Page 24

My heartbeat’s thuds matched the rhythm of my footsteps. Thank God I’d memorized the way back to his room and the way to the bathing area. It was near the spot I’d first managed to get out of this maze-like castle.

Adrenaline and panic surged through my veins. He told me to avoid him until he passed out. He was giving me a chance to live, even after he’d been dead set on ending my life.

I pumped my arms, speeding through the corridor. I was so close to the terrace where I’d fallen through the hole, the only way ‘out’ I could think about escaping through.

The archway was the same as the last time, except once I stepped onto the platform, the sky was no longer lit up, it had turned a deep, blood red, and begun to darken to the void-like color of Corvus’s eyes. Pitch black and seemingly endless.

The hair on my arms lifted like there was an electrical charge, and I panted, shuffling over the dark ground.

My eyes had adjusted to allow me to make out shapes, but there had been so many vines to trip on, so I took my time shuffling over to the hole in the same spot as last time.

Flames licked the sides of the castle from the flickering torches lodged into the side of the brick.

I peered down the sharp incline, and from this vantage, I could see how I had managed to not splat; the side of the castle served as a sort of slide.

I needed a board to sit on, so my skin wouldn’t tear on the rough, brick surface.

Chewing on my lip, I scanned the platform and scrambled around, patting my hands against the crunch of foliage.

The side of my hand banged into the lip of something, and I squinted, wiggling my fingers under the flat surface.

A discolored piece of wood peeked through the dried foliage.

Hastily, I pulled at the board, managing to wiggle it. Getting to my knees, I scrambled to shove away the vines growing around the wood. With one side swipe of my palm, I exposed more of the board.

Yessss , this would work if I managed to untangle it from the vine embedded into the edge.

A frightening roar echoed from inside the castle.

My pulse jumped, but it wasn’t from fear; I felt for him. He sounded agonized.

He’d been so frantic . . . I closed my eyes and let out a gust of air, trying to calm my pounding heart.

The violent image of the sharp bar slicing through his body wouldn’t leave my thoughts, nor would the pain rippling over his features.

The reality was: he was a lonely, pained creature who would spend eternity in agony.

What was I doing? Once I escaped, I could run to the village we’d been to, but how would I survive? The pregnant human I saw had been with a Novian, but would anyone take me in?

I stopped shoving at the dried foliage and stood to face the entrance of the archway, lifting my chin. Swiping my damp palms against the linen dress, I gripped the cross hanging from my neck and waited for him to arrive.

Even if I managed to get back to my world, nothing was waiting for me. Unlike before, the thought of returning didn’t fill me with anything but dread.

I’d gone and screwed myself over—I’d fallen in love with a monster.

I exhaled slowly, acknowledging the truth. Corvus wasn’t misunderstood—he was a cruel, evil creature—who I loved.

And the fact was, if he did become unconscious, he’d succumb to eternal sleep. If it was a restful one, that was something I could perhaps live with, but I’d seen him writhe in agony. If he was trapped like that for eternity . . .

I breathed out slowly, squaring my shoulders.

At least my pain would be fleeting.

It didn’t take him much longer to appear. He heaved at the entrance, eyelids lowered to show a sliver of his pitch-black eyes. Black liquid dripped from the wound on his chest that was already beginning to knit together.

“I said, run ,” he hissed.

A knot throbbed in my throat—painful, aching, and resolved. He’d impaled himself for me; the least I could do was go peacefully.

He moved so fast it was difficult for my eyes to track, and he took my arms in a stiff hold, snarling in my face.

He ripped my dress, pinning me against the rough surface of the wall.

From the pump of his wings, the wind whipped my hair around my face. Corvus forced my legs apart and seated himself deep inside me. He ground himself against me as if trying to meld me to him.

I whimpered, writhing in pleasure, yanking and pulling at feathers on his shoulders. My sex clasped him with just as much desperation as he ground against me. His head dipped and shadows whirled around with a flurry, covering both of us as he lowered his mouth.

I could see my death in his bottomless eyes.

“Corvus.” My whisper cut off with the next twist of his hips.

“No,” Corvus bellowed and doubled over, his claws flexing into my injured arms.

His shadows whipped around him with such violence that it made my hair swirl around my jaw.

Why was he hesitating?

His knees hit the ground with a resounding thud, his cock slipping out of me, and his wings flinching closer to his body. Why had he stopped devouring my soul? I hadn’t had any misunderstandings about where this would lead, but now he was extending the inevitable.

Corvus curled his top lip, and his features crumpled to the point that the bridge of his nose wrinkled.

His hand wound around my throat and squeezed once. I closed my eyes.

“My end is worth you living.” The grip slid to my shoulder and turned painful. Suddenly, I was thrown backward, and my body twisted midair.

A chill crested through my veins, turning me into an icicle.

I screamed, landing on a hard floor. Shadows whipped along the wall of my bedroom. They writhed and pulsated. I got to my feet so quickly that it made the bedroom spin and the tattered bits of the linen dress fluttered around me.

There was no sign of him, and I turned in a circle, taking in the walls of my bedroom.

He was gone, and I was back home. “Corvus!” I ran at the surface I’d come through and pounded my fist into it.

“Lord of Shadows,” I whispered, flattening my palm against the familiar wall.

Nothing answered, and I feared nothing ever would again.