Page 14 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

I ’m forced to follow Hade down the long hallway back to my room. “What was that all about?” I question while trying to keep my feet under me with the brutal pace he’s setting.

“Someone needed to set that cocky fucker straight. Today, that man just happened to be me,” he grunts.

“Uh huh, sure,” I say on a breath. “Because it sounded to me like you guys were having a pissing contest over who got to escort me back to my room.”

“I think the Fire Water has gone to that pretty head of yours.”

I give him a feline smile. “I think this pretty head of mine has never been clearer. And since when do you compliment me?”

He continues dragging me down the hallway, attempting to look calm and collected. “Since never. When did I compliment you?”

“You just said I had a pretty head .” I look over at him as the side of my mouth tugs up a smidge .

“That wasn’t a compliment, just a statement. Trust me, you would know if I complimented you. It would be far grander than that. I don’t take words lightly. I can count the number of times I have complimented someone. It would rival the stars on the clearest night in Lunaria.”

“That’s a high standard to hold yourself to.

I might just make it my life’s mission to see it happen.

Add it to my long list of things to accomplish.

” I trail off, thinking of Theo and why I’m here.

Before my brain can spiral out of control and get sucked back into the dark corner of my heart that harbors all my pain and heartbreak, I pin Hade with a devious look.

“So, what’s up with all the growling?”

“Growling?” He’s taken off guard. “What do you mean?”

“You know, that noise you make every time you’re annoyed or angry?

Which is, like, all the time. You should really try and lighten up, you know.

I can see wrinkles starting to take up permanent residence on that pretty face of yours from all the scowling.

” I can’t help but tease him as my drink hums happily through my body.

“I do not.” His face turns serious, but I can also see a hint of worry behind his mask of indifference.

Checkmate.

I giggle to myself and then point at him. “That, sir, you absolutely do. You could become a professional growler at this point. I bet you could make a pretty coin too.”

Hade growls then huffs at his realization of what he just did yet again, and then he growls in annoyance.

I throw my hands in the air. “Wait, don’t tell me. You didn’t know you do this…often? You need to lay off some steam. I’ve heard sex works wonders.” My giggle turns into a boisterous laugh, and I feel lighter than I have in months.

“My steam is just fine, thank you very much. Let’s get you to bed before you wake up the whole damn castle.” The side of his lip inches up the smallest amount, and my breath hitches in my throat. His smirk reminds me all too well of a certain smile that will forever be imprinted on my brain.

“Do that again.” The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop myself.

“Do what, Nightmare ?” he questions me honestly, no malice behind my nickname for once.

“Smile for me again,” I ask, holding my breath in anticipation.

“Only because you asked nicely, and you won’t remember this in the morning.” He slows his steps and pins me with his beautifully tragic polar eyes, giving me a genuine, unguarded smile that thaws the smallest sliver of the ice around my cold, mangled heart.

Its beauty embodies the first flake of snow, a one of a kind snowflake you want to treasure forever but admire from afar so you don’t destroy the moment and ruin it.

“Thank you for that.” My voice is barely a whisper.

“Don’t go soft on me now, Nyxi.”

My name tumbles off his lips like a sonnet and takes me by surprise. He never calls me by my name, and now, I don’t want him to call me by anything but. The way he enunciates each letter, as if handling my name with care…he makes it sound special and treasured.

“Never.” I grin up at him and shove my shoulder into his side playfully.

“You better shove harder than that tomorrow, or you won’t make it past the first round.” He’s suddenly serious, almost on edge.

“Go eat a bag of oranges.” I roll my eyes at him and flip my middle finger up with flare.

“That’s the second time you’ve said that now. Why?”

I gasp. “Don’t tell me you’re an orange supporter?”

“So what if I am? What do you have against them?” He raises a brow.

“For starters, it takes half a day to peel the blasted things. No one should have to work that hard for a snack. Then, they are covered in those tiny little white strings that taste like butthole and get stuck in your teeth. Once you suck all the juice out of the tiny wedge, you’re left with sticky fingers and a wrinkled sack of orange skin that’s bitter and chewy.

Not worth the time and effort for the tiny bit of euphoria you get from the juice, in my opinion.

” I huff in annoyance. “They are public enemy one in my book. The Empress would outlaw them if she had any brains.” I probably should have kept that last sentence to myself, but it seems my mouth has a mind of its own tonight.

“Interesting.” Hade looks at me as he guides me back towards my room.

This man is like a walking contradiction with his words and his actions.

The way he’s looking at me makes me feel like he is truly curious about my silly revolt against oranges, but then I think back to him punching me in the face and not even caring to apologize about it.

Men.

“That’s all you have to say on the subject?” I pin him with a fake serious glare. “This is serious business, sir,” I grumble.

Hade growls next to me. “I told you not to call me that.”

“And I told you, you have a growling problem, but here you are, acting like a wild beast instead of a man.” I shrug and take off, skipping down the long, dim hallway away from him. I throw over my shoulder, “You should really take up my idea of letting off some steam.”

“Empress, you will be the death of me.” Hade grumbles under his breath as he starts jogging down the hall after me. “And who do you suggest will help me release some of this so-called steam?”

I gasp dramatically. “Don’t tell me you don’t have a cattle of women lining up at your door every night?”

Sighing, he continues to chase me down the hallway. “None worthy enough of my time. Now slow down before you hurt yourself. ”

Peeking over my shoulder, I take in Hade in all his glory.

He truly is a masterpiece sculpted by the gods.

His shaggy, obsidian hair flops about his forehead as he jogs without breaking a sweat.

The man is an anomaly. His one gray eye glows like an orb in the dimly lit hallway.

If this scene was a painting, I would call it “beauty masked beneath a beast”.

I speed up, giggling over my shoulder. “You’re gonna have to catch me for that to happen, Death Reaper .” And then, I take off.

I know I shouldn’t be poking the beast, but the alcohol running through me has given me the courage to be someone else, if only just for the night.

Tonight, I don’t want to be Nyxi. I just want to be free .

Free of the Crucible and my impending death, free of the heart that barely knows how to beat inside my chest now that half of it has been severed forever.

Peeking back over my shoulder, I find Hade is nowhere to be seen, like he has just vanished into thin air. Poof, gone. Maybe the Fire Water is getting to my head?

That can’t be right. I swear, he was just a handful of feet behind me. Halting my steps, I look around the eerie hallway, my heart pounding with a mixture of weariness and thrill.

Muscular arms engulf me from behind, blanketing me in shadows. “ Caught you ,” Hade whispers next to the shell of my ear. “What’s my prize?”

My heart feels like it might combust from his nearness, and that alone sends a chill up my spine.

“How—what—” I stutter, trying to wrap my brain around what just happened. “How did you disappear and end up behind me?” I’m a jumble of confusion. “I never saw you pass me… That’s impossible.”

His finger drags down the side of my neck. “Nothing is impossible in Lunaria. Call this your first lesson.”

“ Magic ,” I whisper.

“Correct. ”

My heart skips. “Show me.”

He smirks. “Only if you beg nicely.”

I shoot him pleading eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, Nightmare , I would do a lot worse than that. Now, ask me nicely, and maybe I’ll comply.”

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and grit out, “Will you show me… please ?”

“No, but I do love to watch you beg.” He grabs my arm, dragging me towards my room.

“Hade!” I grunt and press the heels of my feet into the ground, trying to halt us.

“Fine, but only so you’ll shut up about it.” He rolls his eyes and turns to face me.

I cross my arms, but I can’t help the small smile blooming on my face. “Well, I’m getting older by the second, so get on with it.”

This alcohol has only emboldened my already-brazen personality, and I can tell by the anger spreading across Hade’s face that he’s almost to his limit. Well, too bad, because he started this little cat and mouse game, and I’ve never been known to shy away from a challenge.

To push him a little further towards eruption, I add, “What, does the mighty Cardinal have stage fright? Hopefully, little Cardinal doesn’t have the same problem.” I flash him a feral grin.

He smirks. “Oh sweetheart, I’ve never had a single complaint.”

“Insufferable,” I say under my breath.

Hade takes a step closer, almost pressed against my chest, then disappears completely into nothing. I extend my arm to feel for where he just stood, but my hand connects with a very large bulge that drags a loud grunt from Hade.

“Fuuuuuuckkkkk,” he says in a hiss of pain, reappearing again. “A little warning next time.”

My cheeks flush, and I pray the hallway is dim enough that Hade won’t take notice. “Was that—did I just touch what I think I did?”

“Yes!” he wheezes. “And more like punched, not touched.”

I can feel heat spreading up my neck at the realization. “Well, consider us even now. You punched my face, and I punched your…” An embarrassed giggle makes its way up my throat, and I have no choice but to set it free into the world.

“Cock,” Hade says bluntly. “Are you foreign to the term , Nyxi ?” His voice deepens. “Need a lesson on the human body?”

I squirm under his intense, heated gaze and forward demeanor. I should be used to it by now, but this feels…different. Another childish fit of giggles consumes me at the thought of Hade using the word cock in front of me. This Fire Water has truly done me in.

“You think this is funny?”

“Very!” I cover my mouth with my hand as another breathy laugh escapes me.

“As you just discovered, I can turn myself invisible, but not fully disappear. I can use my shadow magic to blend into my surroundings and, simply put, reflect them back to you as an illusion.”

I shrug. “That’s all you got? Invisibility? And here I thought you were one of the most powerful magicals to ever exist.”

“ That is just a party trick, a way for me to spy and collect information for the Empress. My true magic is much darker and deadlier . You should pray you never experience my true abilities,” he says condescendingly.

This man irritates me to my core, but I can’t seem to walk away from the wreckage that is this very odd but thrilling thing happening between us.

I can’t put words to it, but I want to smack the ever living Empress out of him ninety-nine percent of the time.

Still, the remaining one percent somehow has an even greater death grip over me .

I feel an unavoidable pull towards this beast that wants to eat me alive.

Why does the thought of being slaughtered by this beast make me feel alive again?

Like the first breath you take out of water after holding on until the very last second, walking the line of life and death as if it’s a challenge.

Why do I yearn to know what this beast’s fangs would feel like if they ravished my soul?

The question is, will I survive this beast? Or will it devour me whole and drag me into the darkness? Both outcomes seem to call to my stone cold heart—one with the promise of eternal darkness and blissful peace, and the other giving it a reason to beat fully again.