Page 77 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Follow me,” Daemonsays, leading me along the cliff. “I’ll explain when we get there.”
“Get where?” I ask, but a moment later, as we step around a boulder sitting along the cliffside, I see a narrow, rocky trail leading down into the darkness.
Daemon leads, his hand in mine, as we carefully make our way down the path. It hugs the side of the cliff, steep and perilous with loose pebbles sliding everywhere as we move. Switching back and forth, it takes the better part of half an hour to finally make it to the bottom. There’s a skinny stretch of beach before us, set into a small cove where the cliffs dip in. Waves crash against the sand mercilessly, and the moon catches the water, leaving a glowing trail far out to sea.
I turn to Daemon, the wind blowing my hair back like a banner. “What is this place?”
“The location of the third challenge,” he says, his face stormy. He lifts an arm and points out to sea. “Or rather, the start of it. The challenge takes place out there.”
“In the ocean?”
He nods, his jaw rolling in anger. “The challenge is to swim to an island far out to sea, and back again. It’s a distance that no human can survive.” His eyes burn into mine. “Which is why we’re leaving tonight.”
I shake my head. “But… but the spell that binds the tournament… won’t some magical punishment befall us if we back out?”
“I’ll take my chances,” he growls. “Because if you stay, you die, Embyr. And I’m not going to let that happen.”
My fingers squeeze his. “We can figure out something else… I can go a short ways out and tread water. Just forfeit the challenge. It’s not as if I care about winning it.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t understand. Each challenge grows in danger and complexity. There will be beasts in the water, Embyr. If you stop, or go too slow, they’ll drown you.”
“So, the council…”
“They did this intentionally to weed out the humans.” Daemon’s eyes flash with fury. “It’s a way to punish House Harkyn for invoking the tournament. And damn all the other royal human houses while they’re at it.”
I turn and stare out across the waves. It looks so peaceful now, in the night. But tomorrow it will be my death sentence.
“Daemon,” I begin, turning to look up at him. I cup his jaw in my palm softly. “I always knew I wouldn’t survive this tournament. And I’m not going to let some magical curse befall you to save me.”
His eyes flash again, and this time I can tell his anger is directed at me. His voice, when he speaks, is a low growl laced with heat. “If you think I’m going to let you die tomorrow, youknow nothing about me, Embyr. I would rather die a thousand times than see that happen. Do you hear me?”
I stiffen, taken aback by his ferocity. “I’ll go, then. You stay. That way we’re not both breaking the spell…”
He cuts me off before I can finish. “It’s too late, don’t you understand? My family is already planning some awful fate for you. They told me that if I don’t win the rest of the tournament challenges, if I let myself be distracted by a human, they’ll kill you. That’s why I had to get the heart stone. And now I’ve made a scene at the dinner. But I couldn’t let those brothers treat you that way. Not after sitting at the table listening to them talk about you. I wanted to kill them, both of them.”
Daemon is shaking in fury, shadows beginning to spin off him. I step into the curve of his body, sliding a hand around his back. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“You’ll come with me, then? Tonight?”
I hesitate, and he pulls back. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Daemon…” And I realize as I say it that it’s true. I’ve spent all my life running, trying to protect myself, but now when I have the chance to run one last time, to save myself, I only want to protect Daemon.
Daemon’s green eyes burn into mine. “And it willendme if anything happens to you, Embyr. I can’t explain it, but you’re a part of me. I feel you everywhere you go, an ever-present piece of my soul.”
My breath catches, and Daemon slides one hand up into my hair. His other hand snakes around the small of my back and pulls me closer. He rests his forehead against mine and lets out a shaky breath. We stand there like that for several long moments, the waves crashing against the shore behind us. Then I pivot my face and press my lips to his, sweet and soft.
“I am yours,” I murmur. “And you are mine, too.”
Daemon’s hand on my back tightens, and our kiss deepens. He twists his tongue against mine, probing and flicking, sending sparks racing down the length of my body. When he sucks my lower lip and grazes his teeth against it, I moan against his mouth, and he lets out a dark growl in response. My body shivers against his, my heart pounding harder than the waves.
The hand that’s on my back slides around to the front of me, slowly moving along the edge of my hip bone, then down, down, down, sliding along the silk of my dress until his fingers find the soft star at the apex of my magic. A gasp climbs out of my throat as Daemon swirls his finger over it. His lips move to my earlobe, flicking his tongue along it before taking it in his teeth. Another swirl with his finger, making me arch into his touch. “Daemon…” I moan inarticulately.
He works his finger over me until pulses of pleasure ripple through my body, the waves a distant crash as the rushing of blood in my ears consumes their sound. Right as I reach the edge, my breath coming in short gasps, my legs trembling, Daemon sweeps his ankle against mine, kicking my legs apart. I gasp in surprise and Daemon laughs, low and dark, a rumble that vibrates against my neck.
His lips trail down along my jaw and back to my mouth. He hovers there as he slides one finger, with excruciating slowness, into me, pressing his thumb to my clit at the same time. I cry out against his lips, my knees buckling, and his hand in my hair tightens, knotting into it. He dips in again, faster this time, and stars spin around me. His finger curls against the core of my sweetness and pleasure pulses, pulses, unfolding one petal at a time.
When Daemon picks up speed with his finger, pressing his thumb firmly against me on the outside, I am lost.
