Page 21

Chapter 20

I Said Run

Silvana

R aiden and I returned inside to find everyone still in the library. We went over everything we knew together one more time and decided to wait until Cedar arrived so we could form a plan on where to go from there.

It turned out that once Bastian was in ‘general mode’ as I’d started calling it midway through the meeting, he was no-nonsense. It became quickly apparent why Raiden had taken him on as his general, as well as a friend.

While Bastian was all about getting his men into position and knowing exactly what he needed to ask, Micah somehow had all of the answers. The male knew everyone and everything, and I wasn’t even close to sure where he stored it all in his mind. He seemed so quiet when we’d first met, but once Raiden had finished talking, Micah stepped up and took over without a beat missed.

I was curious about all of them. How they came together, how old they were, where they came from, and if they had any gifts. That was also the most time I’d spent in the company of males I wasn’t killing since Cedar found me all those years ago.

Letting go of the sentimental thoughts flowing through my mind, I brought myself back to the present.

We desperately needed people on the inside who could find out where they were taking all these women—bringing them home was our first real objective and destroying their meeting places and hideouts was our second.

Bastian was contacting some of his people and calling them in to give them tasks on where to go and when to report back. We made sure to attach the appropriate names and locations from what Joel had given us. Raiden was writing his letter to send to the ruler of the Court of Ravens. Micah was talking to Allie about plans and the best way to get the women out safely from what she remembered Bazz and the others saying about where they were taking her.

All we could do had been done for the night, it seemed.

I glanced over at Raiden, trying to decide how much I wanted to push my luck. We’d been getting along shockingly well, and I found myself inexplicably drawn to him.

A part deep inside of my soul felt at home here, and that scared me. I’d never had a home—not a true one I could remember anyway. The one I did somewhat remember wasn’t anything I’d wish to remember, aside from my sister.

Letting out a breath and building up the nerve to stop second-guessing myself, I looked at the male beside me.

“So, My Lord, is that tour still on the agenda?” I asked.

He looked over at me, a smile on his face. “For you, My Queen? Absolutely.”

That fluttery feeling hit my stomach, and I smirked at the nickname. He folded his letter for Paine and set it with the rest of his notes from this evening. “I’ll need to stop by my room before we go, but then we can walk the grounds.”

“That’s one way to get her into bed,” Bastian said from across the table, a huge smirk on his face.

Raiden shook his head and didn’t comment.

As we got up and headed down the hall toward both of our rooms, I decided to ask, “So does everyone here know of your obsession?”

Raiden looked at me, confusion clear on his face. “My obsession?”

“Yeah. You know, with me? Is this how you get females into your bed when the whole ‘I’m the ruler of the whole court and really powerful’ bit doesn’t work? Just act all in love and obsessed?” I could feel the tension in his body rising the longer I spoke, but for some reason, I couldn’t seem to stop. I wasn’t normally the insecure female, but at the same time, I wasn’t normally around anyone who made me feel this way either.

Part of me was waiting for the facade he was putting on to drop, and I was worried it would drop when I finally fell for it. The routine I was sure he threw into the mix to keep his life interesting. I didn’t want to be another conquest he’d achieved. I didn’t know what I wanted if I was honest with myself.

Raiden didn’t reply. As we reached his chambers, he pushed the door open and put all of his notes from the meeting into the side table next to his bed. I took the moment to glance around his room and realized it matched mine perfectly, only it was flipped. That was when it truly hit me.

“You gave me the queen suite?” I asked.

He turned to look at me for a moment, and I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. It could have been annoyance or maybe exasperation. Whatever it was, a sick, twisted part of me was enjoying it.

“Well, I did tell you that you are my queen, did I not?” he growled, slowly walking toward me.

I took a step backward. “I thought that was a joke, to be honest.”

“You’ll find, Silvana, that I’m not much of a joker.” The way my name slipped from his mouth made my core clench again.

I cleared my throat, trying to change the topic before I did something insane, like stripping naked and lying across his bed like a good little slut. I honestly didn’t even know who this female was in my head. I’ve never met her, but fuck is she a fan of this male.

“So. The grounds?” I asked, my voice sounding slightly hoarse.

Raiden clenched his fist a few times and then nodded. “Follow me, my little ice queen.”

He led me through the manor, pointing out various rooms. There was more than one kitchen, five different offices—only two of which were in use by Micah and himself—and fifteen extra bedrooms, not including the suites we occupied. Then there was the conservatory on the back of the manor, that was the one I’d found him outside of, and there was another one that led to the side of the manor. The gardens took up a vast space outside before you hit the forest.

There was definitely more he’d mentioned, but honestly, after a while, my mind stopped working and was too busy focusing on the way his shirt cut down his chest and how it tightened when his arm lifted to point something out to me.

By the time we were outside in the gardens, I was a disaster mentally. All I could think about was how to make him act out the threats he kept throwing my way. There was no way he didn’t scent my arousal the way his fist kept clenching by his sides.

We were strolling through the overgrown pathways, and he was quiet next to me.

“So, what’s next for the Court of Shadows? I mean, after all the Eternal Outcast rebels are dealt with, what do you want to do?” I asked. I was so antsy, I felt as if I needed to talk about something—anything at this point.

He stopped walking and stared down at me for a moment. “The next part of the plan is to woo you, as Micah and I have started calling it. Then convince you to be my queen.” He said it so seriously that I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me.

“No, seriously,” I replied. Raiden just continued to stare at me, not laughing. In fact, he looked incredibly serious right now.

I stopped laughing and stared at him for a moment. “I’m leaving when this is done, Raiden,” I whispered, as if I was afraid if I was too loud it would ruin everything even more than I knew my words were. “I’ll probably go and stay with Cedar for a while in the Court of Ravens and then move on from there. I don’t… I don’t normally stay anywhere.”

He started laughing then. At first, it was quiet but then it grew in strength until I wasn’t sure what to say or do. “Oh, is that so?” he finally asked.

I stared at him for a moment and gently bit my lower lip while nodding my head slowly.

“Well, in that case, I guess I have nothing to lose,” he growled.

“What do you mean, nothing to lose?” I asked quickly, my heart rate increasing more by the moment as I looked into his darkening eyes.

He stepped toward me, and I did my best to hold my ground. I would not show fear. Not to this male, never this male. My breathing all but stopped as he stepped in front of me. Barely any space remained between us as I looked up his chest and into his solid onyx eyes. I swear they looked like they’d gotten darker in the last few moments.

“I mean, I have nothing to lose when I do exactly what I’ve been dying to do since the moment you walked into The Arcane Theater that night.” His hand came up as his thumb gently caressed my jawline. “I crave you, Silvana, every second of every moment. I crave the touch of your skin against mine. I crave the feel of your breath intermingling with mine right before our lips touch. I crave your body pressed against mine in the early morning hours as the sun rises for the day. I crave meal sharing, reading together in the library, everyday things I wish to share with you.”

I didn’t try to form words as his hand fell down from my face and circled around my neck. “I crave the opportunity to build you a throne from the bones of our enemies, so that you may rule by my side until the end of our days, Silvana.”

He didn’t give me a chance to respond before his lips were pressed to mine. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting or mentally preparing for, but this wasn’t it. My entire body felt as if it was on fire. His lips were cool, yet soft. He started gently, but the moment I returned the kiss and parted my lips for him, he was ravenous.

We were devouring each other from the inside out, and it took all of my self-control to remain standing and fully clothed. I’d never been kissed like that a day in my life, and I never wanted it to stop. He gently bit my lower lip and slowly pulled away, breaking the kiss.

I quietly groaned and tried to contain the whimper building in my throat as his lips left mine. Looking up into his eyes, all I could see was longing and pure desire. I needed to know if he was struggling as much as I was. Words are beautiful, but I needed the actions to enforce them. Almost as if he were reading my mind, he growled.

“When I tell you to run, my little ice queen, I want you to run,” he growled. I knew the confusion was written on my face as he took a step closer to me and ran his index finger along my exposed collarbone. My breath hitched. “You heard me, darling. I said run.”

I could feel my eyes widen, but before I could think more about it, I took off into the forest behind us.