Page 20 of Blackwarden
I was out of my seat in an instant, fury igniting my insides. “Really, Keres? What else could it be?” I folded my arms and lifted my chin, meeting his gaze without flinching. “Something’s at work here. Iknowit. And I’m done pretending otherwise.”
He didn’t move, limbs rigid at his sides, dark hair tangled around the sharp curve of his horns. His black, bottomless eyes locked on mine, boring straight through me. He’d chosen a form fitting doublet in the same midnight blue as his hair, so dark it was nearly black, open down his sternum, the delicious line between the muscles of his chest on full display. His pendant rested against those muscles, the symbol mocking me as it rose and fell with every breath he took. He opened his mouth to speak, a flash of fear crossing his face before he squeezed his eyes and lips closed.
“I know you probably think I’m just a stupid human, but I’m not a complete idiot.” I took a confident step toward him. “There is a curse, isn’t there?”
Again, he opened his mouth. And again, that flash of something akin to pain or fear or despair before he closed it.
My frustration was a solid thing in my chest, clawing its way up my throat and I couldn’t stop it
“I know you can’t lie. I know your kind are more susceptible to magical curses.” I took another step closer. “And I know—”
“Stop.”
With one word he froze me in place. Ice crept through my veins as his shadows wrapped around me. It felt like shards of glass cutting through my joints, shredding the willpower from my muscles. He moved toward me with metered steps, his eyes holding mine, a darkness so deep within that look. I tried to wriggle free, but all I succeeded in doing was send flashes of agony down my arms and legs. I could do nothing but glare at him as I blinked back tears of pain. He took another step, lips parting as he came close enough that I could see the threads of silver that wove through his black irises.
He reached for my face. My first instinct to pull away failed. I was firmly frozen in place by whatever magic he had used on me. I balled my hands into fists, burying my nails in the flesh of my palms. Those elegant fingers of his slid across my jaw before he tucked an index finger beneath my chin and tipped my face to his. He shifted closer. Too close. A flash of fear simmered through me from the intensity of his glare before it sank into the depths of my core, turning my breath shallow with need.
“We won’t speak of this again,” he said, voice low and soft as he leaned his head beside mine. I shivered as his breath brushed over the shell of my ear. “Will we, Rosalin.”
It wasn’t a question. He backed away, his eyes dragging down my face to my lips and holding there. Then, before I could say another word he dissolved into the shadows, leaving me standing rigid and alone beside the table as the ice that held me firmly in place melted from the inside out.
The tears I’d held at bay broke free and pooled in the corners of my eyes until they overflowed down my cheeks. Nearly a full minute passed before I collapsed on the floor in a heap of spent adrenaline. I touched my chin where the echo of his fingers remained. How could I be so terrified, and yet, so attracted to him? Attracted to a Dark Fae—to a monster.
I buried my face in my hands and wept.
Chapter 9 ~ Frozen Questions
Keres
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It hadn’t been my intention to use my shadows on her, but she wouldn’t stop asking questions, ones I wasn’t capable of answering. Each one stabbed into my soul like a poisoned barb, reminding me I was bound by this fucking curse. I was well aware of what it felt like. I’d endured the Hag Queen using my own shadows against me for centuries.
Rosalin’s willpower had shredded my magic faster than I could press them into her muscles. With my weakened abilities I’d struggled to hold her in place and used more energy than I’d planned. Now, in the quiet of my personal quarters, I was replaying the moment her anger and pain had turned into wanting. I wrapped my fingers around my neck and squeezed before dragging my hand over my chest. The way her eyes could strip me bare was truly terrifying...and I wanted more.
It was rare that one of the maiden’s feelings were strong enough to sway my own. Most of them were young, shallow creatures, barely old enough to understand the difference between love and lust. But this was different. The heat had drawn me closer like a pathetic moth to a flame, unable to stop from being burned.
Too close,when I knew I wasn’t allowed.
She’d opened her emotions to me without realizing what she was doing, and I hadn’t found fear. I’d found a searing desire that soaked into my own and set me on fire.
She left me hot, even with the ice of my magic ripping through my veins. Her name on my tongue tasted like the most delicious forbidden fruit. It snuffed out all the frustration I’d had seconds before when she’d spat my greatest vulnerabilities in my face.
Iwasfar more susceptible to curses. Icouldn’tlie, like all Fae.
And I was unable to get her out of my fucking head.
I needed some distance, or I’d never manage to finish her portrait before this curse would force me to take her through the gate to the Unseelie Court. I’d be too busy finding ways to make her breath catch and her heart race. Or worse, I’d try to figure out how I could spare her from the Hag Queen’s harem where she’d be forced to do degrading and hedonistic things whether she wanted to or not. I couldn’t afford the distraction. Now that I’d learned about the loophole in my punishment, everything had to go exactly right, like every other time. I’d rather not spend the next five hundred years in chains beside the Hag Queen’s throne again. Not when I could be free from this life.
Exhausted, I flopped down on my bed, hoping I could sleep before I’d need to endure her questions and her wanting that never failed to snatch away my breath. Wanting that was becoming so much harder to push away.
How was I going to get through five more days? Five more days of her fear mixed with tantalizing desire. Five more days of her fucking questions. And why did I crave those questions as much as I despised them?
Chapter 10 ~ Shadows
Rosalin
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