Page 89 of His Darkest Desire

Biting cold swept in to replace her warmth. Vex reached for her, cried out for her, but his body didn’t move, and his voice didn’t work. There was only blackness again, and now it was jarringly empty.

The wisps spoke to each other, but it was too late. He was already too lost to understand them, spiraling deeper and deeper.

Somewhere in that vast nothingness, he spied something. It was distant, tiny, indistinct, but he sensed it drawing steadily closer.

A pinprick of light.

Fear slithered through his consciousness and wormed into his being. He didn’t want to go to that light, didn’t want anything to do with it, wanted only to be as far from it as possible. Yet all his struggling could not alter his course.

The light expanded and intensified. It was the sun, blinding in its radiance.

Not the sun, not the sun, that is not the sun.

Vex closed his eyes, but the light remained visible. It would not be denied. He clawed at the darkness, desperate to remain in its embrace. It offered no salvation, no escape. He was falling. Tumbling toward that terrible, malevolent light.

Then all motion halted. Vex opened his eyes, and his heart stuttered.

He knew this place. He knew the marble floors and columns with their golden veins, delicate filigree, and inlaid gems. He knew the intricate stained-glass windows depicting a resplendent female fae. He knew the alabaster carvings, the detailed silk tapestries, and the flowers crafted from gems, which sparkled in every conceivable hue.

He knew the light. Not just that cast by the crystal chandeliers dangling from the high, vaulted ceiling, but her light.

No. He’d never wanted to return to this place, not even in memory. He’d never wanted to so much as think of it again.

A dais stood on the far end of the chamber, backed by the central stained-glass window, which was the tallest. Atop the dais was a throne made of gold-veined marble with saffron velvet cushions. And upon the throne sat the fae queen, emitting light to rival the sun—so much light that her features were indiscernible but for her cold, entrancing eyes.

The robed figure of the magus approached the throne, his face shrouded in illusory shadow. Behind that illusion, his eyes were slitted against the luminescence.

The queen spoke. Her voice was high, melodious, and beautiful, and it chilled Vex wholly. “It is customary to kneel before your queen.”

This place…he shouldn’t have been here, should never have come. Not now, not then, not ever.

“Thus, I remain standing,” the magus replied.

Slowly, the queen rose. Her light refracted off the crystal chandeliers, making flecks of color dance around the chamber as she stepped forward. The illumination diminished, revealing her features, as she descended the steps.

Vex fought to turn his head, to retreat to the darkness, but he could not look away. And no matter how hard he wished otherwise, the magus stood his ground.

Tall and elegant, the fae queen was a creature of unparalleled beauty. Her face was perfection—a delicate, slightly upturned nose; full, bowed lips; large, luminous, opalescent eyes; high cheekbones and thin, expressive eyebrows. Dark lashes contrasted her golden hair, which was in turn complemented by the golden torc around her neck.

She wore a white dress made of diaphanous material with the faintest shimmer of blue and gold as it moved, hinting at the lithe, seductive body beneath.

But her perfection was cold. Her light shed no warmth, offered no comfort. Long had the magus—had Vex—dwelled in dark places, amongst unseelie, encountering creatures great and terrible. None had instilled fear in him like the queen.

But the magus had believed himself her match…because submission had never been an option.

The queen paused mere paces away from the magus, tilting her head as she regarded him. Her opalescent eyes were a pair of compassionless abysses, eager to devour anything they beheld.

No! You should never have come, should never have stayed. Should never have uttered a single word to her.

But Vex’s shouts could do naught but reverberate through his mind; no one could hear them, least of all his past self.

The queen flicked her wrist.

The illusions shrouding the magus fell away, revealing him as he was—a green-skinned goblin with long black hair and red eyes. Silver earrings adorned his long, pointed ears. He wore a short tunic cinched by a wide belt, also decorated with silver, and black trousers with tall boots. The midnight blue cloak over his shoulders was fastened with a silver brooch in the shape of the crescent moon.

“So, the rumors prove true. A goblin.” One corner of the queen’s perfect lips ticked up. She closed the distance between herself and the magus. Her long, graceful fingers, tipped with sharpened nails, lightly touched the underside of his jaw, tilting his face up. “I’d no idea your ilk could be so fetching. Those eyes, those brows, those lips… You put some of my courtiers to shame.”

Vex longed to slap that hand away, but the magus made no such move.

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