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Tartarus was more than just the realm of eternal torture. Therealm was the one that brokered deals when we gods and goddesses wished to shift the scales.
To get out of that prison, we’d struck a new deal. My soul had reincarnated; for her, rather than risking herself in such a process, she sliced off a sliver and created Phaidros.
Our game began again.
Chapter XXII
Having gone to allthe realms, my memories finally slotted into place, understanding rolling through me. At the time the Moon Goddess had been locked away, she’d held onto the barest essence of her power. The tendril was enough to reshape the mythos of the shifters. To raise fanatics like Jett. She was a master manipulator, and extremely patient.
If she was ice, I was flame. I wasn’t patient. Not in the face of cruelty and injustice.
“This will not go unpunished,” I vowed to Cole.
Cole agreed.
“You will have your vengeance, wife,” he promised. “And for what she did to you, so will I.”
For what she had done to us. The years and years of pain.
I ran my hands over his shoulders. Already, my wrists had begun to heal where they had been burned. His shoulders were firm, unyielding even as he knelt on the floor with me. I slid my palms down, feeling his chest, feeling his heartbeat pulse. Strong, racing. From relief… and from my touch.
“Were you worried about me?” I whispered.
“I could think of nothing else. What they might do to you. The fact I was not there to protect you. When you are not by my side, littlequeen, you are my every thought.” His hands shifted, running down to the dip between my hips.
I arched against him. “You know, I don’t know exactly how long it’s been, but I’d still count this as our wedding night.”
Cole leaned back, even as desire heated his eyes. “We don’t have to. You’ve been through a lot this past day.” He eyed the blood dried around my throat.
I cleaned the skin with a thought of my magic. “Iwantto.”
His lip curved up. “Then I’ll deny my queen nothing.”
His magic whisked us away. When I blinked my eyes open, we weren’t in our bedroom as expected. Instead, we were in the middle of a forest. There wasn’t a soul around, at least not that I could feel. The red sky above us was a dark, burnt color. I must’ve been gone a full day for it to be this late.
It was perfect.
He captured my lips, tasting me. The kiss started slow, as if he was still assuring himself I was in one piece.
But I wasn’t so easily breakable. I fisted his shirt between my hands, pressing further, demanding. I was so, so alive. Cole met my challenge. His wolf was not one to roll over and submit, even to his queen. He took control, and I yielded. There was nothing more glorious than cleaving to my husband.
There was nothing left of a tender embrace. No, instead we pulled at clothing, moving through the forest until he caged me against a tree. The bark dug into my bare back, but I hardly felt it. I was strong, and I was more inclined to nip at his lips and draw his blood than worry about my own.
“This reminds me of when you kissed me the first time,” I raspedwhen we broke to catch our breath.
A single dark brow arched. “Actually, you were the one who kissed me.”
I huffed. “That’s not how I remember it.”
A smirk played on his lips, almost boyish. A sharp contrast to Cole’s normally severe features. I adored it. “That’s how it happened.”
“You had just set a demon on me. I definitely wouldn’t have kissed you for it.”
“And yet, you did.”
“Only you would think setting a demon on someone counts as flirting.”
“It worked.” He leaned in, nipping at my shoulder. “Apparently, demon killing is an aphrodisiac for my queen.”
