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Dissociate, my desperate body pleads. I could go deep into my mind and become flesh and blood tonight. A trickle of gold oozes from my sex as if hinting, as if tempting, and granting permission. But I would break something far worse than our blood oath.
I would break my Ezer.
So, as his mouth descends to my collarbone and lower, I sharpen my resolve, indulge a wicked Halo thought, and let it fly.
Shoving him away, I thrust fiery chains from my chest, binding them tight around his wrists to secure him. Adrenaline igniting my nerves, I create more. I spiral them around his body to lock him in a temporary time-out, pull up each side of my robe to cover myself, and spear one finger at him. “You said yourself no touchingunderthe lingerie you’d have me wear.”
Neo growls, the muscle in his jaw hammering, every vein throbbing in his neck as I remind him of our oath when I’d traded a morsel of my dignity for Spitfire. His shadows destroy some of my Halo chains, but not nearly enough. So, I circle him and reinforce the holy fire. “I’d say blood acts as a substitute for lingerie, so you’ve already broken the oath. Especially when onlysuppingwas the bargain.”
All Neo’s muscles bulge with the need to break the chains, but I narrow my eyes on his, deadpanning. I wince from the scent of his flesh smoldering from my power. It drains me, wears me until my limbs tremble, my hands shaky from the force. But I am his equal, even more in the bedroom.
So, I dip my head low, touch my fingers light to his cheek, and command his damn throne. “Neo, you are myhusband,and I am yourwife. Until you choose to destroy Neoptolemus, the Prince of Destruction, I will use my Goddess-given authority over whatyoudo with your fucking body when you want to use it againstme!” My anger burns hotter from my emotions, causing Neo to wince and bow his head, blowing smoke through his nostrils. Just like his Dragon. “You want to weaponize your body, Neo? Now, you know I’m armed, too.”
I wave my hand, retrieving my chains and storing them back into my heart, leaning against the wall for support. Breaths tattered, lungs shriveling.
Neo gets to his feet, his eyes practically roaring. He commands his shades away from my body to lick his wounds while I double-knot my robe ties. Something deep in his subconscious recognizes our bond, but I know it will take more than my smart mouth and my Halo to bring him back.
“There is no doubt in my mind now, Elysia,” Neo gnashes his teeth to his shadow-balms repairing his flesh. “You are some Everblood harpy. Heaven-sent for my destruction just as my Father warned.” He cocks his head to the side, eyes preying on me, promising wrath and ruin. That’s when I realize how much I traded in the Triumvirate. I curse myself for my own stupidity but also remember: Neo was there the whole time. Not even he could have predicted how far his Father would bend the Triumvirate oath. Adam and Eve on repeat to this Father’s serpent. How much of Neo’s memories has he tampered with?
Before I can object, before I can rouse my Halo, the Prince seizes the knots at the waist, dragging me until I crash against him. His hand snakes up to the back of my neck, where he scrapes the brand, causing a flare of pain. “With my brother’s damned mark on you, I can only assume you intend to bring back that bane of my soul.”
I breathe fury through my nostrils. The Father must have ripped the Altar right from his body and hid it elsewhere when he’d injected him with the substitute heart. It means he warped Neo’s knowledge of the prophecy. Neo only knows theProphecy of the Prince of Death.
Her hair to form the roots
Her tooth to birth his fang fruits
Her tear to wake his eyes
Her flesh to birth his disguise
And her blood to grant Death his life!
I pinch my lips, unsure if I’m more infuriated by Neo, by the Father, or Thanatos. Anything will sound like a celestial deception to Neo.
When he peels his upper lip back to reveal his fangs and crawls them along my throat, he tells me, “You are my greatest curse, Elysia. AndLux…is my salvation!”
Everything in me freezes when his fangs prick my skin, drawing two tiny drops of my blood. Neo anchors his hand on the back of my neck, Dragon claws growing.
He flares his nostrils, scenting me, nose rubbing close to those blood drops weeping like tears down my neck. I hate how my body responds, how my back arches to that delirious touch. “Oh, how you’ve sought to torture me with your sweet, forbidden pure blood!” I shriek when he shakes me hard by the neck and commands my eyes, lowering his voice to a deep, predatory bass. Foreign and destructive. This is not my Neo. “Or perhaps not so forbidden after all…”
My eyes fly open wide. He’s going to make me pay.
Driven by anger, Neo destroys any chance of my summoning my Halo. Triggered, all I can do is freeze from my damned limbic system overpowering me when Neo scrapes his fangs along my skin. No, he can’t bite me, but he can slash and scrape all he desires. And he does. Until Ibleed.
My husband, no…not my husband.Neoptolemusdoesn’t permit me to scream. He grips my wrists, forcing them behind my back to prevent me from raking my nails along his chest.
Sudden frost nips at my flesh, at Death’s brand, prickling me with the reminder of his protection.
Noralice!I scream.
An invisible tether hauls me right out of Neoptolemus’ arms and into a tremulous, dark haze—like shooting through the eye of a black hole to the long-lost side of the Soul Plane.
Neoptolemus’ furious rage fades like a nightmare behind me. “Yes, run to my brother, you heavenly harpy!”
Weeks since I crossed into the Soul Plane. Weeks since Thanatos summoned me.
Now, I’m shaking inside his arms. They possess me like a tomb while the Prince of Death narrows his eyes blacker than a warpath. He gazes down at the bloodied fang marks and asks in the deep and seductive voice of a reaper, “What the devil has that hellish imposter done now?”
