Page 83 of A Legacy of Wrath and Reckoning

Holt watched her closely, the memory of what they’d just been doing together heating her skin. But she needed to focus, needed to give him her full attention for what came next, no matter how much she wished she could turn back time to a few minutes before, to freeze that moment so that they could savour it a little longer.

Zylah climbed onto the bed beside him, motioning for him to lie back on the pillows with her. “You’re sure about this?”

A dip of his chin. “Show me.”

Fear threatened to surface, but Zylah shoved it down. Lay down beside her mate, pressing a hand to the scar over his heart as she schooled her emotions. He looped a hand through her legs, fingers splaying over her backside and tugging her closer, the other pulling her thigh over his. Zylah let out a yelp of surprise that he caught with a kiss, just as wild and hungry as the ones that had come before it despite the echo of his pain humming between them.

But he broke away before it could turn into more, a hopeful look in his eyes as they danced over her face. The trust he was giving her,offeringher, she wanted him to know he could ask her anything, come to her for anything.

Zylah left one hand over his heart, the other curled into his hair, holding onto him just as tightly as he held her. She thought of the way he’d used his magic outside the court. The strength and skill he’d shown. How he fought. The power that rolled through him; so powerful that even now she could feel it pressing against her skin, reminding her of how much he’d endured. That he was whole, safe.

With a deep breath, Zylah pushed the memory of the vanquicite being removed from her body down their bond. Holt groaned through gritted teeth, but when she made to pull away he held her closer, urging her to keep going.Remember me, she silently begged. To Pallia, to the other gods who were not gods, to anyone who would listen.

Pain rolled through every inch of her body. The scent of earthy acani berries and the salty tang of the ocean. Holt’s arms around her, the crashing of waves far beneath the Aquaris Court. Blood roaring in her ears, her heartbeat slow and heavy in her chest. Deyna’s voice. Cirelle’s.

Blinding agony, but his hold on her only tightened, words murmured into her hair as every part of her felt like it was being torn apart.

“It could save you both, Holt,”Cirelle had said.

“Not like this,”he’d snapped back.

Spears of lightning slicing through her body, her mind slipping as the vanquicite took hold of everything she was.

“We have a bargain, remember,”he’d murmured.“Stay with me.”

Threads of magic weaving between them, around them. Her pain. His.

So much pain it finally pulled her under; a flame so bright and burning it incinerated everything but him.

Zylah broke away, both of them gasping for breath, sweat slicking Holt’s chest, his brow. His face had paled, his jaw was clenched, but there was no recognition in his eyes of what they were to each other, no flare of emotion down their bond.

“I’m—” Zylah rasped, but he reached for her face, lips brushing over hers and his thumb swiping away the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

“Don’t apologise.Neverapologise,” he told her, his heart still racing just as fiercely as hers. “It isn’t you that hurt me. I want you to remember that.”

Zylah nodded, because she didn’t think she could speak. He was right. It was Aurelia’s doing, all of it, but it didn’t feel that way whenever they tried to undo it. His suffering was too visceral, too raw for her to hold onto that fact.

Holt brushed a loose strand of hair from her eyes. “I think whatever Aurelia did… it’s like parts of me were sleeping. Stillare. But every time we try…” Another soft kiss, his tongue darting between her lips to taste her like he couldn’t help himself. “What you just did for me…” He studied her face again, like he might find the answers there, Aurelia’s threat squeezing at Zylah’s heart. “It’s like part of me woke up. And I would gladly take the pain for that. Forthis. Do you understand?”

Another nod, Zylah’s throat uncomfortably tight as she swallowed down her heartache at his words. She’d thought if she’d shown him the vanquicite being removed, the way he saved her life, it would be enough to shatter Aurelia’s magic. But their bond was still achingly silent, and Aurelia’s words seeped like poison through her thoughts:“his mind is one tiny little tug away from breaking… just the slightest bit of meddling will shatter it.”

“Your eyes,” he said quietly, his thumb brushing over the scar at her temple. “Magicandthe anti-venom. That’s how we need to do it. And I think I know how, if you’ll let me?”

“I’d like that,” Zylah murmured, too crushed to feel any hope at the prospect. She rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it steadied, his fingers stroking her spine. Neither of them spoke, something telling Zylah he needed the silence just as much as she did. For her heart and her head to catch up with her body, the pleasure he’d wrung from her, his pain; what she’d shown him, all of it.

In a few hours they’d have to leave the quiet sanctuary of their room, but until them, Zylah was content just to be in Holt’s arms, to savour whatever time she got with him.

Chapter Forty-Two

ThesoundofZylah’sstomach unceremoniously gurgling and announcing her hunger woke her, followed by Holt’s rumbling chuckle against her cheek where it pressed against his chest. His thumb stroked her thigh where she’d draped it over him in the night, his other hand splayed across her back.

Zylah peeked up at him, the shadows in her eyes blotting out everything but his beautiful face. “Hi,” she whispered, part of her wondering if this was all a dream.

He pulled her up his body to kiss her, the thick, hard length of him hot and heavy between them. “Hi.” Another kiss, every cell in Zylah’s body coming awake at his touch. “It feels like we’ve done this before,” he murmured, his eyes sweeping over her face.

“We have,” Zylah said against his mouth, desire flushing her cheeks, her chest. And then her stomach growled again, even louder than the first time.

Holt huffed a laugh against her lips, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he sat up with her in his arms and rose from the bed, her body sliding against his as their feet touched the floor. “We skipped a meal yesterday. Let’s get you something decent to eat.”

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