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He smiled. Maker above, she was on the verge of falling to her death and he smiled like that?

“And what else?”

“Let me up and I’ll tell you.”

“Ah, ah, ah, that’s not how this works, love.”

She wracked her mind for the memory.Amonlee, Amonlee, she chanted.What the hell happened in Amonlee?She closed her eyes and felt the sun on her skin, the smell of salt air and florals. Eyes flashing open she blurted out. “You brought me flowers and we swam in the sea.”

“Our first date.” He jerked her up into his chest and wrapped his arms around her completely. Together they backed to the center of the small rocky platform they stood on. “You know I wouldn’t have let you fall.”

She shoved him hard in the chest to get him to let go but he didn’t move. “No, I don’t know that.”

“Val, come on. I saved your ass against the demon. I camerunningwhen you called.”

“It’s Layala.”

“See, this is why you can’t remember and it’s going to get you killed.”

“Just because you won’t kill me, doesn’t mean you won’t push me off a cliff and save me after just to scare me.”

He laughed. “You’re impossible sometimes.” A mischievous smile spread across his face revealing his dimple and pretty teeth, then he moved her back one step, two.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, you said it. I’ll push you off and if you can’t save yourself, then Hel will swoop in to save the day.”

“Hel, I can’t fly. And I haven’t been able to change entirely into shadow, just remnants.” A gust of wind rushed around them and Layala gulped. But that sparked a memory. “Wait, take off your shirt.”

He stopped and tilted his head to the side, peering down at her. “That’s a bit forward, love.”

She pulled out of his grasp and pressed a palm against his chest to put him at arm’s length. “As if you wouldn’t take the chance to get naked with me,” she said and immediately regretted it.

“I wouldn’t actually.” He glanced down at his nails as if he were bored. “You don’t do it for me anymore.” He looked up with the barest hint of a smile. “But I will say the whole damsel in distress thing you have going on is more appealing than I thought it would be.”

“Damsel in distress?” she scoffed.

“It’s not as if I want to be your bodyguard and mentor so don’t get any ideas about us being friends. This is only out of necessity. It should be War doing this but then it would be the blind leading the blind.”

“We’re certainly not friends. You don’t need to worry about that.” She rolled her eyes. “And just take off the shirt. I think I remembered something.”

“I’m only doing this because I’m intrigued.” With a snap of his fingers, his shirt vanished and he stood in only a pair of black trousers and boots. He stuffed his hands into his pockets but left his thumbs out.

Holy gods.His body was defined but not overly so, lean but full in the chest, shoulders and, arms—perfect. Rune marks and decorative tattoos covered a good amount of his skin but with plenty left exposed, raw. She regretted asking him to stand there half naked.

“It’s rude to stare, you know.”

Layala cleared her throat and stepped around him and found what she was after. Along his back on either side of his spine a pair of black feathered wings marked the length from his shoulders to the base of his hips. “Wings,” she whispered and couldn’t stop herself from running her fingertips over the marks. Goosebumps rose under her touch, and she smiled.

Then, she shoved him hard in the back and sent him stumbling off the cliff.

Chapter27

LAYALA

What did I just do?Layala rushed to the edge. Hel fell, dropping like a stone, the wind doing nothing to slow him down. With his arms held wide and his legs straight out he looked almost like a five-pointed star.He can fly. He can fly.She reassured herself, heart crashing into her ribs.But why isn’t he stopping?

“Hel!” Layala screamed. He couldn’t die, right? Their mate bond kept them from being able to kill each other or was it only the first time? A way to tell them they were mated so not to harm the other.