Page 62 of Fate Unchained

She moaned, and her lips were as hungry as his. Desire crashed over him, making him forget where he was. Her hands went under his shirt, skating over his stomach. As if she needed to touch his skin.

This was why it was better if he never wore a shirt.

Brooke whistled. “I knew you were having a lie-in.”

He broke away and sucked in air, his chest heaving. He’d forgotten to breathe. His chest felt raw as if his heart had rolled over. Turning his back to Brooke, he whispered, “I’ve lived for fighting.” His gaze locked with Lilah’s. “It’s all I do. But right now, I wish there was peace so I could take you to my den and keep you there.”

“I’d like to meet your sloths. And I’d really like to have all the time in the world to simply be with you.” She stroked the back of his neck. A purr rumbled from deep within him, bubbling up from a feeling he didn’t recognize.

Lilah wanted more of him.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close. “If you keep making that sound, I’m not going to let you leave.” Her face buried in his shirt, she asked, “What is lalee?”

He hadn’t realized he’d said the word aloud. It had whispered through his mind countless times, but he didn’t think he’d spoken it. “In Vulk, it means sweetheart. It sounds a little like Lilah, so when I look at you …” He shrugged. His face went warm, something that never happened in vulk form.

She smiled. “I like it.”

“Good.” Shit, if he didn’t leave right now, he’d never leave, and he needed to protect her. Boris and Morana were out there. He kissed her again, one brief, searing moment, then bid her goodbye and left to hunt.

23

She’d spent the last few hours combing through the grimoire again. If there were books out there on how to work with runes, they were all hoarded in Herskala Academy, and she didn’t have access to them. But neither would Boris. So, he’d learned how to bind runes to do his bidding from somewhere, and it must be in the grimoire. After all, he’d reached for it before he’d extracted the rune binding her and Kyril, too.

But if there was training on rune binding, she hadn’t found it. There wasn’t a single word on how to take a rune from someone.

She leaned back and massaged the back of her neck. The library was hushed in the way it only got in the wee hours of the morning, with the shadows long, and the magic strongest. Not the magic of the glowing books, although they certainly beckoned, but the magic of all the words out there, waiting to be read.

Kyril deserved to be able to tap into that magic, too. She was going to help him read.

A sharp knock sounded on the front door. Lilah scrambled to her feet and glanced at the small red couch squashed along one wall in her office. Hazel slept soundly, a blanket pulled up to her ears.

After Kyril left and the night wore on, Brooke left, leaving her and Hazel staring awkwardly at each other. Lilah had returned to her office, and Hazel poked around the stacks. Then she’d heard Hazel laughing.

She came into the office holding something tight to her chest. “This was my favorite book as a teenager.” She turned the book so Lilah could see the cover. The Unending Woes of Belificent the Bedraggled and Her Bevy of Brownies.

Lilah smiled. “That was one of mine, too. After reading that book, I wanted to invite a brownie to live with my aunt and me, but she told me absolutely not. I wish she’d let me. A brownie would have been nice company after she died.” Brownies were demi-immortals who chose a home, no matter who lived inside, to make their own. It was supposed to be an honor to have a brownie as a housemate, but her aunt had never thought so, claiming they were strange little creatures.

Maybe they were, but Lilah thought they seemed fun.

As books often do, it broke the ice, and she and Hazel talked about Lilah’s life in Coromesto and Hazel’s new home in Ryba. Hazel was guarded, but underneath, she was smart and much warmer than she appeared.

The knock sounded again, but Hazel didn’t stir on the couch. Lilah tiptoed through the library and peered out one of the narrow front windows. Kyril. She’d expected he’d be in vulk form, but he wasn’t.

Her heart thudded. The rune no longer sat on her chest, but her entire body still warmed when he was near. What was real? What was magic? Right now, it didn’t matter.

She unlocked the front door and let him in. He scanned the room and growled. “Where’s Hazel?”

“I let her sleep. She seemed exhausted.”

He growled again. “Not while she’s supposed to be protecting you.”

“You’re here now.”

He bolted the door. “Yes.”

A humming awareness built in the air, and although Kyril wasn’t in vulk form, he suddenly seemed even more like a wild being plucked from the heart of the forest. Maybe it was him being an immortal, but a touch of otherworldliness always swirled around him. She inhaled sharply and took a step back, her heart pounding. Kyril stepped forward, his eyes glinting unnaturally.

She retreated deeper into the library. It wasn’t to put space between them, this was something else. A primal reaction. A dance with steps she somehow knew.

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