His wings stretched out behind him, glowing as I healed him. My magic twined with his, and the majestic beauty of his wings made my breath catch. He closed his eyes, letting out a low sigh.
As I healed him, I breathed in his scent. My heart beat faster, and I realized his smell was like an aphrodisiac to me.
I watched my magic snaking over his body, caressing his wings. Something about it seemed… perfect. Meant to be.
Lure him into the woods. End it all.
When I’d finished healing him, I pulled my hand from his chest, and his wings shimmered away.
He reached for my waist, running the back of his knuckles up and down my side. Tingles raced over my skin. He leaned down and whispered, “Let’s come away from all these people.”
His breath warmed the shell of my ear. Already, my body was aching with need for him.
He leaned down and scooped me up, carrying me away from the festival. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and gods, I wanted to wrap my legs around him. Close to his body, I felt his heart pounding.
When I glanced down at his chest, where I had to stab him, my thoughts sharpened into a crystalline arrow point.
Kill the beautiful man.
Away from the other revelers, he stopped walking, and I slid down his body. “I have you alone, at last,” he murmured. “Take off your clothes. I’ve been desperate to see you naked since I first had you under my control.”
That command made heat pulse between my thighs. Gods, I wanted him to see me naked. I wanted to get down in the dirt and let him claim me…
But I was here for another reason, and I had to remember that.
Something electric crackled between us as I unbuttoned the top of my shirt. His eyes dipped to the swell of my breasts, and I took another step away from him.
His gaze drank in my body. He was hungry for me.
As his magic stroked my skin, licking my body and warming me like firelight, warmth pulsed between my thighs.
I backed up against a hawthorn tree and unbuttoned another button. The forest air kissed my skin. Salem prowled closer, then pressed his hands on the tree trunk on either side of my head.
“Take it off, Aenor.” His deep, erotic tone skimmed my exposed skin.
One more button, and his eyes dipped to my breasts, nipples hardening under his gaze. They were aching for his touch.
He was boxing me in, looking down at me with wonder, and fire blazed in his eyes. “Just one temptation,” he murmured softly, “before my destiny awaits.”
He lowered his head and grazed his mouth against my throat, and I nearly moaned. Pleasure rippled out from where he kissed me. I tried to remember my mission…
I touched his well-built chest, and his muscles tensed. They were like steel under his smooth skin.
Slowly, he brushed his lips over my neck. I arched my throat, making myself vulnerable to him. I felt strangely protected around him. Safe, for reasons that must have been insane. As his tongue moved over my skin, sexual need burned through my body.
Or the world will burn…
I reached into my pocket and grabbed the sea glass. Ice spread through me.
In one swift movement, I lifted it to his heart.
Now, it was all over.
33
Salem
My mind nearly went blank as I stared down at the gleaming shard of blue glass pressing into my chest. One of her hands was curled around the back of my neck.
With the other, she’d jabbed the sharp tip of the sea glass into my skin, just below my sternum. One sharp thrust upward, and it would be in my heart. Every muscle in my body was rigid, my desire to live warring with the instinct not to hurt her.
So this was Aenor’s plan. She hadn’t wanted to seduce me, but to kill me. Why in the name of the gods had I trusted a morgen’s seduction? This was what they did. What an idiot I was.
I tried to summon my magic to invade her mind, to stop her—but that little point of glass in my chest was already draining my power.
Of course she’d wanted to kill me. I’d taken her world from her—her magic, her kingdom, her mother… She’d sworn vengeance. I’d forced her to work for me, mocking her as I did. I’d even invaded her mind, making her lust for me. I’d imagined making her strip for my pleasure. Of course this was all part of her plan.
Since when had I ever let my guard down like that so easily?
And yet… she hadn’t killed me yet. Was that the mate bond stopping her?
A single streak of black blood streamed down my chest. Already, I could feel the weapon poisoning me, pain radiating through my chest like a toxin.
“Well, Aenor. I thought we were just starting to get comfortable with each other.”
Her jaw was set firmly, eyes focused. Her entire body had gone rigid. With her shirt halfway unbuttoned, I could see her chest rising and falling fast. “Why can’t I do it?” she asked.
She still didn’t know.
“I feel as if you are asking me to advise you on how to better kill me. I’m not inclined to do so.”
Her eyes gleamed with tears. “I was talking to myself.”
“Only one person can kill me.”
“It’s me.” Her eyes shone. “So why can’t I do it? I have to. I’ve seen what happens if I don’t. I’ve killed plenty of evil men before. You’re the worst. I don’t understand why I can’t kill you.”
“I still feel as if you want me to convince you to jam that into my heart. I won’t help you with that, I’m afraid.”
Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she gritted her teeth. “It’s like… I feel safe around you even though it makes no sense. It’s objectively insane, given our history. Is this your magic? The fruit you gave me?” She bit her lip. “Or is it the festival and the wine… Maybe both. I just feel like… we should be…” She seemed like she was coming unglued, trying to convince herself of something that fate wouldn’t let her do. “Like we should be together? This doesn’t make sense. I just need to fight through the confusion and do it. Okay. I can do this.”
“I’ve never been less enthusiastic about giving someone a pep talk.” She wouldn’t do it, would she? She was my mate.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, and a tendril of blue hair fell in her face, catching in her long eyelashes. I brushed it out of her eyes, and she opened them again. With the way she was looking up at me, so lost, I wanted to pull her closer to me.
There was just this weapon between us, getting in the way. “Drop it, Aenor. You won’t be able to do it.” Pain radiated out from the spot where she was piercing me.
“Why can’t I?”
“Perhaps your mind is clouded by my devastatingly divine appearance. Don’t feel bad, Aenor. My beauty has shattered the wills of more formidable women.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, looking like she was about to change her mind and ram the glass all the way into my heart once and for all. Perhaps this was not the time to irritate her.
What she didn’t know was that the mating bond meant every instinct in her body would tell her not to do it. She was the only one who could kill me, but her own mind would stop her from doing it.
She grunted with frustration, staring into my eyes with intense hatred. “Do you know how many hearts I’ve cut out?”