Alarm coursed through my being—this felt like being frozen by Raithian’s magic. Frozen by Raithian’s magic… The thought echoed in my mind, bringing back critical thought. Raithian’s magic was my kind of magic. I could stop this. I could break the connection.
Focusing on my essence, I pulled the power away just like I had brought it to the surface to illuminate the inside of the statue.
Recede…
The voice echoed within me, and slowly, the magic began to reverse along my arms until it reached my core, disconnecting from the crown’s and resting again.
A deep breath finally filled my lungs and my muscles unclenched, my posture sagging. The moment my gaze met Evanna's, the breath seemed to return to her too… and both Kingston and Asher fell on their asses—they’d been pulling at the crown.
Laughter erupted from me, but they didn’t seem amused.
“Are you alright?”
With a nod, I leaned into the woman I loved and kissed her lips. “You were right. It’s too much magic and I had no idea that would happen. Thankfully, I was able to stop it. I’m fine.”
“How did you?” Kingston asked, standing again while Asher placed the crown in the leather satchel he’d brought—just in case we were successful.
“It felt similar to when Raithian took hold of me with his power, but his magic is the same as mine. The same each piece of the soul crystal holds, so I fought for control of it and basically turned it off.”
“Well done.” Asher smiled, ever the good friend, but the worry only increased within Evanna’s gaze.
“Do you think it was them? Do you think they were attacking you to stop you from using them?”
A burdened breath sank my chest because we all knew who they were. She was talking about the souls trapped in the Anima Crystallum. My ancestors.
“It’s possible,” I admitted, my chest tightening with the thought. Their essence had fought back the moment they felt me close, assuming that like Raithian, I would steal and abuse their joined power.
“But you need the crown to fight the Warlock King,” Asher added, pointing out the painfully obvious.
If the powers that be blocked me from channeling them to help me defeat Raithian, then…
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I replied, standing, and helping Evie to her feet.
“You will figure out a way.”
With Kingston’s reassurance, we all turned and walked towards Tharion to get out of that place.
Throwing one last glance over my shoulder at the ruined park, I promised myself that if, by some miracle, I made it out alive from all of this, I would restore this place.
“We should keep them away from each other,” Evie warned once we returned to our room, and I dropped my ring on the surface of the dresser.
“Yeah, we should,” I admitted, a shudder coursing through me when I remembered the hold the stones had on me by merely being close.
Frowning, I watched Evie place the leather satchel that contained the Dragon Crown all the way at the end of the room, behind the wall of the bathroom area. It seemed like a bit of overkill, but I knew that what happened to me scared her… and she didn’t even know about what I felt with the Truth Teller.
To spare her the worry, I opened the drawer where the ring sat for the past several days and placed it all the way in the back of it. Now I just needed to reclaim my sword and find a way to use the three elements together without them killing me before Raithian and I faced off for good. Fun times.
As I pulled my hand out of the drawer, a startling tremor took control. I immediately fisted it to stop the shaking, but it was too late, Evanna had already seen it.
“Are you sure you are alright, Baby?” Her hand curled over mine, squeezing to help ease the tremor. Her worry weighed on the words.
“I’m sure it’s just fatigue. Nothing to worry about.” I guessed the rush of adrenaline from my experience with the seer had worn off already.
“Then you should take a nap. You haven’t been sleeping well, and the others can wait.”
My mouth opened to protest, but then something better came to mind. A slow smirk tilted my lips. “I could sleep, OR—and hear me out on this—or we can use this precious time alone to continue what you started the other night…”
Her brows furrowed. “What I started the other ni—Aaah!” A squeal escaped her when I whirled her around, yanking her against me.
Evie’s back slammed against my chest, our bodies flushing together until her bouncy ass pressed deliciously against my groin. “When we were on Tharion’s back,” I whispered in her ear, “flying towards the lake.”
“Oh, that,” she half gasped as I guided her hair away, trailing the tip of my tongue from her ear to her neck.
A smirk tilted my mouth over her skin, and I sucked the sensitive curve while my hands snuck around her waist, headed straight for her breasts. Scooping them out of her corsets had become my favorite hobby.
“Yes, that.”
Their plumpness filled my palms, her nipples tightening against my skin. I massaged them slowly, enjoying how they gave way to my every touch and her breath hitched. A moan escaped her when my hips pressed harder against her ass, and she felt my growing hardness.
Sucking her neck once more, I squeezed her soft breasts, firmly holding them, possessively massaging them—because every inch of her was mine.
Evanna’s hips began to grind on me in response, stroking my hardness and making me desperately want her. A groan escaped me the instant Evanna’s hands reached back, unbuttoning, and pulling down my pants enough for her to grab me.
Fuck.
My skin was on fire under her touch, the feel of me ready for her eliciting a deep whimper from her lips. I’d been craving her since she teased me. When her head fell back, and she tightened her grip on me, every inch began to throb.
Dragging one of my hands from her breast, I hurriedly pulled at the laces of her corset, letting the thing fall off her body faster than it ever had. A slight golden glow dancing over my fingers reflected in the mirror before us, but I was too busy slipping my hand into her riding pants to care.
The second my fingertips plunged between her delicate skin, easily sliding across the most sensitive part of her, I kind of blacked out. She was so fucking wet.
“I need you inside me.” Evie’s husky plea made me jerk in her grasp.
Pulling away from her, I crouched behind her, bringing down her pants in one shove. Her balance faltered with my roughness, making her bend forwards and grip the sides of the full-length mirror not to fall. The move exposed her glistening skin to my hungry eyes, and my mouth claimed her.
“Brax!” Evie moaned as my tongue explored her sensitive and swollen center, drinking from her while pulling my own pants out of the way.
Her thighs trembled on either side of my face as I sucked her sensitive skin, making her come for me.
The most sensual song escaped her throat, rising in the air so loudly that others might hear us outside, but I didn’t care. Gently pulling her shaking thighs apart with my thumbs, I let my tongue caress her, savoring every moment. Hungry for more, I stood, effortlessly sliding inside her in one powerful thrust.
It wasn’t enough to be inside her. I drove into her until I was deep, my head pressing against her core.