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Hope

I t was the second time the world became pitch-black while Hope Gave wind to push the navia. It was impossible to know if she’d been here for forty, fifty, or fifty-five hours, and it didn’t truly matter.

Her mind was an exhausted mumble of panom power and blurry focus, of thoughts that didn’t last long enough to fully understand their meaning to assess if they were important or not. Everything had moved to a second plane, her hyper-fixation being an island she had never set foot on.

The feeling this time was different. She felt it in the way the red moon shone like a red bulb in the middle of a black sea. She felt it in her blood, in her magic, in her heart.

She couldn’t see the island, but she felt it—Orizane was close.

Since the sunset was over, the six courtrades had reined their distinct shadows swirling in a joined effort to reach their goal. Perhaps they also felt the island approaching now. Perhaps their night-vision even allowed them to see the place their god created. Perhaps it was ante meridiem already—the peak of the night—when Llunal’s magic had more influence than any other time.

The corner of her eye caught the glimpse of dark green sparks leaving Ciaran’s fingers.

“Nearly there,” he said next to her, and a gentle shadow caressing her skin made her smile.

He hadn’t left her side while she’d been here, Healing her when her arms cramped due to being extended for too long, her hands from being open, her fingers from being tense. He had taken over the few minutes she had stopped; he hadn’t slept while she hadn’t slept; he had barely eaten as she had barely eaten. She was not glad that he’d put his body under the same strain—he hadn’t needed to. But still, it had been his choice, a choice that screamed You’re not alone , I’m not abandoning you , and We’ll do this together .

The exact same choice Hope would have made for him.

Now, his shadows were as strong and unstoppable as they’d ever been, the metallic shine of his arm pushing them through the night to join the other five beings blessed with Llunal’s shadows. His panom sparks had vanished down the stairs heading off the deck, and she had a good guess why. His dual powers in use for the same cause.

The door to the deck opened, and loud footsteps sounded.

“Mother of all Cardinals, how dark is it?” Ayla asked. If ante meridiem wasn’t already dark, the constant shadow-wielding of the six courtrades made it impossible to see.

“Bloody Fifth hell! Whoever stepped on my foot— be more careful ,” the pretty, blond panom woman said angrily. She had traveled with the others, and Lenna described her as a non-important-but-a-bit-useful-guest .

“So sorry, Arabella,” Lenna’s voice sounded as innocent as a killing blow. “I didn’t mean to. It’s just so dark.”

“Orizane is right in front of us,” Ciaran said. “If our shadows and magic work together, we’ll get there soon.”

A ball of navy sparks illuminated Jake’s hands, the light reflecting his face from underneath as his silver eyes assessed everyone’s positions. He stepped behind Hope and Ciaran. Lenna, Ayla, and Arabella followed, the color of their sparks illuminating their paths. Then the sparks vanished, leaving space to Giving from all of them as the shadows took advantage of the night.

“Final stretch,” Hope whispered, more to herself than the others.

“Final sprint,” Lenna answered. “Fifth Judgment, here we fucking come.”

Cardinals only knew if she’d been sleeping for a day or two, but when Hope finally managed to scrape through the thick wall of dreams in her subconscious, she didn’t remember falling asleep on such a comfortable, warm bed.

She was quite sure there had been red wings in her dreams, but she couldn’t remember if it was her imagination or if the Core Cardinal had truly visited her. There was something like a warning and a sense of urgency that her utterly destroyed physical state didn’t let her grasp.

She had never pushed her body and her magic that much, for that long, with such intensity. It had been worth it, but totally draining in every single sense. She was glad it was over, even if the uncertainty and the bargaining—the trading —that would come next wouldn’t be any easier.

The Core Cardinal had protected her since she was little, visiting her in her bird form while in Verdania, then guiding her through the Vessels when the roixers almost caught them. The times she had spoken with her, she had seemed caring, invested in Hope’s wellbeing and future.

Yes, the questions of her ordeal hadn’t been easy, and the threat that her crystal feather would break if any of her answers were untrue was present every single time Hope looked at Ciaran, wished to touch him, needed to kiss him. But if the Fifth Judgment was a meeting with the Five Cardinals, the Core Cardinal being one of them, Hope couldn’t help but feel hopeful that they’d be granted the Fifth Power. Once they got it, once she got the power, she would kill her father without a second thought, avenging the death of her mother and every other innocent life he had ever taken.

“Hope? Are you awake or still in dreamland?” Lenna’s voice was close, and Hope opened her black eyes to meet her golden ones. She sat in a black armchair, her red, wavy hair was wet as if she’d just showered. “Hi there. Your escort just left to shower, sorry me as your waking view is not as good.”

“My escort?” Hope chuckled, propping her elbow up, taking in the bedroom and the weak sun penetrating through the see-through black curtains. Her bed was gigantic, the thick blankets covering her made of intertwined wool and shadows. The black walls were covered with abstract painting with different shades of grey and white.

Lenna nodded, interlacing her fingers and putting them under her chin. “The one you can’t fuck. I was just thinking about it. You know that glint in his eye when Ciaran looks at you?”

Hope’s eyebrows shot through the roof. She knew exactly what glint she was referring to. That glint in his blue eyes had made her core squeeze countless times, and it had inspired her self-gratification up to seven times in the space of a week.

“Of course I know that glint.”

“That glint can only mean one thing, Hope.” Lenna lifted her eyebrows repeatedly, grinning. “He has to be fucking filthy in bed.”

Hope inhaled sharply, a weak moan leaving her throat without her permission at the thought as the door opened and Ciaran walked in. His nostrils flared, and his eyes—his very-much- glinting eyes—trailed from her ones to her bottom lip. The bottom lip her teeth raked.

“Oh, perfect timing.” Lenna snorted. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” With a casual wave and a side glance that wished for filthiness, she slammed the door and left them alone.

Ciaran’s eyes didn’t move from her mouth, and his feet didn’t move from the other side of the room, as if he was trying to control himself. “You’re awake,” his voice was low.

Hope coughed. Yes, she was very awake. Definitely too awake for her own—for their own—good. “Awake indeed.”

“Were you and Lenna—? Did I interrupt—”

Her jaw dropped open as she held the blanket up to her chest. “No, you didn’t. Nothing that couldn’t be interrupted.”

He swallowed, his eyes glazing. “I can smell how awake you are, Hope.”

Her eyes widened, her core tightening. She should shut her mouth and talk about the weather, the bedroom, the island they were on. Talk about anything that wouldn’t feed this ever-growing hunger and soul-consuming need that could end both them and their world.

“We were just debating.” She cleared her throat.

“Debating?”

“Whether you’d be filthy in bed or not.”

His eyebrow cocked, the metal ring on his lip bobbing as he tried not to smile. “And what conclusion did you reach?”

Now it was Hope’s turn to swallow as she sat against the headboard. “You said you come thinking about what you’d do to me. Perhaps . . . Perhaps you’re not the only one who is thinking about the other.”

The low groan emanating from his throat made her core wet and ready. “I’d fuck you senseless in every possible way. I’ve had centuries to gather ideas.”

She couldn’t take her eyes away from the long, hardening shape protruding against his pants. “I’m glad we at least have a good time imagining.” If they wanted a country or a world to live in, their desires and fantasies had to stay in their imagination.

“We could imagine . . . at the same time.” His metallic hand ventured inside his pants, and when he freed his length, Hope gasped. His cock was huge and thick, veins marking across its magnificent side. She never thought she’d wish to be a metallic hand so desperately.

She wet her lips as one hand repositioned the covering blanket and her other hand found the rim of her underwear. Her underwear was as wet as her core.

“I wish I could rip that off with my teeth,” Ciaran growled, his metallic hand pumping his length with a tight grip, his other hand clenched in a self-restraining fist.

Her two fingers circled around her clit with the same fast pace as he pumped himself. She would never be brave enough to say it out loud, but Hope wished she could pump him herself. She wished she could suck his beautiful cock until she left him dry.

She looked at him, still dressed in black as he continued the work she was so jealous of. When she lifted her hand, she Took his clothes one by one, the muscles on his arms and legs, on his abdomen and chest, tense and marked as he tilted his head backwards in anticipation.

He groaned, his eyes darkening to a shade of dark blue. “I want to see you, Hope.”

A part of her wanted to stay covered even as she touched herself while admiring him. Another part wanted to stop resisting the urge to remove her cover, to allow him to see her as well.

The bravery won against the shyness, and Hope Took her blanket and her trousers. Ciaran moaned when he saw how wet she was, the shape of her hand pushing against her underwear as she touched herself without pause. The shirt came after, her bare breasts exposed, her peaked nipples hard and begging for touch and taste they wouldn’t get.

“Fuck, Hope,” his voice was hoarse, his pumping harder, faster.

Her head tilted backwards, her eyes half-closing as she gave her clit a hard, painfully enjoyable time. Only then, she Took her underwear away.

Hope opened her legs on the bed, bending her knees, allowing him to see her. All of her.

She couldn’t be more exposed. She was a forbidden offering to him.

The desire in his heated eyes, on his extremely hard length, on his non-stopping arm, was desperate and raw. His moan met her own. “What I would do to you isn’t of this world.” Dark green sparks and shadows jumped from his clenched fist. “Let me—Just let me try something.”

She needed whatever he wanted to try, and she trusted him fully. He wouldn’t put them and their world at risk. “Be. Careful,” she begged between ragged breaths.

He bit his bottom lip as he wielded shadows from his fingers towards her. Towards her exposed, soaked core. She gasped, begging for them to come faster. The blood-tasting blessed by Llunal was permitted, so why wouldn’t shadow—

Her gasp interrupted all her lines of thought. His shadows wrapped around her hands and pinned them above her head against the headboard. More shadows covered her breasts, pressing them together and pulling her nipples. His hand moved in the air, ordering the movements of the shadows, guiding them to his will, and when the last swirls of darkness arrived, there wasn’t a trace of gentleness in Ciaran’s dark, pleased eyes.

Shadows circled her clit, and the cold touch against her flesh was delightful and unexpected. The way they circled her masterfully was otherworldly. He wielded his satisfying shadows as he pumped, pumped, pumped himself.

Her legs shook with pleasure, her loud moans not stopping, and when she tipped over the edge, he did with her.

They came together, and the world was still whole.