Page 38 of Amethyst and Iron
I held him to me, drawing slow circles on his back that basically had him purring for me, as he pulled soothing moans from me while stroking my hair. “They are spared. They will heal, and theywillgo on. Just like you and I shall also.”
“I know,” he murmured. His voice hardened. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“Yes, I assure you that we shall.” I kissed his cheek. “For tonight, however, we will allow this solace for us both.”
He let out a weighty sigh. “Yeah. Solace,” he uttered, tiredly.
I smiled and sank into it until we both allowed sleep to take us.
“Cassius! Wake up! Cassius!”
I jolted awake as something smacked into my face.
Blinking, I scrambled to grasp hold of it, finding a pillow.
My pillow. From the other side of the bed where Lazriel had been sleeping beside me last night.
I looked. He wasn’t there.
I spun to my side to see Ketheron standing over my bed.
“He has taken his leave.”
“What?” I groaned, forcing myself into a sitting position and rubbing my eyes.
Lazriel certainly had tremendous stamina, even for one such as me, he had proven a match.
“Lazriel.Lazriel is gone.” He held out something on his hand and I took in the sight of Lazriel’s bracelet, the one with the forest-green gems that Velra had made for him. The one that enabled her to ensure he was safeandto also track him in an emergency. The one that he held so dear, that was unbelievably precious to him.
I took the bracelet from Ketheron, swallowing hard.
“Cassius,” he pushed.
I put it down on the nightstand beside me, shaking my head vehemently, “No… he can’t. The ward, Ketheron.”
“You are incredibly drowsy this morning. Did he keep you up all night, because that has been known to impact your mental faculties?”
In a manner of speaking, one I wasn’t going to confuse him with.
“He was upset. We… both were.”
He grimaced. “I am sorry.”
“Now, what about the ward?”
“He had your blood in his system. He used that to pass through. I smelled you and him fused in that manner in his scent by the front door.”
“Hades,” I uttered, throwing the covers aside and climbing out of bed.
“Did you ingesthisblood? That would be incredibly easy to use to track him. Almost immediate results would be generated.”
“No,” I murmured, as last night came back to me. I’d cut him, intending to complete the blood sharing, but he’d eased me away from tasting him and taken my attention with a ferociously passionate kiss instead. “I didn’t.”
“He has no magical signature. I’ll track him like a wolf would—or a vampire. Scent-tracking.”
“No. You can’t leave here without protection, due toPuritasbeing active again and spewing threats all over the place. You are the ultimate hybrid, Ketheron.”
“I cannot be killed. Your point is moot.”
