Page 73 of Petals for Deadly Power

A ball of navy sparks illuminated Jake’s hands, the light reflecting his face from underneath as his silver eyes assessed everyone’s positions. He stepped behind Hope and Ciaran. Lenna, Ayla, and Arabella followed, the color of their sparks illuminating their paths. Then the sparks vanished, leaving space to Giving from all of them as the shadows took advantage of the night.

“Final stretch,” Hope whispered, more to herself than the others.

“Final sprint,” Lenna answered. “Fifth Judgment, here we fucking come.”

Cardinals only knew if she’d been sleeping for a day or two, but when Hope finally managed to scrape through the thick wall of dreams in her subconscious, she didn’t remember falling asleep on such a comfortable, warm bed.

She was quite sure there had been red wings in her dreams, but she couldn’t remember if it was her imagination or if the Core Cardinal had truly visited her. There was something like a warning and a sense of urgency that her utterly destroyed physical state didn’t let her grasp.

She had never pushed her body and her magic that much, for that long, with such intensity. It had been worth it, but totally draining in every single sense. She was glad it was over, even if the uncertainty and the bargaining—thetrading—that would come next wouldn’t be any easier.

The Core Cardinal had protected her since she was little, visiting her in her bird form while in Verdania, then guiding her through the Vessels when the roixers almost caught them. The times she had spoken with her, she had seemed caring, invested in Hope’s wellbeing and future.

Yes, the questions of her ordeal hadn’t been easy, and the threat that her crystal feather would break if any of her answers were untrue was present every single time Hope looked at Ciaran, wished to touch him,neededto kiss him. But if the Fifth Judgment was a meeting with the Five Cardinals, the Core Cardinal being one of them, Hope couldn’t help but feel hopeful that they’d be granted the Fifth Power. Once they got it, onceshegot the power, she would kill her father without a second thought, avenging the death of her mother and every other innocent life he had ever taken.

“Hope? Are you awake or still in dreamland?” Lenna’s voice was close, and Hope opened her black eyes to meet her golden ones. She sat in a black armchair, her red, wavy hair was wet as if she’d just showered. “Hi there. Your escort just left to shower, sorry me as your waking view is not as good.”

“My escort?” Hope chuckled, propping her elbow up, taking in the bedroom and the weak sun penetrating through the see-through black curtains. Her bed was gigantic, the thick blankets covering her made of intertwined wool and shadows. The black walls were covered with abstract painting with different shades of grey and white.

Lenna nodded, interlacing her fingers and putting them under her chin. “The one you can’t fuck. I was just thinking about it. You know that glint in his eye when Ciaran looks at you?”

Hope’s eyebrows shot through the roof. She knewexactlywhat glint she was referring to. That glint in his blue eyes had made her core squeeze countless times, and it had inspired her self-gratification up to seven times in the space of a week.

“Of course I know that glint.”

“That glint canonlymean one thing, Hope.” Lenna lifted her eyebrows repeatedly, grinning. “He has to be fucking filthy in bed.”

Hope inhaled sharply, a weak moan leaving her throat without her permission at the thought as the door opened and Ciaran walked in. His nostrils flared, and his eyes—his very-much-glintingeyes—trailed from her ones to her bottom lip. The bottom lip her teeth raked.

“Oh, perfect timing.” Lenna snorted. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” With a casual wave and a side glance that wished for filthiness, she slammed the door and left them alone.

Ciaran’s eyes didn’t move from her mouth, and his feet didn’t move from the other side of the room, as if he was trying to control himself. “You’re awake,” his voice was low.

Hope coughed. Yes, she wasveryawake. Definitely too awake for her own—for their own—good. “Awake indeed.”

“Were you and Lenna—? Did I interrupt—”

Her jaw dropped open as she held the blanket up to her chest. “No, you didn’t. Nothing that couldn’t be interrupted.”

He swallowed, his eyes glazing. “I can smell how awake you are, Hope.”

Her eyes widened, her core tightening. She should shut her mouth and talk about the weather, the bedroom, the island they were on. Talk about anything that wouldn’t feed this ever-growing hunger and soul-consuming need that could end both them and their world.

“We were just debating.” She cleared her throat.

“Debating?”

“Whether you’d be filthy in bed or not.”

His eyebrow cocked, the metal ring on his lip bobbing as he tried not to smile. “And what conclusion did you reach?”

Now it was Hope’s turn to swallow as she sat against the headboard. “You said you come thinking about what you’d do to me. Perhaps . . . Perhaps you’re not the only one who is thinking about the other.”

The low groan emanating from his throat made her core wet and ready. “I’d fuck you senseless in every possible way. I’ve had centuries to gather ideas.”

She couldn’t take her eyes away from the long, hardening shape protruding against his pants. “I’m glad we at least have a good time imagining.” If they wanted a country or a world to live in, their desires and fantasieshadto stay in their imagination.

“We could imagine . . . at the same time.” His metallic hand ventured inside his pants, and when he freed his length, Hope gasped. His cock washugeand thick, veins marking across its magnificent side. She never thought she’d wish to be a metallic hand so desperately.

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