Page 14 of Fate Unchained

She lurched to her feet and took a step backward. “You don’t need to know it. I’m going to figure out how to get out of here.”

He took a step forward, his eyes glinting. “No. Mess with a vulk, and you get the claws. I’m not letting you walk out of here. You’re mine now.” He sprang forward.

She screeched and ran.

Two steps, maybe three, and he grabbed her. One arm snagged around her waist, and he rolled, bringing her to the floor. She closed her eyes, waiting to hit the ground, but she didn’t. She landed on … him. Just as quickly, he rolled again, trapping her under him. One of his massive hands encircled both her wrists, and he pinned them above her head. She wriggled and squeaked, jerking to get free. He only lowered his weight to cage her farther underneath him. “Are you going to behave and give me the paper?”

Panting, she stopped squirming. Earlier, when she’d fallen asleep, she’d felt someone next to her in her dreams, and she’d called after Norville, a boy she’d had brief intimate moments with. In truth, she’d known it wasn’t Norville because the feel of the solid form next to her, was much different from anything she’d felt for Norville.

She’d wanted. And then awoke to see she’d nestled against the vulk.

Like right now. Her nipples puckered at this vulk spread on top of her. Pinning her under him. “What’s your name?” she asked.

He shifted farther on top of her, and his chest rose and fell against hers quickly. He was breathing hard. “I asked you first.”

“You’re an immature ape. It’s not a contest.” She glared at him for a long moment. He was such a stubborn ass. After another long moment, she finally said, “Lilah.”

“Kyril.”

Her mouth fell open. “That’s a pretty name. It doesn’t suit you.”

One of his brows quirked. “What should my name be then?”

“Right now, I’d name you Troll. You’re squashing me.”

She swore his lips twitched as he shifted off her a fraction. He really hadn’t been too heavy, but she needed more distance from him. When he was this close, he made her all confused. He was a vulk, yet everywhere they touched, small zings sparked inside her. It was like the beginning of an important piece of music. The music may start slow, lulling the listener, but it built and built until it reached a crescendo. That was how she felt when he was near her. That she was at the start of something … and more was coming.

He released her wrists, but he didn’t move much except to prop himself up on one forearm. “Read what it says.”

“Don’t you know how to read?”

That was the wrong thing to say. His eyes narrowed, and his lips rose, revealing his large eyeteeth. Somewhere in the past few minutes, she’d lost her fear of him, but her stomach lurched at his expression.

She gulped. “Fine.” As if it were perfectly normal to have a hulking vulk draped on top of her, demanding she read to him, she drew the paper up to her face and recited aloud, “The immortal is nearly invincible and difficult to find. Always male, the forests belong to them. I thought earth magic may be the one most potent and able to finally affect them, but alas, it too has failed. It wasn’t until I saw an immortal with a slip of a young woman that I finally saw him vulnerable. For she was one of the zorzye, and a wyrdstaave, and when she spoke the particular magic of her kind, they affected him.”

On top of her, Kyril froze. “What is this?”

She huffed and waved the parchment. “A piece of paper.”

He growled. “Who wrote this?”

“I don’t know. I’m simply reading what’s on it. You know, you don’t have to remain on top of me anymore. You got what you wanted, and I’m reading it to you.” She didn’t want to admit she liked the feel of him. And the nice warmth he put off.

Kyril hummed. It was only one quick note, but the vibration rolled through her, and the pinch of tension at the base of her neck smoothed away. “You might run again,” he said. “I’m being careful.”

His large head lowered so their faces were only a few inches apart. “I don’t believe you. You must know who wrote this. Where did this note come from?”

“I have no idea who wrote this.” That was the truth, anyway.

His eyes narrowed as if he knew and was annoyed she’d only half answered his questions. “Keep reading.”

She tensed again and returned to the parchment, “A lot further study is needed of this immortal, for I know almost nothing about his kind. I’ve worked hard, and I’ve devised a way to catch him.” Lilah glanced up at Kyril. “The rest details how to set up a cage using the word I spoke. You know what happens next.”

Kyril’s gaze on hers was cold. “And you read this and decided to catch a vulk yourself? Poorly, I might add.”

She bristled. “I did catch you.”

“Sheer dumb luck. With your hair sticking up and snow all over you, I thought you were a baby yeti, so I didn’t attack you. I like yetis.”

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