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“Yes.”
He slowly inched out of me and rolled his hips in tauntingthrusts. My eyelids grew heavy as my head dropped back. I tipped my hips, finding the perfect angle. His fingertips dug into my ass as he picked up the pace. Each thrust pushed me higher, his throaty groans making my skin ripple with gooseflesh and flooding my core.
I dug my heels into his hard backside, making him pump harder, needing him to fuck away every anxious thought. He pushed me down, so I lay across the table, one hand gripping the far edge as the other held my ass in place. His hard, rapid thrusts made the whole table rattle as my moans grew more desperate. My fingers clawed down his arms as he pushed me higher still, his hands digging into my flesh as he struggled to hang on. He pounded into me, again and again, hitting that spot that made my eyes roll back. With a final scream, my body spasmed, clenching around his cock as pleasure flowed through me in crashing waves. Grae growled my name, battling my tight channel as he tipped over the edge, his jerky thrusts ringing out my final rolling waves of ecstasy. My muscles flickered and my skin tingled as if I was being pricked with a thousand tiny raindrops.
The stars slowly faded from my vision as Grae collapsed on top of me.
“That may be my favorite way to calm the mind.” I chuckled, a satisfied smile pulling on my lips.
He laughed, kissing my sweaty temple. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I traced his jawline and he turned his lips into my palm. “And whether we have a hundred years or one more day, that will never change.”
My mischievous laugh lifted above the clamor. I squeezed Grae’s hand as he led me back through the bustling markets. “I can’t believe we just did that.”
We surveyed the markets, searching for the traveling musicians, but Galen den’ Mora had still not arrived. The space wascrowded now. Afternoon travelers filled the rows, many heading downhill toward the boats to be ferried across the lake. My stomach tightened again, the moment of reprieve from my panic wiped away by the sight of the revelers.
They were celebrating Sawyn’s victory.
I told myself it was only because they felt compelled to attend, or they needed the food and coin that surely would be abundant at the festivities. But what if they were dancing and cheering over the demise of my sister just because they wanted to?
“As soon as this is over.” Grae wiped a stray lock of hair off his sweat-stained brow, still carefree in the aftermath of our stolen moment. “We are finding a room with a gloriously big bed.” His chest puffed up with wolflike pride.
“A bed?” I flashed him a cheeky smirk. “That would be new.”
Grae stopped so suddenly I almost crashed into his back. I craned my neck around him to see the merchant from earlier speaking to a Rook. My heart dropped into my boots as I spotted the merchant holding a rectangle of yellowing paper—Grae’s Wanted poster. His head lifted and his eyes bugged wide as he saw us and pointed.
“Shit,” we cursed in unison.
As Rooks swarmed the streets, we whirled and ran. We bolted down the rows of tables, fleeing under hanging walls of fabric and tipping baskets of produce. Shouts rang out behind us. We stumbled out onto the road and the Rooks converged from every side, corralling us toward the high red stone walls of the market.
I grabbed a reed out of a toppled merchant’s basket and swung it into the first Rook. He lashed out with his scythe, hooking the reed and snapping it in half. His arm swung wide, though, opening up his body. It was careless and lazy, his fighting skills clearly not sharpened over many years. Had Sawyn just given them weapons and uniforms, and left them to their own devices? Perhaps these were new recruits. Perhaps she thought the fear of seeing a pack of Rooks alone would keep people in line.
My attacker tried to repeat the same move, and I let him, knowing his back swing would move his scythe far out of range. I waited until he was wide open again and then took a step into him, stabbing the snapped reed straight through his throat.
He let out a wet, sickening gasp. I didn’t even flinch, my mind already thinking of the next Rook to my right. I knew it would churn in my mind later.Later. First, I had to survive.
The next blade narrowly avoided my side as I swung and struck the Rook’s wrist with my fist. His scythe began to slip from his fingers and he lowered to snatch it, exposing his back to me. I drove the reed down between his neck and shoulder blade, a shallow puncture, before I hit bone. It wasn’t a killing blow, but the Rook fell to his knees in pain, one less to worry about.
Retreating another step, I collided with Grae’s back. We circled, back-to-back, sizing up the tornado of black capes. There were at least a dozen of them now and more spilling over the hillside. They seemed to seep from every crack and crevice in the city, an endless army of obsidian feathers and iron claws.
It was too many. Even with our Wolf strength and speed, we wouldn’t win this fight.
Bodies circled our boots, a gory barrier between us and the encroaching Rooks. Scarlet rivers of blood flowed down toward the drains, and I wondered if tomorrow the lake would turn the rusty red of dried blood.
The bustling market was silent now, apart from the rushing of feet away from the square. A few stragglers stole one last look over their shoulders before they disappeared, fleeing the carnage as more Rooks rushed into the street.
The jostle of Rooks pushed one forward, within striking distance. I ducked under his blow and kicked out his knee, making him drop. I stabbed my makeshift blade into his shoulder, blood spraying into my eyes. He screamed, scrambling backward as the rest of the Rooks held a tight circle around us.
“Enough!” a shout echoed all around us, ricocheting off the stone and booming in my mind.
I spun, trying to find the location of that voice. Static filled the air, my curls lifting skyward as dread pooled in my gut.
A bolt of green lightning shot across the sky, cracking into the stone walls and spraying debris across us.
“Sawyn.” I breathed as the ground dropped out from under me. My stomach lurched into my throat as I fell, bracing for a landing that never came.
Thirty-Eight
