Page 47

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Liv

M y palm rested against the cold glass of the airship’s front window. It was too dark to see the land turn to desert as we neared South Aspis, and with all the emotions screaming to be let loose from my little box, I had to move.

My heart thudded in my chest, echoing around the dimly lit halls as I escaped the suffocating silence the twins had settled into.

He was alive , and I didn’t know how to see him again.

When I thought the twins were out of earshot, I let the tears go, and a painful sob escaped me.

I held myself together against the cold wall.

My hands were so pale—fading to white—and in the low light, I glowed ever so softly.

I allowed myself the tears while boxing away the worst of the pain. He was alive, so why did it hurt so much?

A slight tug on my chest made me stand straight, focus sharpening.

The lights in the hall had gone out, and I was cold, my breath misting before me.

My body jerked again.

The hall grew darker, and I stepped forward as the darkness behind me moved in, pushing me almost gently.

I didn’t have to look up to understand what was happening, and my steps quickened with excitement.

Sure enough, the dark crystalline sky, sparkling like a million stars, stretched overhead.

The night sky had never made me feel small, but the crystals floating around endlessly made me feel like if I stared too long, I might become lost in them with my mind fractured.

Wasn’t that already the case? I was seeing things, walking in a dream world, knowing it wasn’t real.

I was vaguely aware I wasn’t wearing boots. The floor had a layer of dust over the stone—no one had travelled this place in a very long time.

An archway marked the end of the hall, darkness behind it. I stopped there, where the airship walls disappeared, becoming black stone. In the ancient language of Night, there was a warning carved above my head. I didn’t need to read it again. I had seen it before.

To descend here is to embrace all that lies in darkness .

It was the same warning written above the caves in the Guardians City, but where that archway led to a staircase going down, this one led to a wall of black liquid.

Lifting a hand, I touched the blackness.

My fingertips disappeared, the black rippling like the surface of a lake.

It didn’t hurt, and it didn’t push or pull or deny me entry, so I walked right through.

Nothingness met me. I didn’t feel cold, hurt, or any sensation at all. It was a sad, lonely place, and I knew if I stayed too long, I would lose my sense of self—lose my way home.

But I was not the only one lost to it.

A presence watched me from somewhere in the dark, making no sound.

I emitted a soft glow, but there was nothing around me to light. Even the surface I walked on didn’t light up, but whatever else was in here—it could see me.

“Please come out,” I whispered. Would he recognize me this time? Or see the Ikhor.

A rattling resounded in the endless space, turning into a low growl. Deep. But not threatening.

It was behind me.

A vibrant, warm energy travelled the length of my body, making every nerve end come alive. It was a warning, but I wasn’t scared. The presence behind me was testing me, probing me, seeing who and what I was.

The deep growl echoed behind my right ear, then my left. Chilling fingertips traced a line down the length of my back. There was a deep breath, and the hand was gone.

Then a whisper made me jump. “You feel it, don’t you little evil?”

I swallowed the wave of heat coursing through me. That deep timber was next to me. I couldn’t see him. But the warmth gathering in my core, the way my body reacted—it was him .

“ Feel what?” I turned to track him, but I saw nothing.

“You felt the pulsing energy between us.”

Behind me again. I turned a second time, and the glow from my skin caught a small section of black fabric before it was out of sight. “Let me see you.”

He circled me.

There was a faint view of a muscled arm. A reflection of a curling horn. Citrine eyes glowing and disappearing before he was the half-beast once more.

“Ikhor.”

My heart sank.

The rumble of his voice was more powerful than it should be for just a man. It was powered by godly magic—by strength and death. Perhaps it was him, but he was something more now.

Closing a fist, I dug my nails into my skin. “Did you forget my name?”

There was a pause.

“I’ve forgotten nothing.”

The power of that voice racked my body, controlling the beat of my heart. I huffed the hair out of my face, holding that fist tight and not letting my irritation rise. “Then you remember you used to call me ‘love’.”

There was a smile in his voice when he said, “I remember.”

I followed the deep timber, not turning my back on him as he circled me, his steps slow and deliberate, his breathing hard as if he had been running.

Fingers ran through my hair, scraping along my scalp before his palm landed on the back of my neck.

He continued circling, keeping me still until he was behind me, teasing the soft skin of my neck with a gentle touch.

“What a situation we’ve found ourselves in.

” He held me in place. “I’m torn on my own desires. ”

My chest rose and fell, but I kept my breathing quiet. “What desires are those?”

Skimming his fingers along my neck, he walked around in front.

The slight glow from my skin reflected off his arm next to my head.

Swirling shadows crept underneath his skin, making me dizzy, but those yellow eyes were gone as he stood before me.

I could make out the line of his strong jaw and caught a faint glimpse of his wolfish smile.

Iridescence flashed as his gaze wandered down the length of my body.

Strands of his dark hair fell past his shoulders, but I could see little else.

He was controlling it, controlling the Aspis.

Hope soared as I realized what that could mean.

“What are those desires, Brekt?” I asked again, my heart skipping as I said his name.

“So bold, Ikhor.” He leaned in closer, enveloping me with pine and leather. “Tempting me. I want to devour you, to take you. I want to kill you yet warn you and make you run far away from me.”

None of those answers were what I had expected. Not even close to what I had hoped for. “Try any of that, and I will show you the power of my magic.”

“And if I wanted to kiss you?” he said seductively.

I shuddered, not sure I was strong enough to resist him. “No.”

He went still, and it should have been a warning, but something about his posture suggested intrigue. “No? Why fight me?” His words were like velvet, dangerous and taunting. Not like an enemy, but a lover. “I don’t believe she would fight me.”

Everyone dreams of reuniting with those they lost. In a desperate attempt to soothe the pain, we picture those miracles. Finding them in a crowd, discovering their death was a lie or maybe one of our prayers actually worked, and a god gave them back.

But his return? This dream place? It’s not what I imagined.

I pictured tears and kisses and words of love. But this? This was violent and messy, and the anger rose.

Brekt was not playing along with my fantasies.

“It would be different if you were Brekt,” I whispered. “Not a beast.”

I shivered in fear, and I swallowed the feeling—it was a surprising taste, sweet and tempting. A delicious mix of longing and instinct to do as he said—to run. Or maybe to kiss him. The extent to which my body was under his control should have been alarming. “What desire do you feel most?”

Brekt’s head tilted unnaturally to the side.

The citrine glow returned, pupils thinning to slits.

“I’ve known you for years. Finding you in this place.

Wanting what was a figment of my imagination.

You were a tender relief from the pain of knowing what future was to come.

” His hand fisted my hair, fingers curling around the strands and holding.

I winced, but didn’t pull away. His breath was hot against my cheek. “Then I discovered you were real.”

I grabbed his ice-cold wrist, trying to pull his hand away. He was too strong. “I am real. You choked me over the railing on the deck, remember?”

A low growl escaped him, sharp and warning.

He was here, but so was the Aspis. It crawled under his skin, watching me through his eyes. It was there in the way he squeezed my hair, making it hurt, bending my head to the side. “Turn the magic off.”

“You really are possessed by the beast,” I spat. “You were never this much of an asshole.”

Ollo’s earlier words slammed into me, but I did as the half-beast asked. I stuffed my anger and disappointment away. I could process it later.

Brekt’s nostrils flared. “Was always an asshole, just gave you the nice version.” The hold on my hair loosened, and his arm dropped.

But he stayed where he was, inclining his head toward mine.

“Then I finally discovered why I dreamt of you bathed in flames. You were sent to destroy me. You were my salvation in my dreams before you became my damnation in the flesh.” Brekt’s eyes returned to obsidian, not warm like they once were.

Instead, they were as cold as a winter night.

“I have kept my sense of self, living inside this place, knowing I am the beast but remembering everything before. Tell me, Ikhor, is it Liv inside that pretty head of yours?”

“Yes.”

His lip curled, showing those sharp fangs. “Then I have one question for you, Liv. And answer me honestly.” He grabbed me by the chin, tilting my face up so I looked him dead in the eye. “When I found you in that cave, did you know what you were?”