Page 40

KYRIE

Four months later

I land lightly on my toes, so perfectly balanced that I barely rock at all.

Still, a volley of arrows whiz past me, the trap triggered all the same.

I’m so close to my goal now, though, I can practically taste it.

“This is truly diabolical of you,” I mutter, then arch an eyebrow as a laugh echoes off the claustrophobically close walls.

“You said you were bored and needed a challenge. I provided the challenge.”

Grunting, I take a running jump over a yawning pit in the floor. Thanks to being turned Fae, I can get a shit-ton more air time than ever before.

Honestly, if I were still in the business of stealing?

I’d probably get bored pretty quick. It’s a lot easier to steal when your reflexes and physical strength are a hundred times better.

The last obstacle appears, and I squint down at the metal squares.

“A puzzle?” I call out, rubbing my hands together.

The pieces clink as I slide them around the form, trying to think it through.

“What’s my reward?” I ask.

I bite my lip, thinking hard as I stare down at the disparate images on each brass tile.

The top tile’s wrong… so is the far left one.

A few minutes pass, and I finally get the pieces arranged just so. My cheeks heat as I stare down at the message, the metal gate in front of me grinding against stone as it slides open.

“My love is true, my love is fair, my love is you” the tiles spell out in old Fae, a language Arek’s slowly been teaching me.

Slowly, because while I might have certain gifts with my tongue, languages aren’t one of them.

Sweat drips down my face, and I wipe the back of my hand over my forehead as I creep through the opening, still on high alert.

“You’ve found the treasure,” Arek says on a low growl.

The corridor opens up, and I huff a laugh.

Arek lounges on a dais in the center of the room, wearing nothing but a smirk. A sunbeam streams from the ceiling down on his naked body.

I stick my tongue out at him, unable to stop laughing.

“Come and get your prize,” Arek tells me cheerily, gesturing down to his body.

I tap a finger on my chin, circling around him, my efforts at holding my laughter back completely in vain.

“This wasn’t the treasure I had in mind,” I tell him, grinning ear-to-ear despite my best attempts at seriousness.

It’s impossible not to smile around him anymore.

Every day he goes out of his way to make life more fun, more full of love.

Each day is better than the last, because of him.

Finally, I stop, crouching low while he waits—and then I pounce on him.

He catches me in his arms, holding me against his chest. A chest that all chests should be measured against, all hard muscle and smooth skin.

“You know, I think I’m okay with this prize after all,” I tell him, nipping at his shoulder.

“Well,” he drawls. “You’ll be happy to know that I have a cache of jewels under here, either way. You’ll have to get through me first, though.”

I laugh, tilting my head back before lowering my gaze at him. “Is that right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And how would you suggest I get through you?” I bite his ear lobe, and he lets out a hiss of air, fingers digging into my ass.

“I was thinking maybe I could get into you, instead,” he says, rolling me over onto my back on the dais.

I give him an exaggerated wink. “I could be persuaded.”

“Like you, I’ve been told I’m quite gifted in the persuasive arts.”

“Have you?” I bite my cheeks as he dips his hand into the waistband of my loose pants.

“Yes. I’m excellent with my tongue.” He waggles his eyebrows, and I loose another laugh, so happy and light I might float away.

“Then you better show me right away.”

“Can’t keep my goddess waiting,” he agrees, pulling up my shirt and kissing a trail across my stomach. “That would be a crime.”

“It would.” The words come out breathless.

“I’ll let you know when I think you’ve earned your gems,” he says, grinning as he pulls the waistband of my pants down. “It might take a while.”

I moan in response.

He doesn’t let me know for a long, long time.