Page 95 of A Cage of Crystal

“Nothing,” Morkai said, finally stepping in to fill the space between them. Then, after an agonizing beat of hesitation, he lifted his hands and settled them on Cora’s shoulders. It would appear like a gesture of comfort if it wasn’t for how stiff Morkai was, as if he were waiting, dreading, poised for the inevitable…

Teryn waited too, waited for Cora to know, to realize, tofeelwhat was missing…

She shook her head, lips curving into a frown. “I can’t read you.”

Morkai’s fingers curled ever so slightly on her shoulders. “Why are you trying to read me?”

“Because something isn’t right. I can feel that much, but I…I can’t feelyou. Not even when we’re close. Not even when you touch me. It’s like…it’s like you’re not really here.”

Teryn wanted to believe this was a good thing. Cora could tell something was wrong. But her confession meant Morkai knew that touching her gave her no additional insight. Revealed none of the secrets he was hiding.

Dread wound deep inside Teryn.

Morkai’s smile widened with a note of triumph. His posture relaxed as he smoothed out his hands and began running them down her shoulders. “I’m sorry things aren’t going the way you hoped. I know we were supposed to have a full year together—”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it? What’s wrong?”

“This still doesn’t…feel right. Something between us has changed, and I don’t understand what it is.”

“What can I do to prove everything is going to be all right?”

She stared at him, eyes drifting over his face as if desperate to read the truth written over it. Then her gaze stilled, deepened, locked on Morkai’s eyes. Her expression hardened. Lifting her chin, she said, “Kiss me.”

Teryn’s heart rioted in his chest.No.

She stepped in closer, and this time Morkai didn’t try to step away. “Kiss me like you did under the tree. Kiss me like you want to be my husband.”

Teryn’s eyes darted between Cora and Morkai, blood boiling as he saw the smirk twisting Morkai’s face, the tilt of his head as he began to lower it toward her uptilted chin. Teryn felt a strange pull, as strong as Cora’s voice had been both times he’d heard it on the other side of the bedroom door. This time it was her body, the warmth of her presence calling to his soul, drawing him forward on an invisible tether that seemed to grow straight from the center of his chest. Without another thought, he gave in to the pull and settled into the space of his body.

“Teryn, no!” Emylia’s warning barely made it past his awareness, for in the next moment, he felt his flesh against the sleeves of Cora’s velvet robe, breathed in the familiar scent of her hair, her skin, felt her with his body, his mind, and his ethera. There was no part of him that wasn’t aware of her. So when her lips crushed into his, it washewho kissed back.Hewho folded into the embrace of the woman he loved.

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As soon as their lips met, Cora felt a rush of emotion. She nearly sobbed with relief as it flooded in. Opening her senses and dropping her shields, she welcomed more of the energy that washis. His affection. His attraction. His emotion. He’d been acting so strange since the night in the tower, his energy muted and nearly impossible to read. But now it wrapped around her, infusing their kiss with a silent promise. She pressed into him, desperate to erase every inch of space that he’d so stubbornly tried to maintain with her these last couple of days. The way he held her now, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other clutching her body tight against him, stood in contrast to the cold, formal man he’d become. She wound her arms around his neck, wishing he’d lift her off her feet already—

He stumbled back a step, breaking their kiss. She blinked up at him and found his eyes were closed, expression pained. Unlacing her hands from behind his neck, she palmed his cheek. Lightly, she ran her thumb just under the nearly healed cut on his cheekbone. “Teryn, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t have much time,” he said, voice strained. “He’s fighting me.”

Her thumb stilled. “Who’s fighting you?”

His body began to shake. A sheen of sweat coated his forehead. “Morkai,” he said through chattering teeth.

Terror ripped through her, muting her sense of his emotions. Or were they growing muted of their own accord? “Teryn, what’s happening? I don’t understand.”

His shoulders heaved with a shudder so violent, Cora was forced to release him. “No,” he ground out, eyes still closed. “Touch me again. Keep your hands somewhere on me. I can hold on a little longer if I can feel you. Hear you. Just…say my name.”

“Teryn,” Cora said, the word laced with panic. She reached for his hand, gripping it as tightly as she dared.

His tremors subsided enough for him to open his eyes. “Morkai has taken over my body using the crystal.”

“What do you mean, he’s taken over your body? And what crystal?”

He plunged his free hand beneath the collar of his jacket and lifted a leather cord from around his neck. As he withdrew it fully, Cora saw a large amber crystal tied to the end. Memories tugged at the edges of her mind, so potent they nearly overwhelmed her.

The crystal.

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