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“I have a surprise for you,” he said, smiling as he pushed away from the frame and sauntered inside. Cyloe poked her head out of the sitting room archway at the sound of his voice, excitedly padding over to him as he lowered himself down to her.

“Oh?” I raised a brow, as he gave her one last scratch behind her ears and rose to his full height.

Andrues pushed his sleeves up his forearms and I forced myself not to look as he took a step closer to me. A smirk slid onto his lips, the vibrant sapphire in his eyes darkening.

“You feel like spilling a little blood?”

My eyes narrowed on him as I crossed my arms. “Is this a test?”

He took one more step toward me, his eyes glittering like stars dancing in the night sky as they held my gaze. “No, Ataliia. This is vengeance.”

A feral smile split onto my crimson lips as I lifted my chin up to him. “Are you trying to seduce me, Necromancer?”

He reached for me, his fingers sliding down my jaw, the cold metal of his rings kissing my skin.

“That depends,Witch.” His eyes flickered to my mouth as his thumb began to trace the outline of my bottom lip. “Would you like me to?”

We had never flirted like this—he had never been so brazen with his touch, and my heart began to rapidly pulse.

Five inches.

That’s all the distance I would have to travel to feel his lips on mine.

“No,” I said, stepping out of his touch and clearing my throat as I slipped from my skin.

He smiled, a soft chuckle rolling from his throat as he ran that same thumb over his own lips. I strangled the whimper that was on its way out of my lungs as I watched him. My eyes dartedaway from him as I forced oxygen to flow back to the part of my brain that had just malfunctioned at the sight.

This friendship was going to fucking kill me.

Themoonshimmeredoffthe silver locks that cascaded down my back as I stared at the large manor in front of us. Candles flickered behind the closed, frost-covered windows, giving it an eerie glow against the snow-covered ground. My eyes tore from the house, drifting to the crumbling shack on the corner of the property.

My throat constricted as I stared at it.

The bastard had held me captive on his own property.

“Is anyone else inside besides Clayson?”

Andrues nodded. “A man named Alexi. I believe he was there that night and was the only one that managed to escape Hyacinth.”

A smile crept over my mouth as I lowered my hood and strode up the overgrown pathway to the front door.

I would make every second of this painful.

My fingers twisted around the door handle and it popped open, heat seeping through the crack. I grinned. He really thought himself so safe, so protected—he didn’t even bother locking his doors.

Not that a little lock would have stopped me.

Andrues and I slipped through the opening, silently shutting the door at our backs as I stilled to listen. Voices echoed downthe curved staircase in front of us, muffled by what I could only assume was a closed door.

The home was immaculate, overly decorated with gaudy furniture and art.

That was unsurprising though. Nothing makes a small man feel bigger than the objects he flaunts. My eyes scanned the foyer as I took a step forward, my shadow flickering off the polished stone floors against the dim candlelight. I moved toward the stairs, taking them two at a time, as the sound of them talking grew louder. The voices stopped as we stepped onto the landing and I held my breath, my hand shooting into Andrues as I backed into the shadows.

My heart pounded against my chest as I waited for another sound, my fingers tightening around Andrues.

Booming laughter finally rang out down the corridor to the right of us, mixing with the sound of glass clinking together and I let out a heavy breath.

I refused to let them find me first.