Page 37 of Midnight Kingdom

“I think so.” I stare up at the dark sky above us and sigh. “The reason I asked about the incubus is because I’ve been having these dreams... memories maybe?”

“Like what?”

“Like a mountain similar to this one,” I say as I look up at the mountain in question, before I glance back at Pyre. “And a hovel beside a frozen pond. Inside the shack, it’s warm. I remember having a mother and a sister, but nothing more about them. My mother asked me if I’d gone to the city again and she seemed nervous about it,” I continued.

“Is that the only dream that visits you?”

I shake my head. “No. I’ve received what I thought were visions but now I wonder if they were really memories that visited me as dreams.”

“Could be.”

I nod as I look up at him and admire his strong jaw and his Roman nose. “I believe I was there when Baron, Cambion, Dragan, and Variant had their coronations. I can see it as clearly now as if it were yesterday. At first I just thought I was channeling a vision of the past, but now I believe it wasmyvision of the past.”

“Tell me of the other visions you’ve seen?”

I nod. “I had a vision when Cambion touched me. And in the vision, we were…” My cheeks flush.

Pyre laughs gruffly. “I take it he remembered that bit as well?”

“No. He insisted it never happened, so I figure it was just a vision of the future. But, it felt so… real. It felt like something that had already happened. Something I… knew well.”

“And what are your feelings towards Cambion?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you lust for him?”

I feel my cheeks flush even further. I envy Pyre his ability to say whatever is on his mind. And without apology. “I wouldn’t deny him the pleasures of the flesh, if given the opportunity.”

“Then you do desire him?”

I nod, figuring it’s pointless to lie. “I can’t seem to shake these yearnings I have for him. But, they feel different to the ones I have with Dragan or Baron.”

“How so?”

I cock my head to the side as I consider it. “It’s like Ineedto satisfy him, to servicehimrather than just my hunger.”

“And what, if I may ask, did you feel for Variant?”

“Variant?”

“I know what happened in his bedchamber when he took advantage of you usingcompulsion, Eilish. And I also know part of you enjoyed what happened. But I need to understand what youfeltwhen you were with him.” Pyre presses himself against the side of the mountain and creeps along the edge. I step into his footprints, not wanting to take a tumble over the cliff.

“I guess there’s no point in lying to you,” I answer with a little laugh. “Even if the subject isn’t exactly an easy one for me.”

“There’s rarely ever a point to lying to anyone,” he says with a smirk. “I already know you feel a certain way about Baron, because his affection comes without judgment. It’ll take a while to see his softer side, but don’t give up on my surly friend just yet. As for Dragan, he needs to come to terms with his history with succubae and angels and realize you are not one or the other, but both.”

“And Cambion?”

He shrugs. “You wish to impress him, to show him you’re different and earn his affection. You crave his praise and his sweet words, which is why you feel the urge to be obedient to him. Now, how does Variant make you feel?”

Well, Idowant Cambion to be kind to me, to show me praise. Maybe, because he’s usually showing me just the opposite? Regardless, I need Cambion’s acceptance as much as I need to feed.

“I lust for Variant, I can’t deny that,” I reply as I glance down at my hands and feel shame flooding my entire body. “I want him to burn for what he’s done, but I also want to understand why he did the things he did. Why would someone so loved and respected turn against everything he’d worked hard to accomplish? Why would he kill Baron, and banish Dragan and Cambion?”

A strange tension comes over Pyre as I talk. Very subtle and easy to miss if one were not accustomed to observing him, but I’ve seen him long enough to know that something about my words bothers him. “Careful. There are restless spirits that dwell in the mountain. They’ll try to possess you if we are not quick.”

When we reach the other side of the mountain, the spire is within sight.

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