Page 61 of Mostly Shattered

“Just give me a second,” I insist. “This place is a lot to take in and this is the first moment of privacy we’ve had since we arrived.”

He arches a brow and turns to look at a goblin sprawled on the ground, snoring and hugging an earthen jug. The pointed stick next to him makes me think he’s the worst troll tunnel guard ever.

“Costin, please, just…” I’m scared. I don’t know what to expect. I’ve seen trolls before, but I’ve never held a conversation with one. “Just give me a moment. I need to say something.”

“Yes?”

“I never thanked you for the pizza. It was…” I bite my lip. “Nice.”

“You needed to talk about pizza?”

“No, I just…” I need to buy time.

He takes a deep breath and lifts a hand to my cheek. “Your heart is beating fast.”

“I’m nervous,” I say.

“You should try to calm it.” His tone lowers seductively, and he steps closer. “It’s like a drum calling all vampires within a twenty-mile radius.”

I glance back in the direction we came.

“Yes. Those vampires.” He strokes my cheek. “They want nothing more than to devour you.”

My breath catches and I forget everything but the look on his face.

“They smell your blood.” He leans close to my head and breathes me in. “I will not be able to fault them if they can’t control themselves. Even I struggle…”

I moan softly as I take hold of his shirt. I pull him to my mouth, offering him a kiss. His fingers curl around the nape of my neck, tipping my head back to better suit him.

I expect an explosion of angry passion like before, but this time, he’s gentle. His mouth moves against mine, his tongue slipping past my guard to explore. The sharp tips of his fangs threaten tender flesh but don’t injure. I moan, and the kiss becomes almost frantic.

He pulls me tight against him. The full length of his muscled chest molds my softer skin. He’s a dangerous man, I know that, but I feel safe with him.

How did we come to this? Just yesterday, I would have denied anything like this could happen. Now, I just want to keep kissing him.

I want time to stop so that I can remain trapped in his vortex. My lungs burn for air, I pull away to draw in a heavy breath. I gaze deeply into his eyes.

He looks away first and tilts his head. “We should keep moving.”

“I’m scared,” I tell him.

“The wizards would not have written the prophecy if there was not a chance you would survive,” he says.

I’m not sure if he thinks that’s comforting.

“Do you think I can do it?” I ask. For some reason, the answer is very important to me. I need him to believe in me. I can’t help but hear voices from my past telling me that I’m a mere mortal, not special, human. What if they’re right?

“You are the only one who can,” he answers.

It’s not exactly the testimony to my greatness that I want to hear, but I can’t fault him for it.

“We should go,” he says.

I nod. I still taste his mouth on my lips. My skin aches to continue what we started. I could make love to him right here, hidden behind the mud-brick homes.

One of the green butterflies that followed us inside the mausoleum appears overhead and flies into the tunnel, as if telling me to keep moving. Costin doesn’t appear to see it. The magical insect reappears and perches on the tunnel entrance.

Costin looks at me a moment longer before taking my hand to pull me behind him into the tunnel. The drunken goblin doesn’t notice our passing.

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