Page 116 of The Road to Hell

Rathiel didn’t move.

“Oh, he’s in for it now,” came Vol’s voice from behind me.

Calyx hummed in agreement. “It’s been nice knowing him.”

I barely registered their voices. My blood was rushing too loudly in my ears.

Rathiel squared his shoulders, his jaw tight, his blue eyes locked onto mine with a calm acceptance. As though he was prepared to take whatever punishment I dished out.

Good.

I came to a stop in front of him, my heart hammering against my ribs, my hands clenched at my sides. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him or hit him—a feeling I was very familiar with when it came to Rath.

Without a word, I surged forward, grabbed the collar of his torn shirt, and yanked him down.

Someone sucked in a breath—maybe Calyx or Eliza—but I didn’t care. Because the second Rathiel was close enough, I crashed my mouth against his.

For a heartbeat, he didn’t react. His entire body locked up, shock radiating off him in a wave.

Then he snatched me into his arms, gripping me so tightly it stole the breath from my lungs, and kissed me back—hard.

A shudder rippled through me, along with relief and longing. His mouth was urgent, unrelenting, the taste of battle still clinging to him. But beneath it, there washim. The kiss wasn’t careful, nor was it slow. It was desperate, fevered, a clash of heat and breath and everything we had both lost and found again.

I remembered this. The way he kissed, the way his body felt against mine. The way he held me, like he was afraid I might disappear if he let go.

Our tongues warred for dominance, neither willing to yield, each stroke and clash setting fire to something deep inside me. His grip on my waist tightened, his fingers digging into my back as if he needed me closer.

I fisted my hands in his shirt, pulling him harder against me, deepening the kiss, swallowing the sound that rumbled in his chest. Fuck, I had missed him so much.

Somewhere in the distance, someone let out a long, slow whistle.

The sound pierced the lusty haze filling my head, and I ripped away from Rathiel, breathing hard. Our gazes met, and his shone with love.

A few feet away, Levi looked completely unbothered. “Well. That’s one way to say hello.”

Eliza laughed behind me. “I thought for sure she was going to deck him.”

“I’m deeply disappointed,” Calyx commented in a bored tone.

Still reeling from the kiss, I glared up at Rathiel and said, “Don’t think for a second I won’t punch you later.”

His lips twitched, a small, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I’d expect nothing less.”

ChapterTwenty-Seven

RATHIEL

She remembers.

The thought slammed into me with all the force of a divine reckoning.

I had fantasized about this moment a thousand different times in a thousand different ways, but I’d never believed it possible. For the last few weeks, I’d told myself she would likely never look at me the way she once had. That we’d neverbewhat we once were. And all because of me. Because I’d completely and utterly panicked when we’d lost the war.

But now?

Now, she stood before me breathing hard, her lips swollen frommykiss, and I could see it.Her. The way her gaze lasered in on me with the same fierce intensity from before. She was no longer the confused, wary version I’d been dealing with since I’d found her on Earth. She washeragain. The one who had led a rebellion and stolen my heart.

At first, I’d expected a fist to the face. And I wouldn’t have blamed her for it either. I deserved that and so much more for everything I’d put her through. She hadeveryreason to hate me, exactly as Levi had once warned me she would. I’d stolen her memories, exiled her, abandoned her. Yet, instead of sucker punching me, she’dkissedme.

---