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“I have a rendezvous with another asshole.” Lowering my voice, I stepped closer, pressing my nose against her soft, obsidian strands of silk. “Watch my body until I return? Pretend you’re asleep, but do try to not fall asleep until I return?”
“Fine, but if you moan? I may stab you. My libido’s been stuck on overdrive since we entered this realm. It’s another thing that is worrisome. My skin is crawling with awareness, but what is it aware of? Who the fuck knows? I feel as if I need to inhale every scent until I find the perfect one. It’s freaking me out, Aria.”
“If I wanted to sniff everyone and everything, I’d be a little freaked out as well.” There was only one scent I wanted to inhale, and I couldn’t find his unique scent within this realm. “I’ll be quick. Once I hear you snoring, I’ll begin.”
Chapter Ten
Aria
ThemomentIheardEsme’s soft footsteps coming to my chamber, I slipped from the bed and searched for magical incantations. Once I checked that there was no other magic in the room that could affect the spell I was going to perform, I breathed a sigh of relief and quietly returned to bed.
The first time I’d cast this spell, I’d ended up leading Knox on a wild goose chase, which had ended in my meeting Esme. That seemed like eons ago. In fact, it felt like so long ago that, looking back, I could scarcely recall what life outside of the Nine Realms had been like. Perhaps it was helpful. Those inside the human world had the luxury of being oblivious to the war brewing so near to them. Being oblivious wasn’t the worst thing to be, honestly.
Softly laying back onto the bed, I let my nails slide free to cut deeply into the palms of my hands. A hiss left my lips as magic began filling the air of the chamber. Using my blood, I drew the runes to allow my mind and spirit to release from my physical body. My lips parted as the words smoothly leapt from my tongue, spilling the incantation that would force my spirit to the place I held within my mind.
Opening my eyes, I smirked until the heavy beat of Hollywood Undead’s “Everywhere I Go” filled my ears. Frowning as the lyrics pumped through the space, I stepped out from behind the bookshelf and froze, eyes going wide and jaw dropping open.
In the center of the space Knox normally dominated, Lore was holding a heavy tome and hopping from one foot to the other. At “their titties,” he dropped his head back, rocking his chest as if they were what the song spoke of instead of his flat, pierced nipples. My palm landed over my lips when the middle of the song hit and Lore tossed the book aside to dance.
My shoulders shook as he rocked his hips, throwing his arms into the air before bringing them down as if he were holding something there. Or someone? Who knew what was unfolding in Lore’s head?
“Drunken pussy!” he shouted, causing my other hand to slap against my lips. “The Lore . . . weenie . . . he loves to show!” His body was glistening with sweat as if he’d been dancing for longer than what I’d witnessed so far.
Instead of embarrassing him, I joined in his mindless dancing within Knox’s sacred chamber. He stumbled over the lyrics he didn’t scream, apparently not knowing the actual words. The way he moved told me he was aware of the benefits of his brother’s library. Secluded space undisturbed unless the library chose otherwise. Not to mention, it played some pretty great tunes. Lore was evidently not new to the song, either.
Having not been in our realm for a considerable amount of time, they could not enjoy any of the clubs—not that there were any in Haven Falls, but that wasn’t the point. He leaned back and then began swiveling his hips in a tantalizing slow motion. The man had moves, that much was obvious, but I’d also seen him use his lines on ladies before. Lore was more than smooth. He was seductive with his humorous outlook on life. He had a way of making a woman full-on belly laugh, which was priceless in this world.
“Gods damn, Aria?” he squealed as I danced around him and mimicked his hips.
“Hey, Lore. Are we warming up?” I asked, winking as his cheeks reddened with embarrassment. The song came to an abrupt end, which forced a pout to my lips.
“Oh, don’t stop on my account. I put duct tape on my inner feminist to enjoy the song with you.”
His eyes sparkled before he shoved his fingers through his straight, silky, platinum hair. A smile tugged at his lips before turning up into a dazzling one. Some poor woman was going to be fucked when he fell head over heels for her.
“You’re back?” he asked as he slid his regard to the tome. “Thank fuck. I’ve been combing this entire place for a way to find you.” His words caused my heart to flutter with worry that something had happened in my absence. At my panicked face, he shook his head before holding his hands up. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Who hurt you? Do you need mouth-to-vagina?”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Mouth-to-vagina?” This guy was a wordsmith. God save anyone who said otherwise. I’d die on this hill for him. “Where’s Knox?” I questioned, as confusion swirled like a tornado through my head.
“Training the lads in the courtyard,” he explained, nodding toward the open balcony.
Straining my ears, I heard his dark rasp that wrapped around me like silk. A smile spread over my lips as I strode to the balcony to peer out the glass, unwilling to waste a moment longer before setting eyes on the bastard who consumed my soul until it withered without him. I threw open the doors, rushing onto the balcony, then scanned the busy courtyard, which they’d converted into a makeshift training ground, and found him almost immediately. My eyes zeroed in on the ravens that covered the side of his torso and then slid up the sinewy back muscles exposed to the sun’s gentle kiss.
My pulse thundered inside my head at the delicious sight of him brandishing a blade. The way every muscle moved as he parried Brander’s aggressive attack forced my thighs to clench. It seemed like Knox had mastered every aspect of war, as he took each step with calculated precision. Killian moved in behind Knox as the onlookers chatted excitedly. Both Brander and Killian swung their deadly blades toward Knox, stilling his name on my lips.
They forged the man from the same mold in which they’d fashioned the gods of old. I wouldn’t alter a single thing about him, even if I could. Knox was the sharp edges to my softer ones. He was the chaos that fueled me. Neither Knox nor I knew we’d become addicted to each other. This man had become my other half, which both excited and terrified me. Knox was embedded so deeply within my soul, that it fucking ached.
Knox shut out the world when he was close to me. He made the idea of becoming a monster less terrifying than it was. I had been terrified of housing a creature to begin with, knowing how easily I could become unhinged. But Knox taught me there was a balance to maintaining humanity while freeing the monster within. With him, I didn’t have to fear Ember hurting him. Lennox handled her easily.
The night we’d shared together before I’d left had made it harder to leave. I’d wanted to stay in the security of his warmth, and the protection of his arms. But I couldn’t, not if we wanted to end the threat against all of us. It wasn’t just about me, or I’d have considered doing exactly that. The thing was, there was an entire world depending on us. I couldn’t lay about in bed with him, no matter how badly I wished to do so. Plus, I needed to put the bitch down for what she’d taken from me, from us.
The man wasn’t just my enemy through one bloodline, but rather both. If I hadn’t been born in the human world, how differently would I see Knox’s plight? Would I have lived as oblivious as those within the new realm were?
I’d survived an upbringing that would’ve broken most beings. It was what had sharpened my claws to lethal points. In that place, they had never accepted me for who—or what—I was. From the first moment I could remember, I’d never felt at home in that place. My whole life, I’d wondered why its entirety exuded wrongness, depriving me of the ability to fully appreciate its merits or flaws, but it was because it wasn’t my home. This man, he alone, made me feel at peace. Knox might have been brutal and I was certain we weren’t past all the bumps in our road, but I knew I didn’t want to walk down it without him beside me.
A flash of brilliant color forced my eyes from the perfection of my mate. In the garden beyond the circular courtyard, women were using fans to battle the afternoon heat. Swallowing past the need to rip their spines out from their mouth, I watched one rise from her seat. Slowly, she ambled closer to the men without a care for the deadly swords they were using. Grinding my teeth as she paused next to the younger men, she dropped a canary-yellow cloth on purpose.
At the same moment she’d dropped it, Knox disarmed both men in a calculated, skilled move of swordsmanship. The woman, who was even now moving closer as she waited for Knox to retrieve her swath of fabric, toyed with the bodice of her gown. My teeth sank into my lip as my back twitched and my nails pushed through the flesh of my fingertips.
