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“How could I forget?” she drawled. She’d sliced open her hand and dripped her blood into his mouth, breathed life into his lungs.

“I have a theory. This will only hurt a little.” He dropped the blade to her wrist and sliced open her flesh.

“Ouch.” Layala brought her cut hand up to slap the blade away and he grabbed her arm. Before she could move, his tongue slid across her fresh cut and his mouth closed around it, like a lover’s nibble. A flood like a sedative hit her hard as his magic overwhelmed her, holding her in place.

“Stop,” she said weakly. He gripped the back of her neck and pulled her closer, flush against his hard body, sucking blood from her wound. It hit her like a slap; all the weakening signs she’d picked up on, the dark circles, the tremor of his hands. Her blood had given him life and now… Holy Maker above.

“Get off me!” she jerked her dagger back from his hand then drove it straight into his side, shoving it all the way to the hilt. She was so startled that it went in, she froze rather than pulling it to strike a second time. Her magic lashed out, slamming into Hel like a war hammer and sent him stumbling until he fell onto his ass and caught himself with his hands behind him. Under the pale light of the moon and stars, his eyes shined like garnets once again, his black hair gleamed, and scarlet glistened on his bottom lip.

Layala slapped her hand over the small cut on her wrist and fell back against the house where the sharp knots of wood jabbed into her shoulder blades. “You need my blood to stay strong, don’t you?” her voice came out as a whisper.

He stood and for a moment he looked apologetic. “It appears to be an unfortunate side effect for both of us. It seems the cost of waking me was your blood, therefore the cost of sustaining me is your blood. It’s not something I anticipated, but magic often comes with a price.” He jerked her dagger from his side as if it was nothing more than a small inconvenience. The wound closed in moments; the only trace that it was ever there was the blood glistening off his tunic.

He tossed her dagger back and her senses sharpened enough to catch it by the handle. “So, without it you’d die?” She dropped her hand from her wrist; there was very little blood and much of it was dried already.

Hel’s fingers trailed the side of her face and she jumped at how fast he went from being several feet away to touching her. “We’ll never find out.”

Layala grabbed his wrist and shoved his hand back at him. “Don’t touch me or I’ll—” she breathed heavily, mind racing. What could she do? He was more powerful than her in every way even in a weakened state.

“Or you’ll what? Threaten me with a good time?”

“If you want my blood from now on, you’ll have to ask me for it, or I won’t give you what you want. Ever.” But she’d found his weakness. Maybe the only one he had. The only unfortunate thing about it was he appeared to be able to go a long time without needing her blood to rejuvenate. Two months had passed between waking him in the Void and now.

“You don’t even know what I want.”

“For me to remember you.”

He laughed, and Layala’s brows furrowed in confusion; he kept calling her his queen, protected her against his own.

Hel shoved his finger against her forehead. “I couldn’t care less if you remember me, but you do have something in that pretty little head of yours that I need which requires Valeen to come out and play, not Layala.”

Layala slapped his hand away. “If you ever want to get whatever knowledge I might have, start treating me with respect. At this point, even if I remembered, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“You’ll get my respect when you earn it.” He shoved his forearm into her chest and pushed her up against the side of the house. Layala glared defiantly as he leaned in inches from her face. “And youwilltell me Val, or I’ll killhim.”

“No, you won’t,” Layala challenged, searching his beautiful yet harsh face, his thick dark brows tugged in, red eyes glowing. “Some part of you cares about him.”

“I’d love nothing more than to prove how wrong you are about that.” His hand snaked around her bicep, and he jerked her to his side. They started toward Midnight. “Shall I nail him to the wall and let you watch him suffer for days? Or let’s get really creative—”

“Wait!” Layala tried to pull out of his grasp, but he only gripped tighter. “I don’t remember anything, I swear.” Her eyes darted toward the cluster of pines and oaks nearby. Warmth flooded her chest and down her limbs and her vines quietly wrapped around his ankles, halting him. She had to distract him, lead him away from Thane.

He looked down and then over at her. “You’re being ridiculous. You know this won’t—”

More vines coiled around his body, but it was the sweet but deadly spray from the opening lilies that made him shut his mouth. Without waiting to see if they’d affect him, Layala sprinted for the grove of pine trees. With arms pumping, and her elven feet gliding over the grass, she burst through the tree line, weaving between thick trunks, and leapt over mossy logs. If she kept going, she’d hit the unnamed forest soon enough and with it being nighttime…maybe I can’t get rid of him, but perhaps the beasts can.

Chapter14

HEL

Hel clenched his fists at his sides and pushed his magic down the vines holding him in place until the ebony tendrils burned away into nothing. If he’d known she’d put up this much of a fight he’d have started their training this way. “Come now, love, the game of cat and mouse never ends well for the mouse.”

Her shadowy form disappeared into the woods and Hel smiled. What fun this would be. With deliberately slow steps he followed her. It was only fair he gave her a marginal head start. It was not as if he could lose her trail. Now that he’d had a taste, the smell of her blood was like a siren’s voice pulling him to follow. He thought back to their first confrontation and how differently it had gone…

The Past

“Trespassers are executed in my territory, Hel.” Her sultry smooth voice washed over him like midnight rain on a hot summer night. No one’s voice had ever felt like a feather sliding down his spine. His body shuddered with pleasure despite the sharp blade she held to his throat.

“It’s a good thing I’m not trespassing then.” He slid his gaze over to Valeen’s placid face. She was even more stunning in her own territory. Her midnight purple bodice adorned with stars and moons around the low V-neckline fit like a glove. The sleeveless top wrapped under her arms and hit just below her ribs revealing a thin line of skin. From her rounded hips down, he couldn’t help but drag his eyes over the black pants that fit in a way they could have been painted on her form. The colorful lights above shone off the moon and stars crown resting on her beautiful waves of ebony hair.