Page 108 of Crown of Wrath

“I hate that I put you through that,” I whisper, not wanting to get lost in the emotions of the past.

Cole smiles at me and puts his fingers under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “I’m not. I needed to earn your trust, Maeve. I’d broken it, and I needed to show you that no matter what happened, I was going to stay at your side. Nothing could have proven that as much as being loyal when I disagreed with your choices.”

He pauses for a moment, but then he says, “The only part that almost broke me was being by your side every day and not being able to touch you. You have no idea how badly I needed your touch.”

I can’t help but let my mind go back to last night. “Well, now you can touch me however you want, whenever you want. I’m yours, Cole. Nothing is going to take you away from me.”

With that, I stand up on my toes and press my lips to his. His fingers encircle my throat, and his nails dig into my skin as he tries to hold himself back. He wants to devour me, to breathe me in and never let me go, and I feel every bit. If he’d been a shadow wielder, we’d be hidden from the world.

My hands run under his shirt, my nails leaving thin trails of tingling as my thumbs move along his waistband. The brush of coarse hair sends a chill through me, and I watch Cole’s eyes as they begin to glaze over.

Then I pull away from him. “Don’t you worry. We will have plenty of time to tumble in the sheets this evening. First, I need to help Echo claim her Throne, and you need to spend some time calling in debts.”

Cole’s fingers clench into fists as he stares at me silently for a moment. I send a tendril of shadows across the distance between us, and brazenly, I let it slide between the waistband of his pants and his skin before wrapping around his shaft. How many times had he teased me when he wore the Shadowed Cloak? He’d nearly driven me crazy.

“Maeve…” he growls.

I set the shadow to slowly stroking him, becoming more solid, and his eyes open wider. “You need some inspiration for when you have to be all shadowy. I hope you’re still this worked up when I see you this evening.”

The shadow dissipates, and he sinks. But when he looks at me, a glimmer of a smile crosses his face. “Is this how it felt all those times?”

“Oh, so much worse. You know you’re only being teased for a few hours. I went months with nothing more than teasing.”

He lets out a deep sigh and says, “I was a cruel man.”

“You were, but it worked. You caught me in your devious trap, and now you’re stuck with me even if I’ve decided I enjoy teasing you, too. Now go take care of business so that we can have plenty of time together.”

His smile widens, and he turns back toward the little cottage that we’ve stayed in, and I catch sight of just how much of a bulge he has. I lick my lips, and I could swear that it gets bigger. “It’s not only you that’s desperate to replay last night’s magic,” I mutter.

Good.The words come over the bond, and I grin as I go to get Echo. Shadows billow from my fingertips and feet as I walk, and I don’t bother to hide them. To be completely honest, I don’t know if I could with the way I’m feeling.

Chapter 53

I wish I could have raised them both. Seeing them together, two wonderful Queens who are so young, I wish I could have taught them both, could have shown them both love, and could have seen the light in their eyes as they competed.

They are both my daughters, but one lacked my blood and the other lacked my love. I could not have helped either, but I regret both.

~Brenna Morvyn, personal journals

Maeve

Echo is solemn as I take her hand. This is important, and now we both know that there is more danger to us than we ever expected. The Darkness could be waiting for us in the void. “I’venever been to the Keep of Shadows, so I’ll have to find it. It will take time.”

“We will stay near the shadows then,” she says. It’s not a question.

“We will stay near the shadows,” I repeat, agreeing completely with her.

She nods and takes a deep breath. I notice my mother watching us from her house. Her eyes aren’t on me, though. They’re focused on the little girl who has far too much weight being put on her shoulders. A little girl who’s never felt the world without that weight.

I focus on the shadows at our feet and think of Gethin, turning them into revulsion shadows, sending us falling through the world into the void. Nothingness fills our vision, a darkness that is so impenetrable that even my Earth senses struggle to see through it. I ignore it, my mind focusing on the shadows around Draenyth.

I have connections to some of them. Cole’s old bedroom. Cole’s secret room. The rooftop of the Keep of Flames. The Firelight Café where I laughed and drank coffee with my friends and then fought off harpies.

I don’t have connections to the Keep of Shadows. I’ve never been there. I’ve never even seen it. I know where it should be as the Keeps are arranged the same as the cycle of control of the Painted Crown. Flames, Earth, Shadows, and Steel. The Keep of Shadows should be on the opposite side of Skycrest from the Keep of Flames.

Echo doesn’t say anything from beside me, but I can feel her shadows testing the void behind us, constantly on the watch for The Darkness. There are no shimmers of power or movements. It’s just as quiet here as every other time. My shadows touch a spot of darkness in Draenyth, and an image of smoky quartz walls appears in my mind.

That has to be it. “Found it,” I say, and I feel Echo turn toward me just as I pull us through the shadow into Nyth.

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