Page 128 of Lost in the Dark

I drew in the scent of pain and anger.

And if she wasn’t the jewel in King Borra’s bloody crown, then who the hell was she? I sucked in a hard, ravaged breath and looked around, blinking to adjust to the light.

My body clenched with pain, desperation driving the agony deeper. Everything was so damn bright here. The sky, the forest, the damn air itself. I lifted my gaze and winced, squinting at the big silver orb in the sky. One snarl and I lifted my hand, shielding my eyes from the glare.

“Michael, is that you?”

I jerked my gaze up at the sound of the female’s voice. She gave a whimper as she clutched her arm. I’d seen her fall from where I was standing, and I'd heard her hit the ground…hard.

“This isn’t funny,” she moaned. “I’m hurt down here. Can’t you at least get me out?”

Get her out?

I took a step, watching as her gaze snapped toward me. I could see her clearly down there on the forest floor. Wet leaves stuck to the side of her face. She slapped herself more than twice in an attempt to dislodge them, and that made the corners of my lips quirk. Still, I was mesmerized by this…creature.

She was dressed in some strange warrior garment. I searched her body, and the way that armor clung tight against the swell of her breasts. Although she had no weapons. I licked my lips, my gaze fixed on her nipples as they tightened with the cold. What kind of warrior didn’t carry weapons?

She tripped once more, falling forward in a rush—a clumsy warrior—that’s who. I snarled and the sound carried. She triggered me, this female., inciting something savage inside me. But she didn’t drive me to violence. No, she incited something else.

I wanted…

I sucked in a hard breath and felt my cock come alive.

Her.

She hit the groundagain,crying out as she gripped her knees this time. The sour tang of pain carried on the wind. I dragged in that agony and the scent of her hit me like a fist to my chest.

A savage sound tore free. I closed my eyes as I rocked back on my heels.

Hunger filled me, a kind I’d never felt before tore through my chest to plunge into my cock.

“Michael?”

I flung open my eyes as she called another male’s name. The sound of that made me feel savage. I glanced around, searching the terrain. That…Michaelwas nowhere to be seen. She needed to pick a better mate.

Mine…

The word hit me.

“Is that you?” she called out.

I flinched…my heart hammering. What the hell is this magic?No…I cast out the words into the darkness.It’s not.

My wings shivered, humming with the sound of her racing heart. My breaths sped, thundering in my ears. How in the Darkness could she affect me like this? I focused on this…female. The heartbeat. The gravitational ineptness. The way the sweet scent of her blood clung to my nostrils.No,not just a female…a mortal one.

Where in the echoes of the empiresisthis?

I was used to the catacombs, to the endless forest with dark so deep that it stole your breath and snatched the soul from your living body. I was used to scaling the ruined mountains, and sneaking in through guarded castle gates to steal the king’s daughter to use her to bargain against a war.

I plunged from the top of the ravine, dropping down into the gloom below. Her focus snapped toward me and I moved closer, her head tilted up…and up…and up.

The whites of her eyes shone neon in the dark.

“Just…stay away from me.” She stumbled backwards, which for her was a bad thing indeed.

My attention snapped to a log behind her, one that protruded from the ground, protecting any idiot not watching where they were stepping from plunging to their death down an even steeper sheer drop.

“Wait,” I growled.

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