Page 5

Pri seemed to be right in her element, and those children loved her. Occasionally, Wren would assign her a job that would take her out of Locdragoon for a few days, but when she came back . . . I have never seen so many smiling faces.

Pri’s methods were . . . softer than Asrai’s, but still effective. Though, she had been on edge recently in a way I had never seen before. But we all were; I couldn’t blame her for that.

Then there was Ata.

She had spent these last few months perfecting her shifting until she could wield it like she had been using it from the day she was born.

It was an asset to us. It made her almost invisible inside of rooms she didn’t want to be noticed.

So, Wren had offered her a position as an officer within his ranks and she snagged up the offer without hesitation.

When she wasn’t on assignment, she was starting bar fights.

Wearing another’s face.

The taverns in Nethkar had started whispering rumors of the Woman of Many Faces, and when I heard them, I knew they were speaking of her.

She wasn’t doing well.

I could see she was desperately trying to hold herself together, trying not to take her anger and heartbreak out on us.

Instead, she was causing herself physical pain to distract from the turmoil she tried so hard to bury.

I wanted to scream at her to let me in—shake her until the wall she built collapsed.

But I knew that wouldn’t help, knew forcing her to open up would only push her away.

She had always come to me when she was ready, and I tried to trust that this time would be no different.

“I need to get to the war room,” Landers said, his voice snapping me out of my thoughts as he pulled away.

I dragged my eyes away from the crack in the marble floor I had fixated on, falling back to the edge of the bed, and watched as he gathered papers from his desk.

“She will be okay, Hyacinth,” he said as he knelt down in front of me, cupping my face in his palm. “Give her time. If I have learned anything about that little beast, it is that she is a survivor. And she will survive this.”

My lips turned upward in a sad smile as I nodded.

Somehow, he always knew the emotion that was flowing just under the surface, always knew what I needed to hear to quiet the thoughts in my head.

“I’m coming with you,” I said, pushing from the bed. “I want to get some more reading in before the castle wakes.”

I pulled a black tunic over my head then slid into my leathers and strapped a belt of daggers to my chest as Landers smirked at me.

“What?” I snapped and his smile widened.

“Is there danger in the war room I should know about?” he asked, amusement dancing in his tone as he lifted a brow at my knives. I rolled my eyes, slipping into my boots and lacing them up.

“Who knows, if you keep talking like that you may just find one held to your throat. As I recall, you do love the sight of a dagger in my hand,” I said, smiling as I stretched my hand out to him.

He intertwined his fingers with mine, pulling me against his side as his lips brushed my ear.

“Only when those long legs of yours are straddling me, Darkness,” he whispered as I pressed myself against him.

A low throaty chuckle escaped his lips as his teeth connected with my neck, then he tethered us to the war room.

We landed in the center of the room as shadows shot from my back toward the door, locking it as I grabbed the collar of his tunic and pulled him toward me, my lips crashing onto his.

It had been days since his hands had claimed me. Days since the warmth of him seared into my skin.

And my Gods, I missed him.

My family, my friends, were every beat of my heart, but Landers . . . Landers was the air that kept that heart beating.

We had been busy—me exhausted from my training and him from his travels to and from Ithia, and I could not wait another second to be one with him again.

I needed to feel his hands on me—his lips on me.

My fingers dug into his hair, keeping his lips locked to mine, his teeth latching onto my bottom lip as his hands found the back of my thighs, lifting me onto the surface of his desk.

My hands slipped from his head down to his chest, clawing frantically at his tunic, pulling it over his head as his hands stripped the boots and leathers from my body.

I pulled away only for a second to pull the shirt over my head and watched as he pulled the belt from his waist and unfastened the buttons on his leathers.

I sucked in a sharp breath as he stepped out of the last of his clothing, dragging my eyes from his body to meet his gaze. The desire I saw swirling in them forced a low moan from my mouth as I reached out and locked my hand around his neck, pulling his lips back to mine.

My body ached for him, screamed for him .

I wrapped my legs around his waist as his first thrust sent pleasure tearing through my body.

A guttural moan rolled from my throat as my head fell back toward the ceiling, my nails digging into his shoulders.

His forehead fell to my chest, nestling between my breasts as one hand clutched my thigh, the other buried into the curls cascading down my back.

My heart beat frantically against his skin, threatening to explode from the emotion building in my chest.

He was mine . My entire universe held together inside his body.

“I love you,” I whispered as he slowly lifted his head from my breasts.

His lips crashed onto mine with bruising force at the sound of those words as he pushed into me again and again.

I collapsed to my back, my arms succumbing to the pleasure coursing through my veins as papers and inkwells slipped off the desk’s surface, clattering to the floor.

“Gods, Hyacinth,” Landers breathed, his voice a low growl as his hands gripped my hips and dragged me toward him, my back arching from the wood as I panted against the rising ecstasy filling every inch of my body.

Words were flowing from my mouth between moans—how much I needed him. How good he felt inside of me.

I opened my eyes to see his gaze already on me and a fist clamped around my heart, emotion flooding my chest as I slowly drowned in his stare. His hands slid up my abdomen, circling my breasts before grasping onto my shoulders and pulling me toward him to meet each one of his thrusts.

A groan escaped his lips at the sound of my begging, my pleading for him not to stop. He slowed his pace only for a moment as I pushed my hand under his chin and pulled his eyes to mine.

“Show me,” I demanded between gasps. “Show me how much you missed me.”

He lifted my legs over his shoulders at my command, slowly pulling himself almost fully out of me.

“As you wish.” The words were a growl as he said them, then buried himself into me again.

A cry that was sure to wake the castle burst from my lungs as my fingers curled around the lip of the desk—the only thing grounding me to this room, the only thing stopping my body from slipping into oblivion.

A snarl tore from his throat at the sound, and as he slammed into me one last time, an orgasm ripped through my body as lightning crashed behind my eyelids.

I felt him let go as I clenched around him, the muscles on his body tightening, his own release flowing from him as he wrapped his arms around me.

“I love you, Hyacinth,” he whispered into the curve of my neck, his lips pressing against my skin.

Our heavy breathing filled the silent space as we held each other and basked in the euphoria that surrounded us.

After a long moment, he took a step away from me, taking my hand in his as he pulled my back from his desk and slid my arm over his shoulder.

He didn’t speak, only placed soft kisses from the base of my neck to the curve of my jaw.

I leaned into the warmth of his lips on my skin before meeting his eyes.

We stared at each other for a few short breaths, and then he let his forehead fall to mine.

There had been something in the way he looked at me recently that I couldn’t place, an expression akin to sadness or pain.

“Hey,” I whispered, pulling his chin up to meet my gaze. “Is everything all right?” I asked, my voice soft as it echoed through the room.

He let out a deep sigh as he looked back at me then ran a hand through his hair.

“What is it, Landers?” I pressed gently.

“I am not ready to fight another war, I am not ready for the violence it will bring to my people. I do not know how to protect them from what is coming,” he finally responded.

I nodded as he took a step away from me, plucking my clothing from the floor and placing them softly in my lap. He slid back into his leathers and pulled his tunic over his head as I dressed, the room falling somber around us.

He fell into the chair across from me and I stepped toward him, placing my palm on his cheek as I lowered to my knees in front of him and met his gaze.

“I vow to you, I will protect the people of Locdragoon with every ounce of magic I have. You will not fight this war alone. To death, remember?” I asked as a sad smile lifted at the corners of his lips.

“To death.”