Page 99 of Claimed In Darkness

The air is thick with the remnants of her—anger, heat, the scent of her fucking skin still on mine.

She walked away from me, but she didn’t take everything.

Her taste lingers on my tongue, still hear the sharp cut of her voice, still see the fury in her eyes.

I still know, deep in my fucking bones, that I was a goddamn idiot to let her slip through my fingers.

And now—I will pay the price for it.

The fire crackles low in the distance, shadows flickering between the twisted trees, a sliver of golden light stretching across the cold, damp earth.

Too quiet.

Too still.

Even the wind has stopped, like the world is holding its breath.

My instincts coil tight. The curse under my skin twitches, warning me.

Perhaps, I should have listened to it sooner. It can be useful at times.

I step forward, the soft crunch of dirt beneath my boots the only sound in the suffocating silence.

I don’t call for Aereth, because I know what’s ahead.

I’ve been betrayed.

And my enemies are waiting for me.

I walk into the clearing, blade already in hand.

The moment I step into the light, I see them.

The High Council’s guards.

Dozens of them.

All standing too still, too silent, too fucking ready.

And in the center of them all?—

Aereth.

Standing beside them.

She’s standing with them like a leader. A queen.

Her head tilts slightly, those dark, too-familiar eyes drinking me in like she’s waiting to see my reaction.

A slow, poisonous smile curves on her lips.

"We’ve been expecting you, my love."

They’ve set a trap from the very beginning.

The moment she stepped out of the shadows in front of me, I was in her snare.

From the moment I let myself believe—for even one damn second—that she was real.

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