Page 105 of A Dance of Water (Moon Song #2)

Out of the corner of her eye, as if to expound his statement, a glimmer of something beckoned.

She gasped, whipping her head to the side, only to find a shimmer of prismatic light dancing along the stone floors.

She caught her reflection in the mirrors set into the wall.

Her eyes were too big for her face, her skin leached of all color.

The King and the Prima were quite the sight as they crowded before her. One golden and proud, the other battle-forged with stark white hair and thick tattoos.

"I don’t understand," she stammered. "How am I to… to do this with our bargain?" Her eyes flicked between Tharen and Vale as she spoke; though, the question was directed to the mage.

"You still have to bring yourself to pleasure, but it will not be with me," said Vale.

"When we started preparations for the Solstice, I knew without a doubt, my dragon would choose you.

He had imprinted on you from the moment he first saw you.

But I knew I could not—would not—force you.

So, I planned to make you believe I would.

Fear is a powerful thing, and your fear is so, so prominent, unable to be hidden.

Perfect to trick everyone into thinking you were merely the stolen Princess of Solis. They can never know we are Vincire."

The King finally released her wrist but lifted a strand of her white hair in his hands, running it through his fingers as he finished speaking:

"But darling, you dug your own grave when you gave up your pleasure to Tharen."

Luella knew now—she was not free. Far from it.

The implications woven into his words shook her to her core.

The heavy feeling that had clung to her since she entered the room grew in intensity, crushing her.

The flames in the room flickered. In her periphery, glimmers danced—every time she searched for it, they disappeared, toying with her. Playful.

This was more than her power.

Much more.

And so familiar.

"That’s why you were so angry when you found out about our bargain," she whispered.

Vale’s lip twitched. "Among other things."

Tharen huffed a quiet laugh.

She needed to sit down. Her limbs felt weak; the rush of adrenaline that had kept her going since they started their journey to the Temples left her, and she was reeling and exhausted, pulled back and forth.

With a soft noise, she stumbled to sit on the altar behind her.

The stone was hard and cold, unforgiving.

The dragon shifter’s green eyes turned dark as he stared down at her. His pupils grew elongated, but he blinked, and it was gone. She was realizing that Vale struggled with controlling his beast far more often than he let on.

She sighed, knowing their answer before she asked, "What happens now?"

"That is up to you," Vale murmured. "You can try to please yourself by your own hand like I had first planned?—"

Tharen cut him off, impatience lining his severe features. "I doubt you’ll get far. But don’t say we didn’t try. Because we did. We tried everything we could think of to work around our deal."

"The string," she realized. "That’s why you tied our wrists."

Tharen nodded. "It didn’t work. So I doubt that sitting next to you will work, either. It seems we’re at an impasse, little lamb." He shoved her thighs apart with his knee, stepping between them. Her lower stomach clenched. "Of your own making, might I add." His voice was rough as he stared at her.

This was never going to end, was it? She had been backed into a corner, and it was partly her fault. She had not realized what awaited her when she first struck the bargain with the Prima. She had thought herself strong, able to resist temptation. But she was realizing just how weak she was.

She swallowed, mind drifting to Az, how good his lips had felt against hers—Bastian, the way he had kissed her so passionately; Graves and his quiet consuming of her. The mage before her had even tasted her lips, but she had been so overcome in the throes of her power that she barely remembered it.

What would it be like…

…To let him taste her again?

Absently, she wet her lips.

Would it be so terrible to just… get it over with? This bargain would never go away, not until she gave him what she had promised. She would never be able to find solace in Az—not truly. Never be able to explore that tingling feeling between her thighs, not without tumbling onto Tharen’s lap.

Deep in thought, her eyes fell shut.

Her resolve threatened to break, tiny cracks splintering outward with every passing moment.

But how could she say it—how could she ask this of the male who would lord it over her forever?

No matter how hard she tried, she could not find a way out of this. This fate had been set in stone, like the etchings of stardust that decorated the stone pillars in the Temples.

Luella opened her eyes.

"Okay," she said softly.

The males shared a look before staring back down at her. It was Tharen who broke the heavy silence:

"Okay?" the mage repeated. "Are you finally realizing that you have no choice?"

Yes, but she wouldn’t say it.

"No." Luella shook her head. "I am realizing that I made my choice when our bargain was struck. It was just not the one I… wished for."

The smug look on the mage’s features made her rethink everything. But she still could not ignore the flicker of some other emotion that was in his eyes. The flashes of gentleness he had shown her, rare and utterly him , as if he was unpracticed in showing kindness and care at all…

"We will have until dawn uninterrupted, and then the Temple Mothers will return," said Vale. "The others are waiting, as well. Your demon didn’t want to stray far—and I will not leave."

The King didn’t reveal if he wouldn’t leave because he didn’t want to, or if he couldn’t. And Luella did not ask.

"We get all night with you, Princess." Tharen knocked her thighs further apart, and the inner muscles strained at the stretch. "I don’t plan to waste a moment of this."

With how vulnerable it made her, she regretted sitting on the altar. The mage placed his hand on her cheek, tilting her head forcibly. He licked his lips as he eyed her mouth. And he leaned down and?—

No .

"W-wait!" Luella placed her palms on his chest and turned her head away. "Not like this."

It felt too… intimate. This was a transaction, a fulfillment of their bargain. Nothing more.

He tugged her face away from where she tried to hide against her shoulder. "You don’t want to kiss me?"

"No," she whispered, feeling heat bloom on her cheeks. "We can do this without kissing, right?"

Tharen made a noncommittal sound. "As I recall, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it before. What changed? Scared you’ll grow attached?"

"I—" She gave a small shake of her head.

"Too bad," the mage murmured, running his rough fingertips over her cheeks. "What if I said I was growing attached to you?" His voice was heavy and gruff with desire; her body trembled with nervous anticipation.

She had to swallow a few times to get her voice working again. The heavy air weighed down against her skin, and the well of power inside her swirled, but she did not feel out of control. This was the most in control she had felt since her glamor was ripped away and her magic had first awoken.

"I would call you a liar," Luella breathed .

Tharen hovered before her, Vale just behind him.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, eyes drifting upward to stare at the soft strips of light.

A sense of peace and light power filled her.

Shifting in the shadows high above, sparkles of playful stardust danced.

She stared right at it, and this time, it did not hide from her.

The stardust swirled around and around, curious, as it drifted to her.

Tharen and Vale both turned, following her stare.

Stardust, warm and playful in her hand.

This place was connected to where she went when she fell into her deep sleep. She was sure of it.

Understanding snapped into place as the stardust grew near. "I never knew a place like this existed," she said.

"Most don’t. The fae have their false, demanding deities, and the others do what they wish. But the shifters? We honor our gods with our wine." Vale stepped forward and leaned down, pressing his lips to her ear as he whispered, "With our bodies."

She shivered. Under their touches and deep voices, she felt the vestiges of trepidation fizzle out, chased away by the sight of the stardust and their teasing touches.

"What—" She gasped as Vale nibbled at the tip of her ear, a hot hand trailing down the column of her throat. "What are the names of the gods you worship?"

Vale’s lips tickled her ear as he spoke. "Lux."

Light .

The name felt… right.

Vale’s hand cupped the base of her throat, while Tharen continued to hold her head still.

But something was missing. Where there was light, darkness followed.

She tried to stop her head from falling back as Vale continued to kiss along her ear.

"The Temples of Aedis," she managed. "P-plural. There is more—" She bit down on her lower lip as Vale’s teeth dug into the lobe of her ear, smoke wafting from him with every breath. "There is more than one g-god worshipped here."

"Look at that," Tharen crooned. "Smart, after all. "

"Tell me." Vale’s words shivered over her skin. "Tell me what you think the other god is called."

Her wide eyes trailed up above to where the stardust circled, as if it, too, awaited what she would say.

The Binding mark pulsed, and on a whoosh of air, she said, "The Tenebrae."