Page 30 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

Hunger dances in his eyes. “You know what they say goes perfectly with pain?” He smirks.

I smile back, going along with his little game. “In your dreams.”

His eyes are molten lava now. “Oh, but you only visit me in my wicked…dark…nightmares, Nyxi. ” He whispers my name, making me shake with full body tremors.

Words have lost me. A slow gulp is all I can muster while I slowly shake my head. Slowly, he walks towards me, the black tendril still wrapped around my neck, making me float backward until my knees hit something hard behind me.

The black tendril spins me around until I’m bent over a hard surface, staring into a deep, dark hole with water sitting at the bottom.

“You know what this is? It’s a wishing well.

” He whispers it next to the shell of my ear, but it still somehow echoes eerily off the walls, all the way to the bottom of the well, like it’s haunting me.

“There’s an old wise tale behind it. It’s said the original owner of this castle built this garden so after they passed away, there would be a place for people to visit for wishes. The spirit would bless those deserving as a way to keep the castle virtuous and honest.”

He leans in closer. “You know what I think, though? I think even without this here, you would still be wishing , begging for just a single taste of me.”

This is a side of Hade I’ve never experienced, a new door unlocked for reasons unknown.

I’m cracking at my seams, ripped apart piece by piece.

Is this what a heart attack feels like? Every part of my body aches, but not with tiredness or pain.

It aches to be touched, explored like uncharted land.

I feel out of control, a concoction of hesitancy and the feral desire to jump in head first towards the disaster that’s undoubtedly to unfold.

My mind struggles to fight this unbreakable pull towards him that’s only grown since first meeting.

Looking behind me the best I can, I see both of Hade’s eyes are now black as night, his white scar glowing like a warning of corruption. He looks like he wants to ruin me, to take and take until I have nothing left except my flayed, broken heart.

Surprisingly, we are both panting, our chests heaving, wild and in sync. Mine tingles each time his presses close to my back.

My words come out choppy. “Mark my words, Hade: I will never beg for a single thing from you, even if I’m dying and you are the only antidote left to save me.” I smile sadistically. “I would gladly die with a smile on my face.”

The tendril of magic twists me so the side of my face turns towards him.

Black smoke appears from behind Hade, the tip slowly dragging up my exposed leg peeking out from the slit of my dress.

It scorches me, leaving a path of burning desire where it slithers across my skin, making me squirm in his grip.

It continues its exploration of my body, dragging across the delicate dip of skin between my breasts, where my dagger was previously nestled.

Painstakingly slow, it drags up the side of my neck, making goosebumps spread across my skin.

I gasp when it delicately tucks a rogue curl behind my ear, then curls itself around the shell of my ear.

“Is that a challenge?” It purrs in my ear, and it’s my downfall. Hade’s mouth remains firmly shut, his seductive voice somehow traveling through the tendril of magic nestled at the edge of my ear .

“No,” I whisper pathetically, “it’s a promise.” I side eye him the best I can with the position this damn magical limb has me in.

“Your traitorous heart is racing, Nyxi.”

“I’m thinking about Aeron,” I lie on a shaky breath.

He tsks. “I never took you for a liar. Your body betrays you, the way it trembles in my hold. Your breaths are so loud, they’re all my damn mind can focus on.

Your voice has turned to velvet as you scramble for lies to feed me.

” A small, traitorous whimper escapes my throat before I can stop it.

“I’m a starved man, ravenous, even. So keep feeding me those lies, Nyxi, because you’re only fooling one of us here.

Maybe one day, you will come to your senses and decide whether you want to play with a boy or a man . ”

“I…” My brain fails me. I’m falling apart right in front of him, and by the smile blooming across his face, he knows it. “I?—”

“Hade,” an annoyed female voice booms behind him. “Aire is requesting your presence. He’s waiting to be filled in on the details of tomorrow’s Crucible trial.”

The Empress comes into view behind him in all her wicked glory.

She’s wearing a giant poofy dress covered in black and red playing cards bearing her face to fit the theme.

Its sweetheart neckline is adorned with straps that droop low off her shoulders.

I internally gasp when I notice all the cards are moving, the Empresses smiling and waving.

She takes in the two of us, Hade refusing to release me.

She looks thoroughly pissed off that her personal guard is out here, doing whatever the heck he’s doing with me.

I can’t even explain what this is, if I’m being honest. I curse under my breath for letting myself get tangled in this mess, putting a target on my back for the Empress , of all people.

She looks me up and down, looking unimpressed. I recede into myself, instantly self-conscious.

“Whoring yourself out will not help you get any further in this competition, girl .” She doesn’t even give me the dignity of using my name.

To be honest, she probably doesn’t even know it.

I stiffen at her insult but keep my hard exterior in place, not giving away any of my emotions.

She can’t hurt me if I don’t play into her game.

She wants to get a reaction out of me, but I won’t stoop to her level.

Hade tenses, and I pray he didn’t notice the little flinch I couldn’t control.

Knowing him, though, I’m sure he could tell if my heart rate went from one hundred beats per minute to one hundred and one.

He grinds his teeth, releasing me as he nods to the Empress.

“As you wish. I will head there now.” He dips his head in a small bow, and when he looks back up, the Empress is already turned, stomping back to her party.

I let out a loud breath, dragging in a ragged one.

Hade goes to leave, but he turns abruptly, striding right back to me.

Looking me dead in the eyes with unyielding certainty, he proclaims, “Even the grandest diamond couldn’t have drawn my eyes away from you tonight, Nyxi.

I fear nothing in the lands below or above could rival your beauty for the rest of eternity, and that is a scary thought. ”

Then, he’s stolen by the night, leaving me lost and confused in my own thoughts yet again, wondering who the heck Aire is.

But more importantly, how I can keep my heart tightly locked away from the thief trying to steal it.