Page 52 of A Spell of Bones and Madness
“Well, you are technically still married to my brother.”
Katrin started to laugh. “I guess I am.” Thundered rumbled above, clouds stitching their way together as damp cool air swirled in the clearing.
“Oh calm yourself, Ander. It was only a joke.” Farah rolled her eyes, sauntering back to the path that led to the castle. “You need to lighten your mood if you plan on surviving this war with your sanity intact.”
Farah was right. They needed every small bit of peace and joy they could get, otherwise, they were all doomed.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ajax
It was a stupid plan, but it was all Ajax could think of as he paced the hallways of the palace he once called home. There had been so many lies, so many miscommunications and half-truths. Trust was a fickle thing and it seemed with every passing day he gave Ember yet another reason not to trust him—or his feelings. Today that would stop. Never again would she feel inadequate, like a second choice he would cast aside.
Bells rang in his ear, an incessant buzzing, a sign he needed to shift soon. A fortnight had passed since his last shift, far too long for a wolf of his age, especiallyas he hadn’t been able to curb his needs in the way he was used to in Alentus. The women that cycled through his chambers in the barracks had been enough to slow the urges, a way to connect to his primal nature without thought or repercussion. Ajax had not indulged in that sort of deterrent since the moment he began training Ember. It was as if every other woman ceased to exist in his eyes. Each week before the attack on Alentus, Ajax would sneak out to the Triad and run through the mountains, letting the breeze whip around his shifted body. Then he was confined toThe Nostosand shortly after to the halls of Aidesian—no time in between to relinquish himself to his true nature. Since his return to Nexos from Aidesian, he had only let himself run in the forests twice—once when they first landed back on the shores, and once two weeks prior, but only for a brief moment before he returned to protect the outside of Ember’s chamber.
Tingles crept up his arms and legs, begging him to lean into his primal self—ease into the creature he was born to be. That would need to wait—despite the full moon approaching and the urge becoming almost unbearable—he must speak with Ember first. Explain how he felt. Make her believe him. Like Farah said, there may not be much more time to.
Barging through Ember’s door was totally unwarranted, but this might be his last chance, and he couldn’t dull the preternatural urge of the wolf inside him to claim. If Nikolaos or Alexander decided to send their spymaster somewhere else, he would need to leave her behind, in a war that had only just begun. Could he refuse them? Refuse his pack? Was he beholden to a new leader? To Ember? He was entranced enough to think so.
“I need to—” Ajax started before he clenched his mouth shut. Peering around the empty room, he saw the bed still made, uneaten food, and a full glass of wine sat on the table. Ember’s sword was no longer propped up against the wardrobe. She wasn’t here—she had never returned after their spat earlier. He was an idiot indeed. A twinge coiled deep in his stomach. He should have stopped her from leaving before, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in close.
Shoulders sagging, Ajax made for the door when a soft lilting voice came from inside the bathing chamber, the most beautiful humming of a song he did not know—no, simply could not place. The melody was eerily familiar, but from where?
Crisp, spring flowers and steam drifted into his lungs as he opened the door. Ember sat at an alabaster vanity, brushing out rolling waves of her golden hair, a thin pink gossamer robe clung around her body, tiny silk undergarments showing through, barely covering parts of her Ajax had only seen once, when he changed the dressings on her wounds after the Wrecking. After Kohl had taken the hilt of his sword to her head and almost killed her.
Awestruck—the only word that could describe the warmth in his chest, the burning of his heart, theotherheat that might never go away when he looked at her. “Where do you know that song from?” Not the first words he thought he’d ask, but it was a deep and haunting hum, one that reminded him of the ancient lullabies his mother used to sing to him before she died.
“My—” Ember paused, staring out a tiny window, her eyes paling ever so slightly “I’m not sure, actually. It just sort of came to me.” She placed the delicate silver brush down on the vanity, and when she turned, Ajax could have sworn her hair shimmered witha strawberry hue. It must have been the evening glow radiating off the opalescent walls, because a moment later it was gone. “What are you doing here anyway? You do realize this is my room, not Farah’s?”
This was not starting off in his favor, but the way the words rolled off her tongue in a coaxing manner was thrilling. “Yes, Drakos, I realize this isyourroom.”
She stood and, gods, if the sight did not send Ajax straight to his knees. He could devour that body every day of his life—the peaked nipples showing through the silk bra, the tiny underwear that looped over her hips. That gods-damned pout she’d perfected with those plush berry lips. What would her skin taste like on his tongue? What would her naked hips feel like gripped by his palms?
Inching right up beside him, Ember leaned in and whispered, “Eyes to yourself, Commander. It’s very unbecoming of a guard to linger his stare on his superior officer.” Thatvoice. She began to saunter out of the room, swinging her hips just a bit more than usual.
“Not this time,” Ajax growled, gripping her wrist and turning her toward him.
“Let go of me, Demos!” Ember tried to rip her wrist free, but he held firm.
“I refuse.” He took another two steps, holding tight, backing her against the cold alabaster walls. Her chest heaved with every inch he grew closer until their bodies were pressed firmly against each other, until he pinned both wrists above her head.
“I outrank you, and you will do as I say.” Clenching her jaw, Ember pointed her nose up at him, leaving that neck open for the taking.
Ajax wanted to drag his teeth across it, mark her for himself. “You might outrank me on the battlefield, but not in here.” Her throat bobbed, those captivating amber orbs widened as Ajax spoke. “I’m done fighting. You’re going to stand here and listen to what I have to say and I’m not going to let you go until you do. Understand?”
A low hiss left her lips, but she nodded anyway.
“I’m an idiot, I understand that. You have no reason to believe what I say—only my pleading and promise that I would never lie to you—”
Ember scoffed, rolling her eyes as she shifted beneath his grip, her hips rolling just too close to his own. “Never lie? To me? When have you ever been truthful, Commander? You pretended to be courting that awful princess. You pretended to be a member of the Spartanis. You are a Nexian. A spy. A wolf. None of which did I know until you dragged me aboard that ship.”
Well, fuck. She was not going to make this easy. Although, it was a hint of reassurance that her voice was vicious in the most intoxicating of ways. “I did not pretend to be a member of the Spartanis. I earned my position on merit alone—not trickery.”
“You knew where my sister was the whole time. Knew she was safe, who she was with, that they would not hurt her. You saw what it did to me—her going missing a second time—and yet you said nothing. I should have you hanged for treason.”
Dropping her arms, Ajax took a step back, staring at Ember with a forlorn gaze. He spoke softly, barely a mutter. “Treason? I promised you she would be safe. I told you that day that I would personally see to it that she was.”
“A half-truth, if that.” Ember turned her head away from him, and once more that pale, open neck was on display in front of him. He clenched his fist tighter around her wrists, not so much she would be in pain, but enough that her chest rose in a sharp breath and her skin grew rosey.
