Page 96 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

For a moment, the world stood still.

Emara could hear her heart hammering against her chest, feel the pulsing in her neck. The panic, the fear, the thrill, all merging into one. The demon separated into two parts and crashed to the ground. The sound felt human enough to make her wince. Torin walked over to the corpse and raised one sword into the air, swinging down with force onto the demon’s skull. Emara could not pull her eyes from what Torin had just done. She knew she should look away, but she couldn’t. She wanted it dead. And she realised she didn’t care how. She wanted all of them dead. She wished it had been her that had wiped it from the earth.

Torin looked at her and raised one eyebrow as he pushed one sword back into the casing on his back. “Let’s go,” he commanded. He turned to start walking. “Stay close to me.”

“You have already barked that order,” she advised, walking behind him. The mist was starting to thin.

She halted, remembering she had forgotten something.

“Why have your little feet stopped moving behind me?”

“I can’t leave Eli. I need to go back for him.”

He turned to face her, ice crystalising in his eyes. “Emara, we can get the men to retrieve his body when the mist has cleared on the gardens and the sun has risen. Let’s go!”

She dug in her heels. “Torin, please!”

He paused for a second, then ran a hand over his jaw. “Emara, Eli is gone,” he announced, his voice softer than before. “There are other men in the Tower who need our help. You did all you could for him. He would have been grateful not to die alone.” His eyes softened as he looked at her face.

She felt her lip quiver. “I will carry him myself if I have to.” She pushed out her chin.

He didn’t budge.

She turned her back on him and tried to take a step forward, but his hand reached out, grabbed her elbow, and spun her into him.

“Why do you always have to defy everything I say?” His eyes deepened as they searched for an answer on her face. She felt bare, like she was exposed as he explored her so close up. “I can’t make up my mind if I find it extremely irritating or extremely attractive,” he admitted.

He didn’t seem to be joking.

“Why do you always expect me to do everything you say?” She yanked her arm back. “I don’t fall under you.” She stood up taller, on her tiptoes—just a little. His jaw ticked. “I am asking you, as a Hunter, to help lift the fallen.”

His nostrils flared. “And as a Hunter, I am asking you to get your stubborn ass back into the Tower so that I can sweep the grounds for more demons. My duty is to protect you!” His voice was dangerously low as he leaned in closer to her. “How can I do that when you don’t follow a single instruction I give to you?”

She shifted. “Torin, I will be sick to my stomach if I am left in that bloody Tower for one more second, thinking that he has to lay out here in the cold as his blood dries into the grounds of this place. I just can’t—”

Torin drew the sword from his back, stopping her from talking altogether. Emara’s eyes widened as fear drove up her spine. Oh, Gods, she had pushed him too far.

“Hold this with two hands.” He placed the weapon into her hands. “If you see a demon, wait until it gets close to you, then swing as hard as you can.”

The sword was heavier in her grip than she remembered, but he had just given her a weapon to defend herself.

His weapon…

“Thank you,” she said, laced with a little more attitude than she had intended. But she meant it; she was thankful that he hadn’t dragged her back to the Tower. Instead, he gave her the option to defend herself.

A wicked grin appeared on Torin’s face; his icy eyes raked over her from beneath his dark lashes. “You look good with some steel in between your hands.” He drew in his cheeks and one dimple appeared. “I can think of one more thing that would look—”

“I swear to the Gods, I have never used a sword before, but if you finish that sentence, I will bring it down upon your head.”

A second dimple appeared on his cheek. “Stop talking dirty to me, Emara; it will only get me going, and we have things to do.” His shoulders relaxed casually.

Prick!

She moved the sword so quickly, Torin’s shocked expression fulfilled her as he brought up his own to defend himself.

His eyes beamed with delight.

“Are we doing foreplay right now?” he purred, his voice even deeper than before.

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