Page 44 of Tempting Death and Destruction

Thanatos captures my hand, his eyes offering me a glimmer of those stars, just a luminary…like a floating lantern hovering inside his dilated pupils. “Only whenyoutouch me.”

“Why?” But I already know. It was the night he bit me, the night he staked his claim to my soul and bound his Reaper to me like a dark halo.

“The oath works differently in the Soul Plane,” Thanatos points out, cupping my hand and coaxing my fingers to his lips so he may frost-kiss their tips. “Whenever you cry Noralice, Elysia, it triggers the same oath power of the blood bond because Noralice is your greatest power. Just as Neo cannot touch you in any physical way in the real world, so I cannotfeelyou in the Soul Plane.”

“Unless I touch you…” I stand on my tiptoes, arching my neck, lips parting, desire whetting my tongue. But I could never hope to reach his mouth without him tilting to welcome my lips.

“You brokered the oath,” breathes Thanatos, skimming his brow against mine, eyes voyaging to my lips to betray his desire. I know he wants this as much as I, but he’s holding back. “Youhold the most power.”

“So, I could destroy this mark like you destroyed yours?” I sweep aside my curls and tap the back of my neck. Thanatos blinks, nods, but his eyes fall as if disappointed. So, I bristle and step back, brows threading low, incensed by his hypocrisy. “I don’t like being owned, Natos.”

Shaking his head, Thanatos steps toward me again, eyes dilating to unleash the fury of those stars and a voice like scythe blades. “You. Are. Not. My. Property. Elysia.”

Instantly, my eyes fly open wide. My hands rush to cover my mouth. He wasn’t there when I pronounced those words to Neo. How does he know? How could he possibly know?

Stalking back to him, I slide my hand to the back of his neck, where I dig my fingers into the scar and the brand, and demand, “How did you do it, Natos? How did you rid yourself of the mark? How did you have the power to do it?” I demand, needing something from him. I need a glimmer of truth from beyond the Reaper he wears.

Every last constellation awakens in his eyes. Oh, Saints! My very core ignites and burns and melts before him when he reveals, “I took yours!” Thanatos screams rosebuds of frost onto my cheeks, causing me to flinch. But his hand moors around my back until he’s stabbing his ice along my spine until I’m arched, soul form thrust firmly against him. Golden heat meeting shades and ice. “Now, you know. The crack in your Halo is because ofme! When you first came into my Tower and stole the ghoul, when you returned and gave me your hair and Noralice, when you proclaimed your blessing of value, when I staked a claim on your soul, no matter that it was weaker than Destruction’s, I knew you were the price to pay to save my damned soul! And now—” his entire universe pins mine to the very floor, eyes rooting upon mine and paralyzing me with terror, “—you’ll damn your very soul if you give me your tooth, your tear, your flesh, and your blood. So, don’t, Elysia. Return to my brother and fulfill your true purpose!”

I slam my mouth against his in a cruel, merciless, punishing kiss. Punishing both of us because Death is the sweetest taste of all my serendipitous fantasies. Of starlight. Of a bed of dead rose petals and frost buds to cover my skin. Of a bitter web of chills patterning into my sex. And all dreams within dreams. Rapid fire spirals in my blood, igniting my pulse to race. Heartbeat raging out of control, I punish myself because I should have known better than to tempt Death as an ally.

With that last kiss cavorting through my system, Thanatos launches me back through the fabric of the Soul Plane, back into Neo’s room. It’s well after midnight, but the sun has not risen.

Neo and the harem girls have passed out in his bed with only an Elysia-shaped gap on the far side for me. I touch my lips because all I taste is Thanatos’ kiss. All I feel is the lingering echo of his frost prickling my spine. With the weight of his confession as heavy as a graveyard on my shoulders, understanding he was right all this time—that I should run from him and that he would pursue me to the very ends of the Soul Plane, to Limbo itself—I make my way toward the corner table, grip the lip of the venom-laced wine bottle, and tip all its contents back in three long draughts. I’m not strong enough to face these emotions or my whirling thoughts tonight.

Halo glitter hums along my skin, buzzing like bees. Ignoring the naked bodies off to my right and the cold hurt pressing on my heart, I pass out face first onto that bed while Neo’s shades wrap around me and soothe me to sleep.

Chapter16

“If you’d be so kind…I believe I just shattered my second wife’s chart.”

Arrayed in splendor and glory, I arrive in the Commons. My Halo practically rattles my ribcage from my nerves. The deep heart neckline proudly exhibits my abundant cleavage and the upper slopes of my breasts, which are decorated in gold Court rose designs. The gold accents continue along the scarlet bodice to my waist but don’t detract from the rest of the gown hugging my figure and showcasing every relentless curve.

“Hot damn!” Kitty fawns over me at the staircase base, sliding her hands along the blood-red sleeves from my wrists up to where they end near my bustline, fiddling with the gold vines adorning the naked upper arm skin. At my hips, the fabric attachments curl out like multi-layered wings of fire. “Oh, I’m taking my twerk now!” Kitty unashamedly grinds against me while Quillion approaches with an unusual but understandable solemn gaze.

All I can offer him is a shake of my head. No opportunity to talk to Neo last night, not when he far preferred to escape. Even now, his and Lux’s voices plague the breakfast hall. Her soprano laughter sparkles as dancing stars.

After informing Kitty and Quillion about my little brush with Destruction, or rather my hands brushing his thighs last night, I raise my voice loud enough, “Perhaps I should be known as the Princess of Destruction since I destroyed Neo’s little love nest last night! Gives a whole new meaning tolimpdick.”

Proud when I overhear his growl from the next room, I slide one hand along my waist to my hips and wink at Kitty. She fades, posturing to become Nita, who leans over to kiss each of my cheeks, then flutters a hand toward the breakfast hall. “Come along, sweet girl. Don’t let Neo’s moping deter you from a wonderful breakfast. I took the liberty of ordering something more celebratory for you.”

When I enter the hall alongside my allies, I automatically bristle at the sight of Lux sitting on Neo’s lap. Her arms wrap around his neck as he coos in her ear and cups her backside, rubbing.

“Honestly, Neo…” Nita sweeps into the opposite end of the table’s chair across from him and tilts her head, moon-spun eyes targeting his to declare, “…the rest of us would prefer to eat breakfast.”

“Who says I’m not?” he hums a low growl without removing his eyes off Lux who giggles as he mouths her neck, teeth nipping, fangs slightly pricking so he may suck the drops.

I roll my eyes and scoot into my chair between Nita and Quillion. “Because referring to your significant other as a meal is the epitome of romance.” I spin my breakfast knife around like a twirling clock ticker, enjoying the way it tingles against the other instruments.

“Chomp, chomp, second-wife,” Neo retorts in his quicksilver tongue, parading the full length of his fangs at me. I stop spinning the knife so the tip points directly at the fucker.

“Nita…” I say sweetly and prop my elbows on the table, cradling my chin on the backs of my folded hands. She leans in, rolling her upper lip back to mirror my eagerness for my future emasculating check of her brother. The elite veins of her neck practically purr to the surface, bestial and predatory. Batting my lashes, I beseech her advice, “Tell me, hydras can obviously grow back certain appendages, but dragons cannot, am I right?”

Preferring to stay out of the drama as always, Quillion opens his digital newspaper and combs through the celebrity headlines.

Nita grins to one side of her mouth and pivots her head to Neo, whose dark skin pales from my implied threat, truly wondering if I could and would carry out such a threat. “No, they cannot. Nor can Neo create what another has destroyed. So, perhaps he will hold his tongue in the future instead of engaging in a battle of wits with a worthier opponent. But I have to say, if Lux was such a delicacy, I would automatically conclude: casu marzu.”

Good one, Nita!I relay through my telepathic power.

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