Page 111 of Once the Skies Fade

Graham quirked a brow. “Why does it matter?”

Frowning casually, I lifted a shoulder. “He was my best friend’s brother. Would just help him find some closure if he knew for sure.”

“Is that why you entered the tournament? To spy on Calla for your prince?” Graham asked in a low protective voice, though he didn’t show the same hostility toward me that he would have a week ago.

“I entered because no one in Engle wanted to, and it was important to Connor and Lieke to honor the queen’s call for contestants. If I don’t win, I’d at least like to bring home some good news, you know?”

Graham was nodding along with my words. He took a moment to mull things over and then finally asked, “What have you heard?”

“Not much, honestly. The rumor, of course, that the queen killed him. But, you spend enough years chasing down human rebels who are armed with fae-killing poison, and well, you tend to get suspicious any time a fae winds up dead.”

“Understandably so. I know as much as you do, I’m afraid. No wounds. No sign of struggle.”

“So it could have been poison?” I pressed.

Graham pursed his lips. “Perhaps? Stranger things have happened.”

“Like flesh-eating trees and a mythical gold-hoarding beast,” I said. “Do you think Calla could have done it?”

He was silent for a couple breaths, his dark eyes searching mine as if testing to see if I could be trusted. He leaned closer in. “I’ve seen her rip limbs off women for merely mentioning that possibility.”

“So you won’t say either way.” I didn’t bother phrasing it as a question. He shook his head.

Slapping Graham on the shoulder, I gave a sharp nod, said good night, and turned for my own door.

I entered to find my room much like I did most nights—the bed turned down, the fire burning steadily, the drapes drawn closed. Just being in here conjured memories from that night, the feeling of her shadows gripping me––then, and today. My body eagerly responded to the images crossing my mind, and I growled in frustration.

Whether she’d killed Brennan or not, she certainly knew how to drive a male mad.

Kicking my boots off to the side, I stripped out of my clothes and walked to the window, leaving a line of crumpled clothes trailing behind me. I threw back the heavy curtains and dropped my hands to the handle of the window, preparing to fling it open and let the cool night air calm the heat coursing through me.

The familiar cold touch of darkness slid up my spine, and I was about to write it off as nothing but a typical stroke of unease except it circled back down, around my ribs, and lower, gripping me as it had under that stars-damned table.

“Hello, Killer,” I said, my voice a raspy growl. In the window, Calla’s reflection smiled wickedly back at me. “Come to finish what you started?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Her reflection shrugged and then walked away, taking her shadows with her, leaving me even colder and once again begging for release. When I turned I found her sitting on the edge of my bed in a most-unladylike position, her legs spread wide and her dress hiked up to her knees. She leaned back ontoher hands, giving a seductive arch to her back. The movement forced her breasts higher until they were nearly spilling over the top of her untied bodice.

It must have been a lie that she didn’t favor anyone, because I certainly felt like the queen’s pet with her displaying herself like this for me. Perhaps I should have been warier—especially since I still lacked any definitive proof of her innocence—but I’d been sent here to get close to her; I was merely doing as I had been instructed.

And having a little fun in the process.

Not that Connor would see it that way, but still. What was the point of life—of duty and service, even—if I didn’t get to enjoy it a bit?

Wetting my lips, I swallowed hard at the sight of her and the thought of getting to feel more than just her shadows consuming me. I stepped toward her slowly and marveled at how confident and powerful she looked even as I towered over her. Her eyes never left mine, except for one brief moment when I caught her glance down at my full length, and I could have sworn she gasped as if she was seeing me for the first time. When she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, I couldn’t suppress the growl in my chest, couldn’t stop my hand from reaching for her, clutching her neck as if she were mine to possess.

She didn’t flinch, and a wicked fire burned in her brown eyes. Her breasts heaved as she sucked in a slow, deep breath. When she spoke, her voice was rougher than I expected. “Tell me, general, how would you use me if I let you?”

My mind swarmed with images—each one filthier than the one before it, but which could I admit to, and which did she want to hear?

“You don’t want to know all the things I would do to you.”

She pursed her lips. Despite my firm grasp, she shook her head and purred. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.”

Inhaling, I savored her sweet scent and brushed my thumb over her parted mouth. A hungry growl rumbled in my chest.

“I’d see if this mouth of yours feels as good as your shadows.” She hummed appreciatively, as if she were imagining it already. “Thrust myself between these perfect lips.”

Her gaze darkened a bit, the corner of her mouth twitching, barely holding back her wicked smile. With my thumb, I tugged at her bottom lip, and my chest heaved with want as her mouth fell open and her tongue slipped out to taste the rough skin.

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