Page 35 of Blood & Ice

“Payment first. A day.”

“Half,” I countered.

“Done,” he said easily.

He told me the names. I prayed to the goddess that it was a lie. If what she said was true, it was going to hurt Astrid. Badly.

Knox held out a hand to me once more, that unfathomable smirk still on his face. “Ready to go? I think we’re going to have to move quickly. She’s already aware that Astrid is at Blood Rose.”

I stood up straighter, a jolt of fear making the porcelain body I occupied rattle like old bones. “She what?”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that part? Well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Red-haired witches never follow orders well, do they?”

“Knox—” I seethed.

“Two days.”

“Fine, damn you! Two days! Get me to her now!”

And he did. We fell forward into oblivion again, and I gritted my teeth against the feel of blowflies just under my skin. Which wasn’t half as bad as what I woke up to. I woke up French-kissing my sister’s boyfriend, an experience so off-putting and strange I nearly hexed him.

It wasn’t his fault, really. I could sense the love potion’s effects distantly. I was almost irrationally angry for a second, thinking he’d dosed her. Then reality hit home, and I realized it was yet another ploy. A way to take revenge on all of us who’d foiled her plans. It was a disproportional response to the accident.

So, I punched him instead.

Chapter Twenty

Astrid

I hadn’t meant to seduce Rook.

Honest. It just sort of... happened. Trust me. It was more embarrassing to do it on accident after months of trying and failing to do it on purpose.

The library was the logical starting point. Even if Aurea had her familiar, Daegal, watching us, the most he’d see was Rook reading in the large print section while I dozed, apparently insensible. In reality, Rook would be reading pertinent sections from the book under his breath, so only I would hear. Or that was what weshouldhave been doing.

I sort of got distracted when we were selecting pertinent titles to read. There were archival texts about the construction of secret passageways and hiding places in the castle. There were eighteen such passages that Rook knew of, and he wasn’t certain he’d mapped them all, even in the centuries he’d been alive. Er... undead. He wanted to double-check the old books and pinpoint which one would be ideal for hiding a relic as evil as the one Aurea had stolen from the Winter Queen.

Then the material of his dress shirt had rasped across my bare back, sending pleasant tingles up my spine. It was only the second time he’d touched my bare back since we’d begun dating. The first time, he’d been making out with me out of necessity, trying to scandalize a pair of witches into ignoring the questions they really should have asked us. It had worked. I’d thought he might get around to touching me again after I’d grown up a little, vamp-wise. Lorcan seemed to think the problem was on Rook’s end, not mine. No matter how much time passed, there would be at least a sliver of him that wanted to treat me like a fragile lady, even though I was harder to hurt than ever.

It felt like something in my chest pulled, trying to ape aheartbeat I no longer had as he trailed his fingers delicately up my spine. The backless dress didn’t plunge past my waist. Even my liberated cousin wouldn’t allow me to go to a club showing too much ass. Less is more, in cases of fashion. Still, it felt like his hand was mapping a line from my waist up to the crown of my head. I let out an unnecessary breath when he grasped the back of my neck gently, pressing his body closer to mine. A moan actually escaped my lips when he tugged on my earlobe with his teeth.

“Rook...” I breathed. “Why...?”

Why now? Why in the library? We were here to solve a crime. I wasn’t sure what crime we were investigating, exactly, but there had to be something in the penal code that fit what Aurea was doing. Blackmail of a public official, at least. Was that a misdemeanor or a felony?

My thoughts spun wildly when Rook ground his very evident arousal against me. If I’d been living, my heart would have been going at a full gallop. I felt dizzy, even without the blood pulsing to my head, overwhelming every rational thought.

“I’ve always wanted to touch you here,” he whispered, tone soft and reverent. I was surprised I hadn’t burst into bright, autumnal colors at the sound of those words. I’d started to adopt more fae traits while in faerie. Uncle Fox thought I might grow the family tail at some point. I hoped not.

I couldn’t talk. I could barely breathe. I wanted to say his name. To babble inane questions, when it simply didn’t matter. Was I scared of this? Yeah, a little. I’d built it up in my head. But I trusted Rook not to hurt me. To make me remember every touch fondly. I wasn’t sure if I believed in eternal love, but I believed I could love him for centuries. I wanted something that endured. Something like Lorcan and Wanda’s seemingly unshakeable bond. It was a lot to ask of someone. It wasn’t a witch mindset at all. I should have been able to do this withoutfeeling lovey-dovey about it.

You’re not a witch anymore, dummy.

For the first time in a long time, the thought wasn’t depressing. I wasn’t a witch. I didn’t get judged like one anymore. I was just a vampire fae crossbreed. And I was in love with the man at my back.

Rook let me turn to face him. It was a mistake. One look at his handsome, sculpted face, and I was in danger of bursting into tears. There was just something incrediblytenderin his dark eyes as he stared down at me.

“I love you,” he whispered.

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