Page 128 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

“No.”

She frowns, then asks quietly, “Not even… Caryan?”

Riven shakes his head. “No. They were sealed thousands of years ago with spells long forgotten, and ancient powers. Their wards have never been breached, not even by an angel.”

Eventually, Melody looks away, chewing on her lip. “Gatilla’s death party is in two days, right?”

Riven doesn’t like the direction this is going either. “Indeed.”

“It’s in Niavara? You can take me.”

“I can’t take you, Melody. It’s not safe. And besides, there is nothing left of that library.”

“I’d be with you, would I not? And we could have a look. Makes babysitting a little more fun.”

“That night in town.” He shakes his head. “You have no idea what it is about. I cannot.”

She gets up and walks over to him, stopping right in front of him. He has to lean back to look at her face, to take her in fully, her hair gilded by the moon and her skin glistening.

He wonders whether she can see what her presence is doing to him, whether his aura shows even though he tries hard to hide it. Because she leans in, over him, bracing herself on the armrests, her long hair grazing his elbows, that damn towel barely hiding her from his eyes.

“We could make a bargain,” she says, her voice low. “You get whatever youdesireand I…”

She’s so close, her face over him, her breath brushing his lips. Her scent everywhere around him. He can feel her warmth, her heartbeat that has picked up just a notch. Abyss, she is beautiful.

“Will I? And what do you think Idesire?”

She licks her lips, and he follows the movement of her tongue.

Her eyes rove over his face before she whispers, a touch shyly, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Didn’t I warn you about bargains with villains like my kind?” He makes his voice sound cold. He sits up and she retreats instinctively. He follows her movement until they’re both sitting on the bed, faces so close he can see the dark-gray rims around her brown irises. This brown, such an unusual color among fae, making it all the more intriguing. Like dark forest honey.

“You’re not a villain.”

Her eyes are wide as he reaches out and traces the curve of her cheek.

“Don’t assume things you can’t know. You might know what I did, but you don’t know what Iam,” he drawls. A warning. He’s indeed been careful to hide his aura from her behind a wall of gray magical mist from the moment he learned about her talent.

But she says, “I know that you’re afraid you’ve lost your soul. Traded it for the darkness.”

The way she says it makes him realize how much she can still sense on him. Or maybe he had been too distracted at times.

Her words make him unable to move though. His very fear lies bare. He’s exposed. It unravels him, and renders him speechless.

It is she who reaches out to him now, who traces the shape of his ears and down over his cheeks. He holds perfectly still, watching her follow the movements of her fingers with her eyes.

It is she who pushes him down, who slides over him. She who kneels over him, looking down on him as if she knows every dark thought he’s ever had, still only wrapped in that towel.

Her eyes flicker viciously. “Let’s play a game. A truth for a truth.”

“Then lead,” he says before he can think better of it. Her presence and the absence of her clothes make thinking hard.

“Tell me what you want to do to me right now.”

He swallows. “A lot of things.”

“That doesn’t count. The darkest of them.”

---