Page 18 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
‘You’ll help me find the wraiths’ lair and destroy it.’
Talemir took a deep breath and offered her his hand. ‘Then we have a deal?’
Drue stared at it. ‘We have an understanding.’
‘And you’ll keep my secret?’ Talemir asked, still holding out his hand. ‘Not even Wilder knows. He can’t know. He’s been through enough.’
‘Your friend is no business of mine.’
‘So, it’s settled then?’ He felt exposed with his offered truce hanging between them.
‘One more thing,’ she said, her hand hovering near his.
‘What?’
‘You’ll stop using your magic on me.’
Talemir frowned. ‘What?’ he repeated.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘You know exactly what I mean. You’ll stop using your power to… to make me feel things.’
A slow smile spread across his face and he grasped her warm hand in his, a spark jolting through his whole body. He didn’t have the heart to tell her his magic had no such hold over her.
‘Then we’re agreed?’ she asked.
‘Agreed.’
She broke their handshake quickly, as though she’d felt that same jolt between them and it had rattled her.
As she gripped the door handle, he spoke once again. ‘By all means, Wildfire… You can kill me when this is through.’
‘I may just do that, Warsword.’ She didn’t turn around. ‘We leave at first light.’
Talemir Starling watched her go, noting the curve of her backside and the sway of her hips. He dragged a hand through his hair as the door closed behind her, his cock twitching in his pants.
‘Fuck…’
5
Drue
‘You’re insane,’ Adrienne told her back in her quarters.
‘I know,’ Drue admitted, rummaging through her wardrobe to find her travel pack. Terrence watched her from his perch by the door. He seemed unsettled.
Adrienne wasn’t done discussing her antics. ‘Making deals with shadow wraiths? That’s a new level of crazy, even for you.’
‘I know.’ Drue went to her dresser, one of many items they’d salvaged from the abandoned city and dragged back here.
‘I kind of like it, though,’ Adrienne quipped, handing her a shirt to pack. ‘It’s fucking ruthless.’
Drue laughed, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she did. She hadn’t realised how tightly wound she still was. At the thought, the fresh memory of Talemir Starling in wraith form came flooding back, his wings outspread behind his carved torso, those ribbons of shadow gripping her wrists and pinning her to the wall, all-powerful. He could have killed her with a swipe of those talons, with a lash of that black power. And yet… desire pulsed between her legs. She cursed him silently, stuffing another spare shirt into her pack, unable to stop the image of his naked body flooding her mind —
Adrienne was staring at her, noting the look she hadn’t wiped from her face. ‘Did something happen?’
Drue flushed. ‘No.’
‘You’re sure?’
