Page 31 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

I relish their taste against mine for a long moment until my tears meld with our kisses. “This is not what I intended.” I shake my head, sobbing. “This is not what he promised me.”

“What did I warn you of Malachi, my dearest Sofie? That he was not to be trusted. That he would take everything from you.”

The season for castigating has long since come and gone. “What am I to do?”

“I do not have the answer for you.” Elijah’s cheeks are damp with tears too. “But know that I am here with you. You are not alone. Your pain is mine.” His kiss turns frantic, full of desperation and urgency, as if the clock is about to run out on our moment.

I match the intensity, our hands working away at each other’s clothes until we’re left with nothing but skin and the cool air flowing in from the terrace.

I cry out with Elijah’s first thrust, a dreamlike feeling overwhelming me as the memories I’ve clung to for centuries rush back. My legs wrap around his hips as he pins me down, our fingers entwined above my head. I have waited so long to feel his weight atop me, and the delicious burn of him filling me so completely. I would sacrifice everything to hold on to this moment forever.

“See, my love? I did not betray you.”

The hairs at my nape prick at the sudden change in timbre.

As quickly as Malachi left, he has returned.

His hips pause and he pulls back to show me his cruel smile. “Your husband is with you at all times.” I gasp as he thrusts hard, his hands flexing around mine until they threaten to crush my bones. “And any harm inflicted upon me—by anyone—will be dually felt by him.”

A not-so-subtle warning in case I had plans to take my revenge.

I swallow. “No harm shall come to you while I am at your side.”

“I did not think so. And if you are a good servant to me, perhaps I will allow you to see him, from time to time.” He rolls us over until I’m straddling his hips, his length still seated deep inside me. “Are you a good servant?” Warm hands stroke over my thighs, squeezing as he prompts me to continue.

I look past the monster beneath me to the male I love hidden deep inside. “I am.” I roll my hips, earning Malachi’s guttural groan.

I will protect Elijah until I can find a way to free him from this nightmare.

12

Zander

It’s dusk by the time we descend on the entrance to Ulysede, and I gape at what I see. I should not be surprised, though. I’ve witnessed the healing power the nymphs unleashed upon our realms. Desolate lands at the rift long since punished by the fates’ wrath have been blessed with a carpet of grass and trickles of water as of this morning’s sunrise.

But this transformation? I stood in this barren wasteland only days ago, where soaring trees now line a road fit for royalty—fresh, as if newly laid.

Abarrane stumbles a few steps as her feet touch stone. “There must be a better way to travel by these beasts,” she growls, sparing Valk a glare.

He all but ignores her, his rapt attention on Caindra and her smaller green companion who rest in a clearing nearby.

“Why don’t you ask one of them?” We take in the daunting winged creatures who line the tunnel into the city. They’re easily twice my size and surely twice as strong, their bodies swollen with muscle, clad in armor that bears the kingdom’s two-crescent-moon mark.

But they don’t raise my hackles. It’s the pale-skinned warriors that form a wall, their black eyes affixed to us, that unnerve me.

“These are our allies?” Abarrane’s tone hints that she shares my doubt. Nothing about their rigid stance suggests they are here to offer us aid.

But if Caindra is out here, then Romeria is in there, and I will cut through every one of them to reach her. “Valk!”

The orange beast swings his massive head toward us, his jade-green eyes narrow slits as he regards me. The charred scales along his back from Sofie’s attack look less damaged than they did when we landed at the rift to deposit Kazimir to the healers. “Remain here until my return.”

Valk’s head tips back and he releases a shrill screech that rattles my teeth, loud enough to ricochet off every peak in this mountain range.

Abarrane’s eyebrows arch. “Is that a yes?”

“More likely a ‘go fuck yourself.’” And after I provoked Sofie, I wouldn’t blame him.

We stroll toward the gate and the barrier of nymphs, and I prepare myself for an obstacle. Now that we’re closer, I can make out the bones that protrude from their skulls like tiny, dull horns. They truly are hideous creatures. “I am King Zander of Islor, and I am here to see Queen Romeria.”

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