Page 51 of King of Fire and Flames

“Since she tried to kill you, Arrowyn, I don’t imagine she’ll comply without a fight.”

Remembering what dissolved my little human’s formidable resolve—lust—I would make damn sure she did.

I gave Azarn an indifferent shrug and gritted my teeth against the pain of my next words. “You’re her current master, so order her to submit.”

The Fire King’s crown of flames wavered, almost sputtering out as he slumped into a chair and thumped the back of his head against the headrest. “Fine. I’ll have my scribes write up the decree. Go ahead and do what you will to her. Or at the very least, do what you must. Break her if you wish. My mages should be able to put her back together. And if not, you and I will enslave every reaver alive, and then share the gold trade profits for as long as it suits us both.”

Share? What bullshit. Azarn didn’t plan to share a single gold feather with me. Leaf was only alive because he hoped to use her to control me. As much as I wished for the opposite, the Fire King wasn’t a complete fool. I had to play this carefully and convince him she meant nothing to me.

“Of course, your… visits must be supervised by my guards, and they will hear everything you say. Proceed carefully, won’t you?”

Stupid of him not to realize I had a very good way around that.

I laughed. “So distrusting.”

“Can you blame me, Storm King?”

He had a point. “No. If I were you, I’d do the same. And I don’t mind your guards attending. They’ll cause her greater humiliation, which will only enhance the process for me. I don’t mind performing in front of others.”

A knock sounded at the door, then on Azarn’s barked invitation, two healers entered my room. Without speaking, the tall female jinn, with coiled braids of fire writhing like snakes around their shoulders, proceeded to remove the knife from my chest and stitch the wound with magical threads.

It took all of ten minutes, and Azarn watched their every move, likely praying I’d drop dead during the procedure.

The healers’ work instantly recharged and restored me, but I feigned otherwise for benefit of the fire fae. The more they underestimated me, the better.

Azarn left soon after, bidding me goodnight and leaving me to relive every moment of today’s battle with Leaf. Being close to her again had filled me with euphoria, but at the same time, it was frustrating as fuck to realize she didn’t trust me and claimed not to love me anymore.

But one thing was certain; she still wanted me. And badly. The perfume of her desire had wafted from her skin in heady, drugging doses.

While in the Fen Forest, if she’d asked me to do anything, anything at all, I would have dropped to my knees and proclaimed myself her servant.

Thrashing my head against the pillow, I groaned, my blood burning in my veins the way it did whenever Leaf was nearby. Images of her dilated pupils, the black swallowing emerald-green irises, and the erratic pound of her heartbeat as I’d trapped her against the tree drove me insane.

I needed her safe. Wouldn’t rest until she was out of harm’s way. The trick was to achieve it without looking like I gave a shit.

My thoughts spiraled into darkness, fear for Leaf trembling through my limbs. Where was she now? Was she safe? What horrors would the Fire Court inflict upon her now that she’d won Azarn’s events? And fucking Bakhur had better stay away from her, or I’d rip his curl-blessed head off his neck.

Like a sudden flash of sheet lightning, my glyphs activated and burned the way they did when Leaf was near. Could it be…?

No, not possible, but still I froze and breathed softly, quietly, watching shadows and waiting. Feeling the air snap and sizzle and buzz over my skin.

Ever so slowly, the door cracked open, just wide enough for a small person to slip through the space. A Leaf-sized gap.

A fire geyser exploded outside the window, the light bathing the room in crimson. My blood hummed exactly the way it did whenever my Aldara was close enough to touch.

Shock drummed my heart against my ribs. “Leaf?” I croaked out as I pushed my weight onto my elbows, then climbed out of the bed. I spun slowly on my heel, my eyes wide and my skin prickling with awareness.

Leaf was in here.

I could fucking feel her.

But how? How the fuck did she activate her reaver’s cloak with Melaya’s block in place?

Scanning the room, I saw nothing unusual, then suddenly my blade vanished from the nightstand. She’d picked it up, her cloak absorbing its visible form.

I cracked my knuckles and willed calm through my veins. Then breathing slowly, I strolled toward the room’s arched window and leaned on the stone frame, looking out across the fire fae’s kingdom. Ancient stars glittered in a black sky, the darkness below broken by the city’s flickering torches and the odd fire geyser erupting.

Counting heartbeats, I waited for her to make a move.

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