Page 24 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

Kalix, instead of being offended by my comment, merely unthreads his hands and drops them to my hips again. “Oh, little mortal.” He breathes the words out as he sits up, putting his mouth right next to my ear as he speaks. A shiver rolls down my spine and I place my hands against his chest to keep him from getting too close. He already is too close—far too fucking close.

“If I want your heart,” he continues, one of his hands leaving my hip to travel up my belly. I suck in a sharp breath but he keeps going, between my breasts until he pauses right over where my heart beats an erratic rhythm within the confines of my skin and bone. Storm and madness, that is who this man is. Who they all are. And I’m flying right into the eye of it. “All it would take is one second and it’d be mine.”

Kalix twists his hand, fingers digging around my breast as the threat of what he means becomes clear to me. I can picture it too—my chest cavity ripped open and my heart sitting in the palm of his hand. The image is too clear to be anything other than my own survival instincts kicking into gear, warning me away from such a terrifying beast.

I don’t give in to that fear. I pull away from him and stare into the forest depths of his gaze. “You can rip my heart from my body,” I say, “but you’ll never own it. You may take physical things from your victims, but there are pieces of them—of me—you will never be able to touch.” The words are a hiss and I can tell that they confuse him because in the next instant, his hand falls away from my breast and he tilts his head at me.

With a furrowed brow, Kalix examines me, his eyes roving over my face to take in my serious expression. Even with the heat still throbbing in my core, I am not so weak as to let him get this close without ensuring that he knows just what kind of creature he’s threatening. As much as I can anyway—because even if we’re here in the secret darkness of my room, the both of us are still Academy wards. His decisions are not always his own and neither are mine.

“You truly do not want me?” Kalix’s tone is rough with bewilderment as if he’s never heard such a thing and thought that the other person was telling the truth. I note he doesn’t react to my comment on his victims. It’s as if the word rolled through his ears and off his shoulders, yet another accusation that he couldn’t bother to concern himself with.

“What I want,” I reply, answering his question with far more honesty than I know I should, “is freedom.”

He blinks at that. A moment passes. Then another and another. By the tenth one, Kalix seems to have forgotten his earlier intentions entirely. He lifts me off his lap, and as he stands, peers down at me with frowning lips and a tight jaw.

I half expect him to say something caustic and demeaning—to insult me for confusing him so. He shocks me when he leans down and cups a hand around the back of my neck and brings me closer to him. Our faces are mere inches apart.

“Say no,” he commands.

Fuck. My lashes lift as my eyes cut to his. There’s no teasing glint there this time. Only seriousness.

“Say it,” he repeats, his tone harsher and filled with power.

I don’t. I can’t. And that negates all that I just tried to tell him. Regardless of what I say and what I plan to do while I’m here in this Academy, there are some lies I cannot bear to speak.

Kalix sighs, and then finally, leans forward. His eyes remain open and so do mine as his fingers play at the back of my neck and his mouth touches mine. This kiss is nothing like the first. It’s not harsh or mean but soft and curious.

Flecks of red and green play in his irises, distracting me from the sensual feeling of his lips playing against my own, plying my mouth open as his tongue touches me far gentler than ever before. My breath sucks into my chest and his hand stills on my nape. His eyes widen further and a bolt of fear shoots through me as realization hits where his hand had been.

It takes all my self-preservation not to cup my own hand over the back of my neck where his had been, where the brimstone sliver is.

Had he felt it? I hold my breath and lift my gaze to his once more as I wait for his questions. To my utter shock, though, his face gives nothing. His expression remains enigmatic. Even his furrowed brow has evened out and Kalix just stands there for a moment more, looking at me as if I’ve somehow given him a riddle to solve and he’s deciding if it’s worth the effort or not.

A chill slides over my spine. I’m not entirely sure I want to be a riddle to Kalix Darkhaven. When he turns, unlocks my door, and walks out without another word a moment later, I’m left feeling like a broken piece of wood set adrift in the great wide ocean.

Chapter 15

Kalix

My eyeballs ache with a memory I’d somehow forgotten. The scent of the human sits in my lungs—crisp like a winter storm. Ice and snow and something else, something devious.

My little human, I call her. My little mortal.

My little liar is far more an apt name for her or perhaps one better, my little thief.

I walk through the corridors of the north tower back up to the chambers above hers as the darkened hours of the morning rest just outside these stone walls, and I think back to my time with Talmatia. The annoyance of one of our father’s bedmates demanding one of us to service her, and to work in her pathetic excuse of a castle when we refuse, is nothing compared to the excitement I’d had when someone had stolen into her dungeons and freed the human prisoners she’d claimed had insulted her.

My lips twitch and I have to fight off the oncoming smile as I carefully enter our chambers, spotting a flash of light beneath Ruen’s door. No doubt he’s already awake and if he hears me and comes asking questions … well, I have no problem telling him where I’d been—between the Terra’s thighs—if only to see the battle of guilt and rage on his face. But I want to keep this new secret to myself a bit longer.

I make it up the stairs and into my room without ever hearing the creak of his door opening and when I’ve got my own closed behind me, I finally sag against the aged wood and let out a rush of breath. A chuckle erupts and I clamp a hand over my mouth as it shakes my shoulders and rumbles in my chest.

Oh, this is good. This is so very … intriguing. When was the last time I’d ever had this level of interest in something or someone?

Never, I realize. Even the woman who had given birth to me had remarked at how indifferent I’d been. To her. To Azai. Only my brothers are impressive enough to keep me entertained. And now, her.

I push away from the door and snap my fingers as I stride across the room. All around me, fires flare to life, floating momentarily in the air before quietly drifting to their respective wicks. Casual Divinity allows these same small abilities to everyone with Divine blood.

Kiera Nezerac had used matchsticks to light her candle. Another giggle bursts out of me and I shake my head.

---