lips brushed my collarbone and climbed up my neck, finding all my sensitive spots. He let out a low growl when I shuddered against him.
I sank my fingers into Taj's hair and poured all my passion into the kiss, rolling my hips against the hardness in Arkan's pants as I straddled him.
Hours ago, we thought Taj was going to die, but here he was, viciously wounded but violently alive.
