Page 99 of A Realm of Fire and Ash

Aggonid sighs heavily and begins to explain what happened in Romarie as we make our way towards the main part of the castle. As we walk, I can hear the distant sounds of running water and the echoes of footsteps in the empty tunnels.

As we approach the end of the corridor, Caius throws an arm around my waist. "You doing okay?" he whispers to me.

I nod, grateful for his concern. "As good as I can be, I guess."

Aggonid loops his arm around both of us, and a second later, we're back in their bedroom.

I glance around, feeling shy at the memory of this place. Spinning around, I face Aggonid. "You promised you'd give me my magic back if I came back with you."

"You weren't planning on coming back?" Hurt flashes across Caius' face. "I thought you liked it here."

I cross to the bathroom, calling behind me. "Yeah, I love overbearing demons who try to trick me into their beds and not being able to use my magic."

When I emerge from a quick bath, I find the two of them talking in hushed whispers near the window. If I had my magic, I could hear them fine from the other room.

"Well?" I stand with my hands on my hips, my damp hair dripping onto their floor. "Pay up, Ag."

A grin crosses Caius' face at the nickname before turning his attention back to his mate. "Aww, our little bird gave you a pet name. I love it."

"Our? I'm not 'our' anything."

Aggonid looks between us and gives a small sigh. "Don't you even start," he grumbles as he stalks towards me.

His lips crash to mine in a heat of passion, awakening a warmth that spreads to every inch of my being, restoring my power and igniting a spark within my soul. He pulls slowly away from me, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell was that for?" I sway back, stunned by the intensity of the kiss as I hold tight to the towel wrapped around me.

"You wanted your magic back, didn't you?" His voice is seductive, as though he were speaking of tangled limbs and crumpled sheets as he stares at me.

It's an intense experience staring into the deep pools of ruby that make up his eyes, like endless oceans of emotion and power.

I nod ever so slightly, still trying to process the whiplash he gives me. "Yes, of course I did, but ..."

"Then I kissed you because I wanted to." He breathes out, his gaze smoldering with desire.

Caius chuckles, "So is this a thing between you two now?"

"No!" I take a step back.

"It should be." He circles me, as though studying how to crack me open and spill all my secrets. "Just imagine the fun we can have, little bird."

"I'm going to bed," I declare. My voice is weary as I utter the words and my heavy sigh echoes in the stillness of the room.

While magic helps fuel my energy, getting all of it back in seconds has me drained. My steps are leaden as I walk towards the bed, creaking floorboards groaning beneath me.

There's a weariness in my bones, a heaviness that I can't shake. The kind that comes before a storm.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

AGGONID

The Underworld

The moment I was handed the parchment that sealed my fate thousands of years ago, before I took the throne, I began my research on phoenixes. Tethers, as I understand it, are sentimental, fickle things. Give it the slightest bit of attention, and the little beasty latches on, desperate for love and attention.

Remove the tether, and you can kill the phoenix. Some might describe a tether as the will to live, but I believe it runs deeper than that.

I thought by seducing Morte, I could get her to trigger the fae promise she’d made with Caius about her virginity, thereby eliminating my problem. What I hadn't considered was how, in doing so, her phoenix was tethering itself to me.

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