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A fast-flowing stream of lava blocked the way they’d come. Pulling her along with him, he twisted around for an alternative. Pools of fire circled them, too wide for even an immortal to leap over.

Trapped.

Over his lifetime, Silt had imagined his demise in myriad lights. But he’d never pictured himself burning to death while semihard for a predator princess who’d just introduced her knee to his balls. “I told you we couldn’t cross this, maneater.” No surprise; they were fucked.

When he released the vampire, her gaze darted. “Do something then, oh great King of Sand. Use your sorcery! Sand extinguishes fire.”

Not a mere pocketful of it!“There’s no sand in this realm. I’m picking up ash, marble, and obsidian—nothing to help me.” At the height of his powers, he could have disintegrated rock into grains. Not now.

Silt had no gear, no power of flight or levitation. Unless . . .

Swiping sweat from his eyes, he snagged the sand from his pocket and called on his sorcery. Sputtering light emerged from his palms, a measure of how little power remained on tap. Mostimmortals grew stronger with age, but his abilities had waned from disuse and his unnatural appetites.

Lava shot toward his feet, singeing his skin. Another nearby dam of rock gave way, more lava racing for them.

“Sorcerer, whatever you’re planning, beginnow.”

Do this, or die, Silt.

Simple.

He straightened his shoulders and made another attempt to connect with the grains. His palms brightened a shade.Good enough!Clenching his jaw, he shoved both of his hands forward. The sand straggled into the air, then dropped into the shape of a sparse platform.

Would it be enough to hold him? Maybe.

Her as well? Doubtful.

“Now what?” she asked. “Is this supposed to be a party trick or an escape? I’m confused.”

“Will you shut up?” Survival argued against revenge. Revenge won, and he snared the vampire and hurried atop the sand, his free arm pinwheeling for balance. A heartbeat from failure, the platform scarcely supported them. Just below it, lava bubbled where they’d just been standing.

She murmured, “This idea is logical. Make it work.”

Easier said.He’d once relocated entire deserts. Now he struggled to control a handful of sand.

Then he glanced down at the vampire.

Time felt momentous—his dream of an oasis hitting his consciousness like a sledgehammer. Keeping his gaze on her, he urged his power on.

The platform jerked forward in fits. Flames beneath him heated the grit, cauterizing his sliced feet. He bit back a yell.

“Focus,” she said in a soothing tone. “We’re almost there.”

He held her gaze as he would a lifeline, inching them toward a raised rock plateau. With a last burst of sorcery, hemaneuvered them to safety—just as his sand collapsed. Keeping her pinned against him, he dropped to his knees and sucked in air.

By all the gods, he’d done it! He’d gone so long without accomplishing anything that he’d forgotten the satisfaction. The hedonist in him craved more of this feeling. Silt frowned. Had he once been driven?

After centuries of oblivion, I have no idea who or what I am.

The vampire cast him a wary look with her cheeks flushed. The little leech was as beautiful as she was bloodthirsty. Even her curious irises couldn’t mar her looks. Beside him, her trembling body was all curves and promises.

The intensity of his arousal shocked him. As before, her lips called to him.

Yet rumbling sounded, tremors vibrating his knees.

He loosened his grip for a split second. Which was all she needed to spring away—just as a geyser burst from the ground beneath him.

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