Page 37 of Liar Witch

Val’s voice cuts through my afterglow with all the subtlety of a rusty pair of scissors.

“If you three are quite finished, I thought we were leaving?”

Chapter Ten

Kieran

Nilsa is beautiful in her own clothes. Even more so with the flush of pleasure lingering on her cheeks as she stares down Valorean on the deck.

She looks more confident in the tiny scraps of black fabric than she did in the conservative white dresses of the Solars. More herself now that she’s not buckling under the weight of a lie.

I feel another layer of frost coat my hair as the scent of her pleasure wafts across the deck.

No wonder the twins are giving Valorean such aggravated looks. I’d have challenged him to a duel on the spot if I’d had our mate beneath me smelling like that.

Deep below, Rysen roars as the scent of her reaches him as well.

I grimace.

He’s not shown any signs of improvement since Nilsa left. The only time he even breaks out of his rages is when her familiar comes close enough to bite him.

“What’s that?”

Her question is expected but I still flinch anyway. If I know anything, it’s that my oldest friend will not want his mate to see him in this state. If Nilsa hears that he’s currently in a cell, out of his mind over the scent of her blood, she’s not going to leave it alone.

Val opens his mouth and I send a targeted blast of ice straight to his crotch to shut him up.

It works. In the next instant, he’s bent double, spewing a litany of curses unfit for the ears of our mate as he cradles his manhood.

Only drastic measures get through to our stubborn captain.

Nilsa snorts, then glances at me, a silent question on her lips.

I brace myself as I open my mouth.

“Later.”

The curse doesn’t keep me waiting. In seconds, my punishment begins anew. Agony spreads out from my jaw, radiating down through my neck to my spine and out across the sensitive membranes of my wings. My muscles lock up under the impact, and it’s all I can do to stay standing.

When I was young, I believed I could get used to the pain. I thought repetition would dull it and so I’d spoken until agony knocked me out.

I was a fool.

No. My curse has only grown stronger as time passes.

Marcella’s revenge was thorough. What better way to make it so the curse could never be broken than to silence me, preventing me from charming my mate.

Nilsa moves closer, pressing a single finger to my lips.

“Okay.”

Whether she’s not arguing out of sympathy for my curse or genuine trust doesn’t matter.

My friend’s dignity remains intact.

“I’m starving,” she says, changing the subject as she brushes past me towards the hatch and the galley.

The moment she’s gone, a rope wraps around my ankle and trips me, sending me sprawling on the ground beside Valorean.