Page 82 of A Clash of Embers

Amari’s throat bobbed slightly before continuing her parting speech, “I am going to do something that I never thought I'd have to do. I'm going to withhold your magic. You will not have wings, you will not have the urge to feed, and you will simply exist as a prince. There will come a day when you will most likely find this truth, and when you do, I hope that there is someone strong enough who can give that power back to you. I love you, my sweet child.”

I watched as she handed Leo to Queen Anne. Both of them had tears streaming down their faces as Queen Anne spoke, “I will keep him safe Amari, I promise you that.”

Quickly there was a flash to a different memory, something that wasn't supposed to be shown. It wasn't Eros’s memory and it wasn't Leo's memory—it was mine.

The two memories flickered back and forth between Eros and Leo, both of them shirtless, and I was wondering why my memory had latched on. Then I noticed the scars on their ribs. The three lashings across their ribs. It was their twin marking. They had always had it.

I felt the memory pulling me back to the present and my heart was beating so fast at what I had just witnessed. As I opened my eyes, I noticed that Leo’s face was grief-stricken. It was absolutely saddened beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Leo, I think that—”

He shook his head, dropped my hands and walked away. There was no stopping him, he just kept walking.

“Please wait! Don’t go,” I called after him.

I felt Ev’s warm hands wrap around me, pulling me into his chest, “You have to let him go. He needs some time.”

I sighed because I knew he was right, but it wasn’t easy to let him just walk off wherever by himself.

“He’ll come back. He always does,” Ev said.

Chapter 41

Callan and Luke were delivering supplies to everyone in our group who had caught up with us. Consul Loveridge, Kay, Mia, and Lachlan, joined with Luke, Callan, Eros, and myself. No Lettie. No Bethany and no Leo.

Everyone in the group was quiet as we set up the tents around a clearing nearby. It was far too late for any of us to venture off anywhere else, and we weren’t in the Avellino region quite yet. We were safefor now.

“Come help me set up our tent,” Eros said to me with a smirk. I remembered the last time we had tents involved, and my heart started to race thinking about it. The first sex dream I had ever had of him and it certainly wasn’t the last one.

I followed him to a small clearing behind a tree, a few paces from Luke’s tent. I saw his blonde hair whipping slightly in the breeze as he set up the ropes on the tent, ensuring that it was securely fastened. The cords on his arms were bulging. Why had I never noticed that before?

Luke realized I was watching him and he looked up and smiled at me before returning to what he was doing.

“What are you doing there, Clara Bear?” Eros asked me.

I chuckled, “Nothing. I am doingnothing.”

“Sure, you are. It looked like you were checking out your best friend for a second there, but maybe I was imagining things.”

I turned to see a smiling Eros with bright green eyes staring down at me, looking like I was his next meal, but maybe I wanted to be.

“I can see where your mind is going, better hurry up and help me set this up before I fuck you in front of everyone,” Eros whispered across to me, and immediately my legs started to tingle at the thought of it.

He stepped towards me, “Or would you like that? Me and you, here in front of them?”

My heart was racing and I couldn’t help but bite my lip when he pressed his chest into me with his fingers grasping my chin lifting my attention to his glorious face. “Better be careful, darling. I think someone might enjoy it more than you would.”

His eyes flicked over to Luke who was standing by his tent staring at me and Evander. Not smiling, just watching intently. I felt it. The lust from him. And I didn’t know how to deal with that.

Ev grabbed my hand, drawing my attention back to him, and he slapped the rope in my hand. “This is just extra that we don’t need. If you tuck it under your pillow, maybe someone special will show up and do something with it.” He leaned down and kissed my lips softly and seductively. “I’ll finish up the last part of the tent, why don’t you help Kay with the fire? Looks like she’s struggling.”

I looked over to find Kay trying to start the fire with her magic and having a very difficult time doing so. I groaned and said, “Fine. I’ll help her but we're not finished with this conversation.”

He smirked, “I think you’re right. I have a lot of words I want you to use later.”

When I turned around to go help Kay, I felt the smack across my ass, and I jumped slightly, turning around to see a giggling Eros walking over to finish setting up the tent.

“Do you need some help with that?” I asked Kay.

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