Page 50 of A Clash of Embers

"And you would enjoy it, too. In the curse, I kissed your neck because I wanted to taste it. A mate's blood can give you certainsensationsthat others can't. You also have such amazing power pulsing through these beautiful veins." He grazed his finger across my neck and down to the top of my breast. "It's euphoric."

His soft lips were barely touching mine as he whispered, "And one day you're gonna beg me to fuck you and taste this blood of yours because you'll never get enough."

Then he was gone. Leaving my body in a completely wet mess.

Traveling by flight wasn't my favorite and I think he knew that too. We were traveling to Bolzana. The Witch Kingdom. I was hopeful that my mother was there and I was curious as to who the Doyen was. What was her goal in all of this?

It was obvious that she and my father tried to keep the peace and keep everyone in order the best they could. I could now understand why my parents wanted the curse to end. They wanted to end the suffering of so many and keep this world safe.

We took a break in a softly wooded area, with just Eros and I. Alone. Lachlan was sitting outside of the tree line ensuring our safety, standing guard.

"So, what exactly is our goal here going to Bolzana?" I asked him.

He didn't answer right away because his focus was on the trees. The birds. Our surroundings. When his emerald eyes stared back into mine, I knew that the answer that I was wanting wasn't the one I would get.

He rubbed his tongue over the front of his teeth and shuffled his hands in his lap. He was nervous. He didn't need to push out the thought to me, I knew. But why would he be nervous to tell me something? Why would that be an issue?

"We have a lot to talk about, Clara. And it's much more than just you and me. You need to understand everything in this world so you can understand my view on it." He paused, pushing his hand through his midnight black hair, pushing it over slightly with a few pieces falling over his face.

"You onlythinkyou know who is good and evil, but the truth is…there is no difference. We all walk the fine line between the two. There are moments we do good and there are many moments we don't. It's all about perspective. Thismeetingwe are going to is going to prove to you that I am not your enemy and I'm not Leo's enemy either. The only way he is a problem forme is if he stands in my way." He smirked and scooted closer to me.

"I know this has been on your mind so I feel like I should tell you." He moved a piece of my hair behind my ear. "When you killed Theo, you didn't actually kill him. He linked me and Leo to him to ensure that you would break the curse. He spellbound himself into two forms, one in Carondelet and another in Darthium.” He rubbed his lips together and grinned. “When you killed him in the curse you only wounded him, enough that Athiana thought he was killed, which released the curse over us. It was an intricate plan that he created, but it only incapacitated us long enough to convince her. I remembereverythingin the curse. You and me. Everything we were what we were going to be."

His breath was soft on my face and his eyes glowed a slight light green. Then he grabbed my hands pulling me closer to him. He spoke to me, but it was directly to my soul. Nothing could shield me from his words. It was a direct hit to my heart.

"Whether you want to believe it or not. Whether you care or not. I amyourmate and you are mine. You may have broken our inamorato marking, but it doesn't change anything. In the curse I shielded myself from you the best I could, but here in this world I could go about my business without ever exposing that I'm mated. I chose not to do that. Not anymore."

With the next blink his eyes speckled with a lavender glow. A color I knew all too well. One that was branded in my eyes. The same color was branded in my parents’ eyes.Mates. That's what it meant. It meant we were mated, but what of the inamorato marking?

"You... You shielded it from me in Carondelet? Why? We had our marks. What's the difference between them?" I questioned him while I watched his eyes fill with the color that was quickly becoming my favorite.

He tilted his head studying my face, "Because the mark on our necks, our inamorato marking, is chosen by Enythius. They decide our betrothal, but our eyes… They are the true fated bond that we have. The one you can't break no matter how hard you try to. The bond that ties you and me together, soul to soul. We’re fated by the Divine One. The one who decides from our birth if we would have one true mate. The Enythius pick and choose to pair who they want but that marking means nothing. What matters is what ties us together inside of our soul. In our hearts."

I felt the tears welling in my eyes and the drop of a cold stream fell down my face. Eros reached up and wiped the tear away and he smiled.

"I told you in the curse that I would always love you. I also told you that sometimes I would need to do things that might hurt you, but it would only be to protect you. I still stand by that truth today and I always will."

We were only a few breaths away from each other. I could feel his heartbeat pulsing in his veins and my own heart mimicked his. He leaned in and I heard something.

I snapped my head up only to find Lachlan standing a few steps away from us. "It's time to get going. We must keep moving so others won't track us."

Eros nodded and I stood alongside him as we gathered our materials to continue our journey. I saw him smile and a little chuckle escaped him.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

He turned, facing me with a smirk forming in the corner of his mouth. Heat immediately flooded my body.

"People love to interrupt us, don't they?" He winked and turned his body around to continue his task.

I couldn't help but smile because I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Chapter 25

There was a certain chill that I had grown accustomed to in this world. When I asked Lachlan what was happening with the change in the air, he explained to me that Darthium was on the dark side of the flare.

I didn't quite understand at first and that's when Eros stepped in behind me, making me jump and he chuckled slightly. "It means that our days will begin to shorten and the air will become cooler. You will need to start wearing an outer cover to keep you warm."

I rolled my eyes at him because his smugness was unnecessary so I ignored him and directed my question to the large man walking a few paces ahead of me.

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