Just three days before the festival of Day and Night, I found myself sitting at Dain’s dinner table, my mouth open in outrage.
“See how easy that was?” Dain grinned, leaning back in his chair. His eyes darted to my lips, where the wine I had been drinking splashed against my lips and dribbled down my breasts. He had been making a point, that doing small magical acts was as easy as walking and talking. With a flick of his pointer finger, the wine glass had slipped from my hands. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table, his head tilting ever so slightly. “Would it be gross if I tasted you, Rachel?”
I rolled my eyes at the word ‘gross,’ and how strange it sounded coming from him. There was a sophistication to the way he spoke, while I had barely managed to pass my high school English class.
Flushing, and running the risk of babbling incoherently, I stabbed my fork into a cube of steak and placed it betwe
I had all afternoon to think about what Dain had told me, and the slim possibility that his brother was out there…alive.No, I wouldn’t let myself hope. There was no escape from what I had done. I had seen his body with my own eyes, and my silence was only delaying the inevitable.Ever since Ash’s attack, sleep was no longer a break from reality. I relived his assault in my dreams, felt that familiar pain and embarrassment all over again. Nightmares where he had done more than just mark me—so much more than leave me battered and bruised.Leslie was truly skilled at her job because every time I was wrenched from a nightmare, coated in sweat and disgust, I could smell the vanilla scented steam spewing from the bathroom. I’d soak in the bath for over half an hour, surprised at how well I slept once the tension had finally been drained from my body.I had expected tonight to be the same, but when I rested my head on the velvet p
A young servant with sable hair and a wide smile paused as she passed me heaving against the stone wall. Not that I would ever admit this to Helios, but his training was paying off. That was the longest I had run thus far. The servant’s eyes were wide with concern, the stack of folded sheets in her hands forgotten as she reached for me.“Oh, I’m alright. Just exercising.” I gave her my weak excuse and a painful smile before heading back the way I had come. “Training—with Helios.”I waited several minutes before venturing back, and even more before approaching the set of open doors.The elevated heart rate and sweat coated skin, I could blame that on training with Helios. It was the perfect excuse for my flustered appearance. I couldn’t ignore the giddiness I felt.I had just successfully used magic, for the first time. Nothing exploded or caught on fire, and my feet remained firmly planted on the ground.
I lunged at the desk in the living room, snatching up one of Adley’s school notebooks and a pen, just as her eyes unfocussed and went blank. The calm sky-blue of her irises glowed softly, unsettling as she stiffly swiveled her head in my direction.For seconds Adley stared at me, until finally she spoke.“Daughters of the sun and sea,two once powerful kingdoms brought down to their knees.Dying legacies, where only one will stand.The champions of Light and Dark hold the fate of the world in their hands.”Ally sighed, frowning softly at her sister, until her eyes too went blank. Her eyes began to glow, the same soft color as her twin. Ally’s pale blue eyes held fragments of grey, like gathering storm clouds.Her head swiveled in my direction, and she spoke.“A call to arms from warrior’s past,to defend their Houses at long last.Brothers forced on opposing sides,the me
Hours later a cold breeze blew the candlelight out. Not that it mattered, the sun had risen an hour ago. The stone floor no longer felt cold against my skin, not with the warmth of daylight streaming through the glassless windows.It was a chore to pull myself up and force my stiff limbs to escort me to the bathroom, where the thick steam of the shower would envelop me but provide little in terms of relief. It was the spell on my hair, that Leslie had redone, that kept me from looking like an utter train wreck.Taking a much longer shower than usual, I stood beneath the scalding water and wracked my brain through what I had figured out. There were no rules or guidelines, only what I could piece together on my own.It was more than clear that Nadia and I were Light and Dark’s champions, the ones that held the fate of the world in our hands. My stomach swirled on that one. I didn’t want the fate of the world in my hands, what I wanted was freedom.
“You’re not very hungry. Are you feeling alright, darling?” Dain asked, his head only slightly cocked as he watched me from across the table. He watched everything I did, and where it had first been annoying and unsettling, now it affected me in an entirely different way. I wanted to ask why, why he stared at me like he was memorizing my face and habits, the gestures I made and the way I spoke, but it was a question I doubted he’d answer. “I’m feeling just fine, thank you.” I mumbled, plying him with some automatic response as I wracked my brain for a solution to the next step of my plan. The next part would undoubtedly be the hardest, considering I manage to make it past this point. I brought the spoon of soup to my lips almost robotically, taking a small sip. It was warm and soothed my throat, but my stomach refused more than a few slow bites. He lifted an eyebrow at me, some of the playfulness slipping from his lips. He thought there was something
It was the softest of touches. His lips like petals, brushing against my own. My mind went completely blank, and all I could do was feel.Coming here was a mistake, thinking I could get this close his alluring darkness without being swallowed by it. I had miscalculated, and yet I couldn’t pull away.Not when I finally tasted the cherries on his lips for myself, and certainly not when every bone in my body screamed for more.I’d never admit I had been the one to change this moment, to douse it in gasoline until the soft and sweet gesture went up in crackling flames. Perhaps if I had climbed off him and made a hasty retreat, he would’ve never known I had been in his room tonight, intent on using his own magical relic to get some answers.It was too late for that, I realized. Far too late.Instead of pulling away, I leaned in and deepened the kiss. I drowned in the taste of him, in the scent that made my blood sing. That whi
Breath was knocked from my lungs as Dain snatched the knife from my hand, flinging it across the room before flipping us over on the bed.All too easily he had taken control, his chest heaving and bare muscles stealing the moonlight. Leaning over me with his hair tousled from sleep, his eyes were wide and roamed my flushed skin like a man deprived of light. I was left with no time to process as his lips came crashing against my own.I had tried to fight, vaguely aware of Rayna’s lingering presence in the back of my mind, watching in stunned silence as she tried to figure out how I had landed myself here—while also providing absolutely no help.My lips parted for his on their own, desperate, and eager despite how hard I fought. My fists slammed against his chest, but the moment his tongue darted out and brushed my own…the taste of him, sweet and tart but also masculine, it was my undoing.I wasn’t sure when my hands had drifted tow
I ignored the way he made me feel, the way his every look could stop my heart, or the way his words filled me with a confidence that felt far beyond my years.He had seen and touched parts of me no one else had before, seen my insecurity written across my soft stomach and large breasts. The way he had looked at them, not seeing imperfection but everything he had ever dreamed of.That kind of confidence was dangerous, and I could already feel it going to my head as I sat there blushing, trying to concentrate on what he was saying and not how sinful he looked sitting there, shirtless and bathed in moonlight.“You’re not mad at me?” I couldn’t help the disbelief that inched its way into my voice, not when he sat there staring at me as though I had already won this game between us.“How can I be mad at you, Rachel?” There was genuine confusion in his voice, making my jaw drop even lower.This man was truly insane, th