Page 55 of Eclipse of Fate
“I’m good.” I say with a grin on my face. She narrows her eyes at me and pushes the rest of the strawberry into her mouth, closing her mouth around her finger, and she cleans the tip with her lips. The motion of her mouth has my tongue rolling out across my own lips, eager for another taste of hers.
“Are you just going to sit there and watch, or do you want to come help?” I shake my head. I couldn’t stand up right now if I wanted to. She would see why very quickly. What the fuck is going on with me? Just kissing her hasn’t been nearly enough. My dick hurts as it pushes up at the seam. My hand isn’t going to cut it much longer.
Naza walks in through the arched door with Maki striding in after, and I bury my overheated face into my arms on the table. I swear, this can’t get any worse.
“The barriers have failed,” Maki announces.
I stand corrected. Definitely worse. I lift my head to look at Maki. I didn’t notice the stern set to his face when he initially walked in. To my defense, I was a little preoccupied. “The sentries have reported a carriage entering town only minutes ago.” I don’t understand why that would matter.
“Why are the barriers down?” I ask.
“I think the bigger concern is the carriage,” His brows shoot to his hairline as he looks between me and Ambriel. “Its occupants…”
“Spit it out, who is in the carriage?” Ambriel says with a knife held in her grip.
“Cano.”Fuck.
“Motherfucker.” Ambriel stabs the knife into the table with a growl, causing everyone in the room to flinch. My dick twitches too.Damnit. What is it about her that does this to me? “Well? What are we waiting for?” She asks, looking at all of us like we are morons.
“Wait… I don’t think it’s what you think. You need to see for yourself. I think we should try to have an open mind about this.” Dick now thoroughly soft. Thank fuck. I stand up and slap my hands down on the table.
“That motherfucker is dead! He fucking killed Melani. You can’t seriously be talking to me so fucking calmly, Maki!” Ambriel crosses her arms, bringing herself to stand at my side, her shoulder brushes my bicep. Her support is very much needed right now. My heart started racing at the mention of the asshole’s name.
“All I’m saying is that you need to come down and see for yourself. He’s not alone, Trent.” I don’t care who is with the motherfucker. I'm going to cut his ass down. I storm from the kitchen with all of them hot on my heels. Ambriel is the first to reach me. She places her hand in the crook of my elbow, pulling hard.
“Wait, Trent. Let’s think about things. If Maki thinks that we should see for ourselves, maybe let’s not go in hot headed. Look at me.” She moves in front of me when I finally stop, but I don't look down at her. I stare over her head at the door I aim to walk out of. The gateway to revenge. The portal to the death I will hand him.
“There is nothing that could change my mind, Ambriel. Nothing. He took my baby sister from me. Don't you get that?” My voice is rising with each word, as is my temper.
“I know, but—”
“There is no ‘but’!” The words come out in a loud growl, which has her flinching away from me. I hate that, but the passion I feel about it is overwhelming. My heart is racing with unspent energy. The energy that I plan to release on Cano’s fucking face.
“Just try.” She cups my ticking jaw with her delicate hand; the warmth of her touch makes me blink, and my eyes shift down to meet her golden irises just before she pulls me down, gripping the back of my neck. She seals her lips to mine in front of everyone in the hall. Our secret is well and out now.
“Fine,” I say through my teeth. My eyes flick between hers. “I will try, but I can't promise anything.” Maki walks past us and opens the door, and we are greeted by a handful of his soldiers and a carriage with a lone soldier at the bench. “Flynn?” The blonde guard I know well, jumps from his seat and begins to stride around, to the back of the covered wagon.
“Trent, look… I know you and Cano have your differences, but things have changed. Please, just help me.” His brows form a deep V as he looks between me, Ambriel, and Maki, and then to the back of his covered carriage.
“Where is he?” I don’t wait for an answer. I march to the back of the covered cart and rip the canvas back. What I find is shocking to even me. Cano is covered in sweat; he’s panting, and black lines his fingertips and crawls up his arms and neck like veins. He’s shaking so badly, I can hear his teeth chattering from where I stand. I’ve never seen anything like it. If I hadn’t known it was him, I wouldn’t be sure of who it was lying in front of me. “What happened to him?”
“His father. Soren and his mistress Thames have been feeding him shadow magic. He’s having withdrawals. We ran into a Raskin attack, and he had to expel too much of the dark magic. He savedmy life doing it, Trent. Now, he's run of the dark magic, and this is what happens.” While I want with everything in my heart for Cano to die a painful death, this is not what I had in mind. This is something else entirely, and it has my heart racing for a whole new reason.
Maki comes up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder as he looks down at the man we once knew. He is nothing anymore. Cano curls into the fetal position with vomit on his chin. I can’t kill a man like this.
It’s not me.
I won’t do it.
I’m no monster, and as Maki lays eyes on what I’m seeing with mine, he knows it too.
“Take him to the infirmary.” Maki squeezes my shoulder as I take a step back and allow the guards to pull Cano’s body from the wagon. Maki follows the guards inside, and when Flynn moves to trail him, I grab him by his shoulder.
“Ah-ah. You and I need to have a chat.” Ambriel eyes me from the stairs. I can see the way she chews her lip and wrings her hands. This is worrying her. “Stay here,” I tell him, and he nods. Ambriel’s eyes never leave me as I turn and face her. I step up to where she is standing on the steps, our eyes leveling. “I’m not going to hurt him, and I’m not going to kill Cano. Not yet, at least. Will you please stay away from him, though? I don’t trust that nasty shadow magic.”
“I would heed that warning, miss. It’s not something you’d want to be around.” Ambriel doesn’t spare him a look. Her eyes bore into mine.
“I will stay away from the infirmary for now, but Trent?” She takes my hand and tilts her head as she surveys me. Something akinto admiration sparkles in her eyes, causing warmth to spread in my chest. “Thank you for being the man I knew you were.” Her other hand reaches up and brushes my cheek before she leans in and kisses me softly on the lips before turning away and heading back into the castle with my heart still in her hand. Fuck.
