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"Well,Ihaven't got it," he said innocently, but was unable to hide the glimmer of his eyes. "You have."
A laugh bubbled out of me, but Dev didn't laugh. He just grinned, radiating smugness.
"Here," he murmured, big crimson hands wandering down my body, skimming my waist and ass before dipping to my thigh. I realised what he was looking for, and shook my head in hard denial.
"You wouldn't be stupid enough to give me the orb. The thing that literallykeeps you in power.You wouldn't."
"You're my queen," Dev replied, kneeling before me and brushing his fingers over my thigh sheath. It looked completely empty; only he and I knew it wasn't. He slid the glass dagger out of the sheath and smiled up at me. "A drop of your blood please, babygirl."
I narrowed my eyes, but I grazed my finger on the edge of the blade and watched it reveal itself, black smoke spiralling through the glass.
"I considered hiding it with Taj, but that's what my enemies would expect me to do," Dev told me, and laid the blade flat in his palm. His eyes narrowed in concentration and then an orb glowed like freshly forged glass—orange and lethal—at the heart of the dagger. "You see?"
"I see," I laughed, my eyes about to pop out of my head. "You gave me—you—are you clinically insane?"I hissed.
Dev closed his fingers around the dagger, and the orb stopped glowing at its heart. Kept secret within the dagger he gifted me. "I have complete and utter faith in you, Avie. And you have no interest in dethroning me for your own power. I'm completely sane."
Debatable.
He slid the dagger back into my thigh sheath and rose to his feet, his hot hands landing on my waist. "So you see. We can match Eidolon, relic for relic. And we have a shard of the sceptre—an advantage. Wewillkill him. I vow it."
My heart fluttered.
I grazed my fingertips over the warm glass resting invisibly against my thigh. "When we first met—in person, not in my dreams I mean—I thought it was just a kink thing when you said to call you daddy but … you mean it, don't you? You're serious. About us, about taking care of me; you’re serious about all of it."
"Deadly serious," he agreed, squeezing my waist.
"And you think we can do this? End Eidolon and come out of it alive?"
"I do."
I took a slow breath, and stuffed my fears into the dark vault where I stored my trauma. It could wait there while I did what needed to be done. "So let's do it. All of it. Killing him, using the orb, the dynamic thing—I want that."
Dev let out a rough breath and pulled me into him, soft emotion and a shocking amount of relief joining the lava of rage I'd sensed from him earlier. Did he think I'd turn him down? Was he an idiot? He was right; Ineededthis. I needed someone to sweep in when I got freaked out and tried to run from hard choices instead of facing them. Even when I knew something was the right thing, I got in my own way, and built roadblocks I had no chance of overcoming. But Dev would … would hold my hand and help me face the bullshit.
And fuck, it would be nice to have someone else be the strong one in charge for once. It wouldn't be easy—it would be damn near impossible—but it would be nice.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," I said with a smirk.
"Oh, I do," Dev purred, sending a shiver down my spine. "A dangerous, headstrong bad girl who, deep, deep down, is a good girl who wants to be taken care of."
"This isn't therapy," I grumbled. He didn't have to be so … so …right.
"No, this is your life now," he replied, kissing me slowly. "So you better get used to it. I hopeyouknow what you're getting yourself into."
I shrugged. "I can handle it."
"Good," he said, turning me in his arms and giving me a nudge across the tower towards the steps the rest of my mates had disappeared down. "Because I'm going to take such good care of you that you'll want to murder me in my sleep."
As if.
"When did you last eat?"
Uh… I scratched my head. "Before I came?"
It had been utter chaos before we came here, though. My mates fucked me silly, then the castle shook. We'd seen Drill Bastard's twin, discovered Sinjin was a traitor, and there'd been half an hour—forty minutes max—between me leaving the infirmary and us setting off for this tower.
So, when did I last eat? Fuck knows. "Three hours ago?"
