Page 122 of Kiss of Fire

He battled on, hiding the pain. But watching from the throne, Raya knew he was in agony. How did she know? She just did. She knewhim.

Her pulse quickened. She glanced at her father standing at the edge of the dais and saw his lips were drawn back from his teeth. He was furious.

Aelfric created new projectiles and hurled them at Shade, cutting down yet more of his own soldiers. But he didn’t care. He just wanted the jinn dead.

Raya watched as a second shard hit Shade, this time in the shoulder. The blood was coming thick and fast now. He was nearly at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne dais, but he was weakening.

Her thoughts became anguished, despairing, as he fell to his knees. The crystal hum in her head dimmed fractionally. Beside her, her father crowed in triumph.

“You’re done, jinn.”

Shade knelt, panting, his blood draining onto the ground. His shadows had become wispy and translucent. All his energy was now concentrated on the blades in his hands, and even they were fading.

A dozen soldiers surrounded him. Silas grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, a dagger to his throat. Raya found herself looking straight into eyes as blue as sapphires. He gave a small smile.

“I suppose if I am to die anywhere, at your feet would be my first choice.”

Aelfric looked at the carnage around him. The trail of bodies, the motionless ogurs. All this because of one vengeful jinn? His rage was white hot.

“Slit his worthless throat. I want to see his blood spill.”

“No, wait.”

Raya rose from the throne and walked down the steps. She bent so her face was level with the jinn.

“Tell me. Did you come here to kill yourself? Because that’s the only reason I can think why someone would willingly walk into the Fae Court looking for a fight.”

His gaze roamed her face. She looked different. Taller. More elven. Her ears were no longer human. But her eyes… her dark velvet eyes were the same.

“I came for you.”

“Why? Because youneedme? Youmissme?”

“No. Because I love you.”

He lurched forward against the grip of his captors. For the briefest of moments, his lips touched hers.

The shock of it seared her to the bone.

Then he was yanked back, a trickle of blood at his throat where it had pressed against Silas’s blade.

“How dare you,” screamed Aelfric. “You filthy dog, how dare you defile the princess?”

Shade didn’t answer. He kept his eyes locked on Raya. She touched her fingers to her lips, heart thudding against her ribs.

Aelfric was almost unhinged in his fury.

“You won’t just die, you son of a whore. You’ll die slowly. I’ll make it last for days. I’ll make you believe your skin is being peeled away inch by inch. I’ll make you beg for death. You’ll regret ever coming here alone.”

His voice dripped with psychotic vitriol. But incredibly, the jinn laughed.

“Alone? Who said I was alone?”

And suddenly a ball of fire came hurtling into the palace. Its speed was shocking as it burned anything and everything in its path.

A soldier slow to move was reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye, not even given the chance to scream.

White hot flames smashed into the dais, engulfing the empty thrones in a roaring inferno. The scorching heat melted them into misshapen lumps within seconds.

---