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My thoughts hazed. My mind drifted. I wasn’t cold anymore. I couldn’t feel my fingers or my feet. I couldn’t feel much at all.
Something slunk close to the ground along the trunks of trees, drawing closer. A flash of orange-gold light, then it vanished. Or so I thought. It reappeared among the roots of the closest oak. Thin, spindly limbs, like these branches. Feline. Familiar.
“Hello?” My voice was hoarse, hardly making sound at all.
It meant me no harm, slinking nearer. Round, golden eyes peered close to my face.
I smiled. “Seerie.”
Petrus’s pet, the necrominx. She lowered her black nose and touched it to mine, shocking my body with a spark of vibration. Warmth spread into my blood, flowing into my chest, my limbs, fingers, and toes. I began to shake, my teeth chattering.
She burrowed into the curve of my abdomen, radiating mystical heat straight into my body. I could feel the blood pumping faster into my cheeks and nose. Soft fur brushed under my chin.
There was no doubt now. Magic did live in these woods, and I was favored. Blessed. I wouldn’t die. I would have the chance to see my love again. Such a precious gift made me weep with joy. Seerie shifted, licking the tear from my cheek, tongue rough but tender. I laughed, chest aching from the slow thaw of my body.
“Th-th-thank you.”
The necrominx snuggled under my chin, a rough purr rumbling against my neck.
I wouldn’t waste this gift. I must swallow all fear, all pride, and tell Kol what he truly meant to me. That even without the bond of soulfire, he was everything to me.
The wind blew a sweet melody, whistling and singing through the trees, as if angels lived here, carrying their ethereal song to those it loved best. Silver branches waved in the wind, brushing and rustling, making their own music of the night. I felt cradled in warmth and safety, the necrominx close to my heart, wind-song caressing my soul. I whispered again to the spirits here, lips trembling. “Thank you.”
Seerie lifted her head and pricked her ears. She stepped lightly to the edge of the tree line, staring back, imploring me with orange eyes to follow. She was right. We had to find Kol and the others. With warmth in my limbs, I moved to follow, touching a hand to Kieren’s cheek. “We’ll bring help. Hold on.”
He appeared lifeless, though a pulse still beat in his throat. I forced myself to leave him, knowing Seerie would lead me to Petrus’s cabin.
Seerie slipped through the woods more urgently, stopping every few yards to glance over her shoulder. Her fey eyes darted in all directions. She hopped over a protruding root from a thick-trunked tree. These evergolds were old, branches hanging thick and heavy, their knotty and gnarled roots protruding high out of the earthen floor.
Seerie paused, her gaze shooting straight into the sky. Hissing, she implored with her eyes for me to follow.
I stared up, seeing nothing, but obeyed anyway. A prickling of fear crept up my spine. She crawled into a deep groove between jutting roots. I did the same, crouching down, back against the trunk, curling my legs into a ball. Seerie pressed her body against my legs. The familiar spark of necrominx magic enveloped me, darkening the shadows around the tree to deepest pitch just as the sound of great wings beat overhead.
Sucking in a breath, I froze, watching the monster king land a short distance away, folding massive black wings to his back. I felt a growl quiver in Seerie’s belly. The beast-like Morgon pivoted his head in all directions, lifting his nose into the air, inhaling deep. Then he swiveled his head toward us and stepped forward.
Trembling in the dark, I prayed that whatever magic this little feline had, it was enough to hide us from the creature stalking closer. His voice rumbled when he spoke, like boulders rolling down a mountain, sending a shiver through my frame. “I can smell you.” The crooked grin creasing his sharp-angled face made me cringe. He opened his arms, clawed hands extended. “Come to me.”
He laced those three words with a pulse of dominance, which rippled outward from his body. It beat against my chest, snatching my will and forcing me to move forward. I was no match for Morgon magic.
“No,” I whimpered, tears pricking, unable to withstand the compulsion to obey.
Seerie hissed when I moved out of her supernatural shadow, bounding away into the woods, leaving me alone…with him. I stood, my back ramrod straight, my body yielding to his will as it had done before.
With a feral gleam in his eyes, he puffed up his bare chest and moved toward me—controlled, powerful—with slow, purposeful steps. His prey caught, there was no hurry.
Wrapping his fist around my braid, he gave a tight yank, tilting my chin upward. I yelped. He curved his other hand around my waist, claws digging into my back through my clothes.
I trembled under the scrutiny of his serpentine eyes with slit pupils gazing their fill. He bent his head and inhaled my scent. “You’ve fucked him again.”
I couldn’t respond. His eyes narrowed, mouth drawn in a tight line. “I’m not accustomed to my servants defying me.” His voice grated against my skin, claws piercing my skin.
“I’m n-not your servant.”
His grip tightened in my hair.
“Ah!” I gasped.
“No. You are not a servant.” His mouth cut into an obscene smile, revealing a row of canine teeth. He relished my pain. “You will be my queen. There is only one way to scrape your lover’s scent from your skin.”
