Page 30 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
Opening the palm of his other hand, he offered her a tiny piece of fruit.
Without thinking, she bit into it.
He set her on the ground, and her body again changed. The world spun in circles as her arms sprouted, her vision returned, and the trees grew smaller.
As she transformed back into her usual vampire form, Zarathos stepped forward and draped his cloak over her bare shoulders. She drew it tightly around her naked form, the lingering warmth of him still clinging to the fabric. She rose on unsteady feet and met the demon arch king’s uncompromising gaze.
“King Salen. Did you actually kill him?” she asked.
“That would have been highly satisfying, but no. I didn’t want to start a war.”
“Ripping off his arm might start a war.”
A slow smirk crossed his face, his eyes glinting. “I doubt it. Not with the trials coming up. I told you, I don’t make deals I can’t fulfill. Besides, he was an ass.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
His grin grew wider, something possessive and playful flashing in his expression. “And he was trying to marry mywife.”
Her hands clenched around Zarathos’s cloak, and she gave him a withering look. “I’m not your wife.”
“Keep on with that attitude, because if anyone finds out we are Bloodbound, we are as good as dead. It’s fortunate you put the mark in such a… less obvious place.”
She drew her legs together as she thought about Zarathos sucking blood out of her thigh and how exquisite it had felt to have his warm tongue lapping at her skin.
“King Salen will send his son after you in the trials,” she said.
“I’d expect nothing less.” He stepped forward, reaching for her. “We should get moving.”
She flinched and involuntarily stepped back.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Or we can remain here and wait for King Salen’s soldiers to find us. Or even the sun to rise?”
She didn’t trust this demon, and she hated that she was bound to him. That she didn’t have a choice. Forcing her tensed muscles to relax, she reminded herself why she was doing this. If Zarathos wonthe trials, then she could make a world where innocent humans were safe from not only vampires, but all demons.
She could do that in the name of those she had lost. Of her friends, who her uncle had destroyed. Joy, Terrance, their parents, their town.
He moved toward her again, and she didn’t pull away when he took her arm. “On to get the scepter?”
She nodded and this time, when his shadows gathered, their cold darkness enveloped her as well, whisking her to wherever Zarathos willed them.
Chapter 13
Aryana
When the shadows stopped shifting, Aryana and Zarathos were in a secluded forest area. Aryana looked around, not recognizing anything that might give her a clue as to their location.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“We are a short distance from my castle,” Zarathos said, dropping her arm and stalking forward through the trees. “It's better that nobody knows that you are my kalator, yet. And I cannot shift into the castle because of the magic wards, though once we are past the boundary line, it isn't a problem. So I'm bringing you in a hidden route that few know of and none can passthrough except myself.”
She moved to follow him, clutching his cloak around her, and picking her path more carefully through the pine needles and twigs. He paused and glanced over his shoulder at her, his gaze going to her bare feet.
She froze as he stalked toward her and lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she snapped. His granite chest pressed against her, and his glowing eyes gazed into hers.
“We will go faster if I fly.”
