Page 15

Healing.

That’s what I was supposed to be doing.

But the whispers in my mind had grown… the grimoire was growing more powerful.

Or was I just imagining it?

I looked down at my arms and the faint scars that were all that remained of… whatever had happened.

It was all a little fuzzy.

A chuckle in my mind overrode my own thoughts and an image of Lucian, chest bare as he reached out to me, filled my senses.

“No—”

My voice was a ragged moan as I recoiled and shook my head to the vision away.

I could still feel his hands on my skin.

The caress of his magic…

A candle on the bedside table stuttered and died, and gloom stole over the room.

I muttered a curse as I leaned across the bed and tugged open the drawer. I could have turned on the lights, but lately I preferred the softness of candlelight… everything else felt too bright, too harsh.

I plucked the spent candle from the holder and pressed the fresh one into the pool of melted wax. The barest gesture was all I needed to bring forth the flame.

A small smile tugged at my lips. What would the Sages at the Academy say if they could see me now—

The grimoire’s voice was dark as it slithered between my thoughts. “If they knew where your power came from, they would throw you in a dark cell and you’d never see daylight again.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

I slumped back against the pillows, and a wave of exhaustion rolled over me.

Damn Bastian for his secretive plans. Damn Titus for his brutality. Damn Valen for being so…

I felt his approach before I heard his boots on the stairs.

Valen.

The blood bond was more useful than I’d expected—no more surprises.

A flick of my wrist opened the bedroom door and Valen strode in at a pace that set my heart racing.

His breath was rough and his deep blue eyes were wide with an urgency that set my nerves on edge like a jagged shard of glass.

“What—”

Wet from the rain, his hair fell into his eyes and stuck to his forehead. I felt the chill of dread creep through me as I absorbed his disheveled appearance—had he been running?

Confusion raced through me as I pushed myself up from the pillows.

“What’s happening—”

“We have to leave,” he choked out. “Now.”

“What… what do you mean?” I stammered, searching his eyes for answers that remained elusive.

Valen took a step closer, urgency etched in every line of his body. “I promised you I would get you out of here—”

I shook my head, disbelief coiling around me like a vise. I tried to tether my racing thoughts, but all I could feel was the abyss of uncertainty looming just outside the door.

“I can’t… I need time,” I whispered, the tremor in my voice a stark contrast to the chaos spinning around us.

Frustration flared in Valen’s eyes, and he ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Time? Avril, we don’t have time! Lucian is— He’s… he’s dangerous!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” I snapped. “You promised to protect me!”

He let out a frustrated breath. “And that’s what I’m doing. But we have to go now— Bastian has gone into the city—”

I’d heard his bike leave the estate a few hours ago…

“To do what?”

I was almost afraid to ask.

“He’s going to give Lucian what he wants,” Valen replied hoarsely. “He’s going to find Lucian a traitor that he can torture. I’m sure of it.”

I stared at him incredulously. “A… traitor?”

“An innocent,” Valen said. “I’m sure of it. Lucian won’t care. He’ll believe whatever Bastian tells him. He has us searching the streets of Messana looking for traitors—but they don’t exist!”

I wondered briefly if he was lying.

But only briefly.

“But I—” I started. My voice was shaky as I grappled with the grasp of fear that tightened around my heart. Blood loss and whatever magic had forced that vision into my mind—and onto my body—had drained me more than I wanted to admit.

“Please, let me think. I need to prepare… and I need to… to breathe.”

“You don’t— I thought you wanted to leave?”

Frustration tinged every word, but he wasn’t angry.

“Not yet.”

The grimoire’s voice was insidious, and it was harder to push aside…

“Leave with him— Where will you go? You can’t leave—”

The damned book was right.

Where would we go?

You can’t leave— Can’t leave what?

“Me…”

Valen was staring at me.

“Avril?”

“What?”

“Why can’t you leave?”

Anger streaked through me. “Look at me,” I snapped. “You found me on the bathroom floor a few hours ago— I’m barely healed—”

His expression twisted. “Avril—”

I squashed the unexpected rage down as I clenched my jaw. “I do want to leave— But not tonight.”

Valen stared at me, disbelief etched across his face. Something in him seemed to collapse, and he let out a long, trembling breath. “Alright,” he said finally. “Alright. But tomorrow… Any later and— I don’t know if I can—”

A shiver ran through me as the grimoire’s presence in my mind shifted.

It didn’t like this discussion.

Too fucking bad, book.

“Careful…”

He sank onto the edge of the bed and buried his face in his hands. His shoulders moved with each ragged breath until I reached out and touched his shoulder.

“I’m sorry— I just— I can’t—”

“It’s not— You’re right. I’m an asshole for trying to make you leave so soon after…”

Time—sweet, precious time. A narrow margin, but one I desperately needed to grasp.

His eyes lifted to mine. “Avril, what happened?”

“I—”

“Careful—”

How much could I tell him?

“I don’t know,” I admitted. The lie tumbled off my tongue before I could stop myself. Maybe I didn’t want him to know how close I’d come to the edge—or what I’d found there. “I was just— I was looking for a spell… Titus promised me he would help me. But—”

“We’ve been a little busy,” he said. “Lucian’s paranoia has overtaken him—”

There was no separating the three of them.

I liked it that way.

They were always connected; tied to each other.

Tied to me.

In more ways than one.

He shifted and started to stand, but I tightened my grip on his shoulder. The tattoos that were visible under the edge of his sleeve swirled and writhed like living vines.

Like the ones in the garden.

Like the ones in my dreams.

“You don’t have to go,” I murmured.

“You want me to stay?” There was something vulnerable in the question that made my chest tighten. Conflict and desire swirled in his eyes.

I nodded and pulled him closer, and the chill of his rain-soaked shirt seeped into me as I wrapped my arms around him.

“Everything is going to be alright,” he murmured into my hair.

“Liar,” the grimoire whispered, and I closed my eyes to try to ignore it as I pressed my face against Valen’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to be alone right now. Not with everything that’s happened—”

He pulled back from our embrace and looked into my eyes, all seriousness and urgency. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

In my mind, the grimoire laughed.

I wanted to shut it out.

I leaned forward and kissed him.

Impulsive. Needy.

A few hours ago, I’d been lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood.

I’d almost died.

I need to feel something.

Anything.

Valen’s lips were cold at first, but quickly warmed as they moved against mine.

I pulled him closer and tried to focus on the taste of rain and salt on his skin. He seemed hesitant—unsure of my sudden need—but as his body met mine, something shifted. His fingers tangled in my hair and his mouth slanted over mine. His kiss was hard and possessive, but he was holding back.

Like I was breakable.

But I wasn’t—not anymore.

When I’d first come to Withermarsh, he and his brothers had relished my ruin… but everything was different now.

I was different.

I pushed the thought aside and gave myself over to the sensation of Valen’s touch. His hands were desperate as they slid down to my shoulders and slipped the straps of my negligee down my arms. The smooth fabric fell away from my skin and slid down my torso, revealing my breasts to his hungry touch.

I bit back a gasp as they trailed across my skin and left shivers in their wake.

He pulled his mouth away from mine to trail kisses over my jaw and down the column of my throat. “Are you sure?” he murmured against my skin. “You’re not—”

I lifted my hands to his hair and held him against me, guiding him toward my breasts. “Don’t tell me I’m not strong enough. I will be .”

My mind was fragmenting under the weight of too many thoughts; the grimoire was relentless as it hammered into my consciousness—a discordant rhythm that threatened to tear me apart.

I arched into Valen’s touch instead and forced all logic and fear aside.

“I don’t want to hurt you—”

Laughter clawed at my throat, but I swallowed it.

“You can’t hurt me,” I murmured. “And you know it.”

Valen pulled back just a little to look at me, but I didn’t want to give him a chance to argue with me—or to say something stupid that might ruin everything.

Instead, I reached down for the hem of his black t-shirt and pulled it up over his torso and over his head.

His tattoos twisted in sinuous patterns over his shoulders and across his chest. Leaves and vines like the ones that clung to the side of the mansion… and the ones in the garden that haunted my dreams.

He leaned in to kiss me again, but I reached down for the button of his jeans.

“Avril—” his protest was soft, and I sat back on my heels.

I pushed a hand through my hair and winced as my fingers rubbed over a patch of dried blood.

Gods, I must have looked…

“What?”

Valen’s jaw flexed.

He wasn’t going to leave, was he?

He stood and I could see the hard outline of his cock against his jeans.

“He’s not leaving,” the grimoire murmured.

No, he wasn’t.

He undid the clasp on his belt and I reached for it and pulled it out of the loops.

He chuckled as I flexed the length of leather between my hands.

Bastian had beaten my ass raw with his belt… and I’d loved it. Every second of that exquisite torture was burned into my mind.

But I didn’t want torture tonight.

Not from Valen.

I threw the belt onto the floor and he smiled as the metal buckle hit the hardwood.

He kicked off his boots, then undid the button fly of his jeans and pushed them down over his hips in a smooth motion.

Fuck, he was so beautiful.

Lean and muscled.

And that cock.

My lips parted slightly at the sight of it.

Hard and proud.

Eager for my mouth.

He stepped out of his jeans and approached the edge of the bed.

I didn’t need to beg—his cock was there, and my mouth watered at the prospect of having the heat of it on my tongue and the sound of his groan in my ears as I took his length without complaint.

I glanced up at him before I reached out to grip the base of his cock. His breath hissed through his teeth as I squeezed gently and sucked the thick head into my mouth.

No finesse, no teasing.

I held him steady as I worked my mouth over the head of his cock, bathing it with my tongue and taking more of his cock into my mouth. I was prepared to gag on the length—I was ready for it. I wanted it.

Valen’s groan was low as I moved my mouth over his shaft. His fingers pushed into my hair and augmented my movements without forcing me to take more of his cock. Steady strokes of my hand at the base of his cock accompanied the movement of my tongue and the suction I applied.

“Fuck, Avril—”

His words thrilled through me and made me braver. Made me take more of his cock.

“That’s right, little bird, take it all. Take what you want.”

I intended to.

The thick head pushed against the back of my throat and my eyes watered, but I didn’t stop as I swallowed every inch of his cock and held him there. His growl was raw, and I knew he wanted to hold my head still and fuck my mouth with abandon—but he didn’t.

I pulled back slowly and inhaled before deep throating him again.

This time, I wasn’t focused on his groan… This time, I was focused on his hands in my hair. Both hands.

With his cock down my throat, I lifted one hand away from his thigh and willed my magic forward.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feel of Valen’s cock in my throat, and the way the pale violet smoke of my magic wound around his wrists.

“Hey—”

He staggered back, pulling his cock from my mouth. I gasped for air as drool ran down my chin and smeared my cheek.

“What the fuck—”

A thin rope of pale violet smoke encircled his wrists and drew them together in front of him.

His eyes were wide, but he didn’t look frightened.

“Come here,” I breathed.

A slight gesture of my hand tugged him toward the bed and he chuckled as he allowed my magic to pull him along.

The violet smoke wound through the elegant wrought iron of the bedframe and Valen had the presence of mind to look a little surprised as he laid back on the pillows.

“This is what you want?” he asked. He tested the strength of his magical bonds.

I nodded as I slid off the bed and let my negligee slide down my body and pool at my feet. Valen’s sharp intake of breath sent a small shiver of pleasure up my spine. He didn’t care what I did to him. He wanted me.

I turned away and walked to the vanity.

The Bloodstone Grimoire lay on the scarred wooden surface and I pulled the blackened silver dagger from the spine.

The blade was sharp—like obsidian. Like glass.

So sharp he wouldn’t feel the kiss of the magically honed edge against his skin.

“What— Avril, what are you doing?”

Valen’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I glanced down at the dagger in my hand.

What was I doing?

He hadn’t seen it—had he?

I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was still bound by my magic, but concern was starting to bleed through the lust in his eyes.

“Are you okay—”

I set the dagger down and turned back toward him. “I’m fine,” I said— Just… wanted to light some more candles.”

A lame lie, but one I could cover with a wave of my fingers.

The candles sputtered to life and Valen relaxed just a little as I walked back toward the bed.

“Get over here and fuck me.”

“That was the plan,” I replied.

I stopped beside the bed and looked down at him. The candlelight flickered over his naked body and caressed his sculpted flesh like a lover.

I trailed my fingers lightly over his hip and up his ribs before moving over his chest. His tattoos swirled beneath my hand, and his eyes held mine as I climbed onto the bed and straddled his thighs.

“How does it feel to be the one in charge?” he asked with a sly grin.

If only he knew how many times I’d taken charge…

“I think I like it,” I replied as I rose up on my knees. His cock twitched, but I had no intention of touching it. Not yet.

I rubbed my hands down my breasts and plucked at my nipples until they were hard peaks. Valen’s eyes devoured every movement hungrily and his cock twitched as I moved my pussy closer, teasing him with my heat.

One hand slid down between my thighs, and I sucked in a breath as I rubbed my clit in small circles and then pushed my fingers inside.

A soft moan escaped my lips as my fingers were drenched in wetness.

“That’s not fair,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I know,” I murmured as I coated my fingers in my arousal and pulled them from my pussy to show him how wet I was.

My fingers glistened in the candlelight, and Valen’s deep blue eyes darkened with lust as he growled and opened his mouth.

Before he could say anything, I pushed my fingers between his lips.

He sucked them hard, but kept his eyes on me as he licked them clean and grazed them with sharp teeth.

“Fucking tease,” he groaned as I pulled my fingers out of his mouth and reached for his cock.

I held him with a firm grip as I rose higher on my knees and rubbed the head of his cock against my soaking slit.

“Fffuu—”

I didn’t need him to beg. I wanted him inside me.

The head of his cock was at my entrance, and he lifted his hips to force me to take him.

But I lowered myself onto him in one swift motion and bit back a scream as he filled me, stretching me to the point of pain—but it wasn’t pain I felt.

It was something else entirely.

Something raw and desperate that matched the dark cadence of the grimoire’s whispers in the back of my mind.

I braced my hands on Valen’s broad chest as I leaned forward and lifted myself off of him and slid back down again. The first few strokes were slow as my body stretched to accommodate his girth and length before I pushed it aside and set a furious pace that left no room for thought or reason.

“Fuck—” Valen gasped. His head fell back and his eyes closed. He fought briefly against the magical restraints that held him and I let out a groan as a tendril of smokey violet magic wound around his throat. It tightened in a subtle rhythm, flexing against his throat while I rode his cock with an intensity that made everything else disappear.

Claiming him the way he and his brothers had claimed me.

It would be so easy to take more of his power—to fill in the weak spots that had been left behind on the bathroom floor…

“Avril—” his voice was hoarse as he opened his eyes and looked at me through heavy lids.

I lifted one hand from his chest and pressed my fingers against my clit, rubbing hard as his cock pistoned into me.

“Yes, little bird—” The words were a growl as his hips surged up to meet mine. “I want to feel you come—”

My head fell back as my pussy clenched around Valen’s cock and a ragged cry tore from my throat.

He thrust upwards, breathless as he strained toward his inevitable orgasm, and I let the bonds of my magic fall away.

The moment he was free, he gripped my hips desperately and he drove himself up into me with brutal urgency.

The second he touched me, my climax broke—jagged and violent.

His release followed mine with brutal intensity.

“Avril—fuck!”

My magic threaded through him and pulled every ounce of pleasure from his body before the world exploded white and everything.

Went.

Blank.

The grimoire’s chuckle woke me.

My eyes darted open, and I stiffened at the possessive weight of Valen’s arm draped across my waist. His breathing was even with the rhythm of sleep, and I carefully turned beneath his embrace to study his face in the cloud-shadowed moonlight.

Even asleep, he looked troubled—brows furrowed, lips parted as though he were about to argue with someone in his dream.

Did he dream?

What violent and cursed visions haunted my stepbrothers in their sleep?

I reached up to touch his face, but stopped myself before I grazed his cheekbone.

The touch would wake him… Would make everything real again…

Deep in my mind, the grimoire coiled around my thoughts.

What had happened before—

Something horrible.

I struggled to remember it, and then the image flooded my thoughts.

The dagger in my hand. The comfort of its weight and the familiar sharpness of the blade.

Why had I picked up the dagger? What was I going to do with it—

“So many questions…”

I drew in a breath as Valen stirred beside me, but he was deeply asleep. I shifted carefully onto my back and stared at the dark damask canopy above my bed as my thoughts drifted like mist over the gardens.

Valen wanted to help me escape.

If he’d said it a month ago, it wouldn’t have seemed possible.

But now?

Now it could be.