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Syn and Zetas gleamed gold; the willows were gilded with pretty white light.
I lost myself to him.
I wanted him.
All of him.
I needed—
I cried out as his teeth scraped sensitive cuts. His mouth remained locked on my upper thigh all while his hands moved. Using the fang to slice open his palm, he hissed under his breath as his skin tore. Crashing to his belly between my legs, he raised his scarlet-gleaming hand.
Droplets of his blood trailed my stomach as he presented himself to me.
With unsteady fingers, I claimed him. I held his wrist. I brought his blood to my lips.
While I prepared to feast, his mouth kissed my upper thigh, my inner thigh, my—
A sharp cry escaped me as his tongue found me.
I writhed as he licked my centre, hot and wet and devouring.
I saw stars.
I shone with sunlight.
His shoulders kept my legs from snapping closed as he drowned me beneath exquisite torture.
“Drink, Runa.” He spoke between my legs, his teeth nipping sharply, his voice humming against my core. “To hell with visions and omens, warnings and premonitions.” He dipped his tongue inside me. “Become mine.”
I swam on a sea of lust.
I quaked and spasmed with his every lick.
I couldn’t breathe as he raised his bleeding hand to my mouth again, all while his tongue dove deep, deep—
“Stop,” a begging, frantic command. “Please...stop.”
Darro froze.
His head shot up, yanking his hand from mine. With a snarl, he leapt to his feet, snatching at his wolf pelt, wrapping it tight around his unsatisfied arousal. “You.”
Jack-knifing upright, I shoved down my deerskin. My cheeks became twin flames as the wetness from Darro’s tongue mingled with the wetness that he’d drawn from me.
Tingles and heat pulsed between my legs as I scurried upright. My glow winked out. My mark trickled with blood that Darro had drunk.
“Solin...” I hugged myself.
“Please tell me you didn’t drink from him, Runa.” Solin tripped forward, his arms wrapped around Natim. “You’ll become ill—”
Zetas roared from where she was still trapped by shadow.
Shades whipped into a frenzy, slithering through the grasses toward the Spirit Master. With a flick of his wrist, Darro released Syn and Zetas from their leashes and muzzles. Zetas glowered at him, moving loyally to his side, all while Syn trotted toward Solin with a whine.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Darro balled his night-laced hands. “But I will if you’ve come to stop us. We’re leaving. There’s nothing you can do to—”
“You leave, and she dies,” Solin said blankly, sadly.
“What?” Darro snarled. “What do you mean, she’ll die?”
Solin dropped his chin. His necklace of beads and two raven feathers seemed overdressed out here, away from the naming ceremony.
It felt like an age had passed since I’d walked with him in the fire and woken with his vows of always caring for me. That he would keep me safe and teach me everything he knew.
How could he promise such things, then smash that fledging trust by binding me to Aktor?
My heart pinched as Solin caught my gaze. “Return with me back to camp and I’ll explain.” His dark eyes had black circles beneath them. His ebony chest rose and fell, the silver scar of his own Quelis brand over his heart noticeable, now I knew where to look.
My stomach turned over. “I can’t go back there.”
“I’m so sorry, Runa.” His voice was sticky with shame. “So sorry to betray your faith in me.”
“How could you?” I asked with ice shards in my mouth.
“I didn’t have a choice. Aktor deserves to rot for what he did to you. I condemn his actions and would give anything to make him pay, but...this is bigger than him. Bigger than all of us. It’s the only way—”
“The flame’s way.”
He looked at the ground. “The fire knows things I do not. It guides me in what needs to happen. I did it to protect you—”
“Protect me?” I fought tears. “He hurt me, Solin. He hurt Darro. Aktor would’ve killed—”
“Undo it,” Darro snarled moving to my side as fury poured through his shadows.
“I do not have that power,” Solin admitted. “The fire granted me its magic to bind them. It will not grant me the same to revoke it.”
“Why do you obey it?” I asked despairingly. “The fire is lying to you—”
“It might withhold certain things, Runa, but it never lies,” Solin murmured, clutching Natim tighter. The fawn bleated, his glossy black eyes locked on mine. “You are my kin now. You are my blood. My heart—”
“You speak of hearts, yet you force her into a mating with her enemy,” Darro hissed. “You’ve condemned her, yet you still believe—”
“I believe what the fire showed me.” Solin shuddered. “It’s showed me such terrible things. Things that can never be allowed to come true.” His eyes met mine, clouded with pain. “I’ve seen you scream in horror, Runa. I’ve watched you bleed at the hands of enemies. I’ve seen your heart shatter into irreparable pieces and the goodness inside your golden spirit turn black as the very night who stands beside you.”
