22
Acrackling fire beckoned Dromak, Uzadaan, Izgath, myself, and a few Vezet? they’d grown close with during their time in the army to sit as we watched the road in the distance. Gnim and Grex were helping Jaku with the chaos inside the camp, only growing as more and more groups arrived in Uzhhorod, coming from nearly every direction except due north.
By midday, the flow of Demons had slowed to a trickle, and after we ate a light meal, it stopped altogether. Just as we handed over our empty plates to a nearby washing station, Jaku trotted over, carrying with him an air of excitement.
“Hurry and dress in your new armor. The Hadvezér and Parancsok are coming for the viewing ceremony shortly,”
he told us, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to tidy it.
“Yes, sir,”
we said in unison like the well-trained soldiers we were.
When our Százados strode away, I whispered to Izgath, “What’s a viewing ceremony?”
“The important army leaders want to see all the fresh blood at once,”
Dromak butted in, offering me a mischievous grin. “They’ve got to size us up, decide if we’re enough. But I know without a doubt we are. This time, we’ll slaughter all those fucking Angels and take Keleti for ours.”
The other Vezet? echoed his sentiment with bangs of fists against their chests. All fell into excitable laughter as they rose and headed for their respective tents. Izgath hung back and walked with me. “Relax, Assyria, nothing to be afraid of. While we’re still together, I’ll protect you, warn you if you need to be careful.”
“Thank you,”
I whispered, not realizing I’d been twisting my fingers together until Izgath grabbed my hand. Blowing out a breath, I dropped them to my sides.
The new leather armor hung over the back of a chair, and I quickly donned it, not wanting to be late and draw attention to myself. The chest piece was a little too tight over my stomach, but there was no need for me to visit one of the stands to switch it out when I could simply redo my magic to fill it out perfectly. After pulling on the standard issue pants, I shoved my feet into my boots and fastened them. Somehow, dressing in the clothing that I’d seen Izgath, Uzadaan, and Dromak wear during our journey from Stryi made me feel more official in my role.
It was a shame that I wouldn’t remain in it for long. Izgath wouldn’t know I was missing, possibly ever, after we were separated. A wave of sadness swept through me at the thought of never seeing him again. But that was what I had wanted all along—a fresh start and a new life. I couldn’t remain in the army if I wanted either of those.
I wanted to be Assyria, and the army was no place for a female, let alone a female like me.
Swallowing down the knot in my throat, I dipped back into the open air, the roar of activity increasing to a cacophonous crescendo as shouts rang out in all directions. Százados and Vezet? corralled their soldiers, some with more force than others, toward the outer edges of the camp. Males hurriedly strapped on weapons, smoothed back their hair, and bumped shoulders with one another as they flooded the narrow spaces between the tents, tearing up the dirt beneath their boots as they made their way toward the open space beyond.
Mind struggling to catch up, I was swept up in one such wave, carried among those in the Lovak Squad. Jaku strode at the head, shouting instructions at us. The thunder of my heart in my ears made it impossible to hear his words. Completely surrounded, totally at the mercy of the males around me, and vulnerable to exposure like I’d never been before, it took everything I had left in me not to panic, not to scream, not to race away.
There was nowhere to hide should my magic fail.
Like a spark of hope among the darkness, Izgath appeared at my side. “Vagach,”
he teased, “you better pull it together before Parancsok Olet sees you, he doesn’t take kindly to anyone showing fear.”
The smile he boasted didn’t reach his eyes, as if he too were as nervous as I was about the possibility of exposure.
I let out a weak chuckle. “You can’t blame a Kormánzó of a small vidék for feeling a bit nervous around so many Demons at once.”
Morrt barked a laugh behind me, nearly causing me to jump out of my form. “You can take a male out of the countryside, but you can’t take the countryside out of the male.”
I faced him, trying and failing to plaster an easy smile across my face. “Exactly.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ll be alright, Kormánzó Vagach. Soon you won’t even notice them all.”
“Do you speak from experience?”
I asked, needing a distraction from my spiraling thoughts.
“Aye,”
he responded. “Took me about a week to get accustomed to the chaos. Now I have a hard time sleeping without it. Was too quiet down in Stryi for me.”
Before I could say anything else, we broke into the clearing. Immediately, my lungs inflated, grateful to have room to move, to breathe, again. Jaku and Dromak gestured and shouted ahead of us, pointing toward an open spot about a thousand feet away.
Izgath dropped his voice low. “Round up your unit and have them march in formation to that spot. You will have more attention on yourself than you want, with the Vezet? of other squads sizing you up. Do Jaku proud and he won’t say anything.”
I nodded quickly, then broke away from Izgath. I’d learned to lead over this past month, and I could do this. Morrt hovered nearby, offering me an encouraging half-grin as I raised my fingers to my lips and whistled through them. “Soldiers, to me!”
I shouted. A dozen feet away, Izgath repeated the action, and beyond, Uzadaan did the same.
The river of males split into four smaller streams, three to us and the larger one beyond, where Dromak, Gnim, and Grex organized their units. A quick glance over my shoulder told me Jaku watched us all intently.
Morrt was the first in formation, followed quickly by the others who had belonged to Zurronar. The recruits from Stryi settled behind them. “Listen up, our Parancsok is coming to assess us. Appearances are important, and you need to look sharp. No fucking around. Eyes and backs straight, attention focused on your task. Puff up those chests and think about who you are. Soldiers of the Demon army!”
In unison, they beat their chests and shouted, the sound carrying with it a charged, excited air. Without waiting, I spun on my heel and led us in the direction of the gathering, trying to channel the energy and attitude ricocheting between us into my self confidence. The footsteps behind me sounded more like a death knell than the formidable force they were supposed to be—but that was only my interpretation. Compared to some of the other units, mine was sharp and precise, and I was grateful for the guidance of the others in making them this way.
Females weren’t given much in this world. It was only because I was pretending to be a male that I had anything at all. And no matter what happened next, I would remember the power flowing through my veins in that moment, how good it felt to lead, to command, and that it was possible for someone like me to do it.
As we lined up for inspection, whispers were absent, as if the seriousness of our situation bled into the pores of every new recruit. The only sound was the rhythmic marching of boots against the rocky earth, shaking loose stones beneath our feet. Yet we couldn’t look down at them to ensure our footing. We were soldiers now, and we had to act like it. Every gaze was straight forward, every weapon fastened in its place, and every oiled piece of armor shone in the late afternoon light.
Situated on the rolling hills, the Demon army appeared like an ocean of rage, ready to crash against the shores of the Angel Realm and capture what was ours. With the angle, perfectly straight lines were impossible, and yet the fervor, the organization, the dedication was unmistakable. It hung in the air like the salty spray of the waves after they collided with massive, immovable rocks.
These males were prepared and willing to die for one another and the rest of our realm.
In front of all the Százados, a break in the sea of bodies would allow the Parancsok to walk through and examine each squad. I locked eyes with another Vezet? across the way. A subtle dip of his chin acknowledged me, and I returned the gesture before peeking over my shoulder at the males under my command. They stood dutifully at attention, waiting for what was to come.
A breeze swept across us, nearly yanking a shiver from my body. But it wasn’t the sudden gust that caused my lungs to constrict. No, it was the sight of twelve horses cresting a hill in the distance.
And at the front, a lone black beast surged forward, foam frothing around his bit. Two red-eyed hounds raced alongside him.
And atop his back was the most monstrous male I’d ever seen.
An ebony carved skull hid most of his face, with wicked horns spearing into the air behind him. Burgundy eyes ignited as he ensnared all present in his wicked aura. Time slowed to a crawl, each thud of his horse’s hooves against the ground sounding more like a death knell.
No one needed to speak the male’s name aloud, for there was no denying who it was.
The Halálhívó.
The Fates-given hero of the Demons with the power to raise the dead.
A cold sweat dripped down my spine as I remained fixated on him. He was every bit as intimidating as the others had painted him to be.
The Halálhívó came to a stop. So too did the world.
The army held a collective breath as he dismounted, unearthly in how fluidly he moved and with a lethality that only came with cold-blooded killing. I had to dig my fingers into my palms to prevent the tremor that wanted to wrack my frame as he approached.
With the barest of slits revealing his violent burgundy eyes, it was impossible to discern what he thought of his new army. The fear that settled deep in my gut told me nothing pleased him except blood.
At his heels, the two dogs matched his long stride, both their gazes trained straight ahead. Long, sleek black fur coated their bodies, and as one pulled back his lips to lick them, he flashed rows of sharp fangs meant for ripping flesh.
As he entered the line of soldiers, each fell to one knee, lowering their foreheads to their forearms in an offer of deference to the Halálhívó. Terror held me so firmly in its grasp that I nearly missed kneeling with my squad. As he passed, the army breathed, and my knees wobbled as I straightened. Like he was the center of the world, I couldn’t look anywhere else as a rippling wave of bodies continued to kneel and rise.
“Vagach,”
Izgath hissed beside me, and I snapped my attention forward once again as a male I assumed was Jaku’s superior officer approached. He took his time examining each squad around us, stopping to speak with the other Százados.
Finally, he reached us. We offered him a salute, then resettled into our attentive stances. “Százados Jaku,”
he greeted our leader. “I trust that your journey was uneventful?”
“Aye, Parancsok Olet. I bring to you two thousand new recruits,”
he replied.
“And how many will be slotted for enhanced training?”
Parancsok Olet asked. That was the euphemism they had been using around the war camp for those of us with more useful powers on the battlefield. A day’s worth of overheard conversations was enough to learn that those with cardinal and crimson eyes were considered disposable.
“Roughly one hundred and eighty, sir,”
Jaku said, chest puffing.
If Parancsok Olet was pleased or displeased with the number, he didn’t show it. His armor was different from the Halálhívó’s, and even the others who walked past him and spoke with other Százados. The metal matched his maroon eyes, and other than the black armor that adorned the Halálhívó, every high ranking officer’s attire mirrored the orbs in their skulls. None boasted a helmet like his either. If they wore one, it had a visor to reveal their face, or it remained tucked under their arm as they spoke to their subordinates.
Filing that information away for later, I returned my attention to their conversation.
“Tomorrow, separate out those under your command. We must make haste with the Angel army now past Lutsk,”
Parancsok Olet ordered, letting his gaze drift past Jaku to examine each of us individually. I straightened ever so slightly under his heavy regard, hoping to remain unremarkable and missable. At my back, I sensed the males in my unit do the same.
“Yes, sir,”
Jaku replied, offering him another salute.
Parancsok Olet dipped his chin, then strolled on to the next Százados. I couldn’t help but return my attention to the terrifying Halálhívó, now on the verge of cresting a nearby hill. He stopped suddenly and spun to face one of the males teetering on the hillside. In one long stride, he towered over the male, and I gulped, fear licking its way up my spine and gripping my lungs for him.
The male nearly bent backward in an attempt to put space between them, his face devoid of all color. One of the dogs growled, then feinted a lunge toward him. To his credit, he didn’t jump backward or fall apart, as I most certainly would have under the intense scrutiny the Halálhívó offered. As soon as it had begun, it was over, and he strode away, his powerful footsteps shaking the ground beneath him.
I exhaled, not realizing how long I’d been holding that breath.
“If I ever found myself on the Halálhívó’s bad side, I’d just kill myself right then and there,”
Dromak snickered from Izgath’s other side.
“He’d probably enjoy watching you do that instead of doing it himself,”
Izgath sniggered.
“Does he truly kill his own soldiers?”
I whispered back, not wanting to draw too much attention our way but dying from curiosity.
“Aye. Mostly for breaking his precious rules. One time a male–”
Domak began, a hint of bitterness in his tone, but Jaku hissed at him.
“Gossip later.”
The glare he offered us had our teeth snapping shut immediately.
Again, I watched the Halálhívó, the leader of the entire Demon army. Understanding of why the others were so enamored with him crept into my mind. Facing him in battle would be horrifying if the intensity of the chill nipping at my bones was any indication. His sheer size was intimidating, but the aura that surrounded him intensified it tenfold.
Yet an ember of rage ignited in my chest the longer he stalked through the lines. If it weren’t for Kral Xannirin and him, I’d be allowed to retain this position as a female. Without this Fates-damned war, the plague wouldn’t have swept through the realm and claimed thousands of lives in and around Stryi. My marriage to Vagach could have had an end once he began abusing me. Olrus wouldn’t have had to lie for me, to risk his life so I could escape with mine. Fuck, my entire life could have taken a different path if it weren’t for the two of them.
But most importantly, everyone I loved would still be alive.
I gritted my teeth around the grief that clawed its way up my throat, burning the backs of my eyes. In the distance, the Halálhívó paused to inspect another group, all of whom straightened to a painful point. The remainder of the viewing ceremony passed with my eyes tracking his every movement, like prey observing the movements of a predator in a desperate attempt to survive.
Only when he smashed the ground beneath his feet, rumbling the loose rocks beneath mine as he returned to his horse was I able to rip myself away. Brilliant rays of gold speared through the sharp peaks in the distance as the sun began its daily descent, casting everything in an ethereal, dreamy light.
But this wasn’t a dream; it was a nightmare come to life.
“Once we return to our section, settle in for the night. Tomorrow morning, Parancsok Olet will gather those of you selected for enhanced training to take to your new location,”
Jaku explained, shouting over all the other Százados relaying similar information to their squads. “You already know who you are, and I expect you to be at attention bright and early when he comes to collect you. Your service to the Kral is important, but your worthiness before the Fates is moreso. Show the Parancsok what you are made of and why the Giver blessed you with such immense power!”
I beat my chest in time with the others, then saluted Jaku. We fell silent, poised on the moment as he examined our two thousand strong group one last time. “Dismissed,”
he commanded. Like the mountains had exhaled, the entire group relaxed, laughter and chatter soon filling the air as males grouped up with their friends and picked their way back to camp.
I fell in step with Izgath and Uzadaan, strolling behind the group, in no hurry to return to the chaos that awaited. At least the Lovak Squad was situated on the periphery, and not toward the center. Even from a distance, it looked like nothing more than a sloppy mess. Somehow, despite the rocky terrain, the thousands and thousands of footsteps pounding around the camp had torn the ground beneath it to shreds. Perhaps the capital would be able to feed itself after all, since the boots had so readily tilled the earth.
“Are you worried for your family, Izgath?”
I asked him. Parancsok Olet had mentioned that the Angel army neared Lutsk, where he’d told me his family lived. I thought of his mother’s chickens too and wondered if they’d been snatched by the Demons army as a means to feed the soldiers.
His garnet eyes were hard and downcast, as if the weight of Parancsok Olet’s news dragged him toward the earth. Rather than respond to my question, he said, “I suppose one last dinner is in order before the two of you go on to greater things?”
A touch of bitterness filled his tone, and I wondered exactly what he was feeling, first learning that we’d be separated and then learning that the Angels had overrun Lutsk.
Uzadaan groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Only if we find Ur. The rest of the cooks near us are terrible.”
“How do you know that? We’ve only been here a day,”
I pointed out, my attention still locked on Izgath. He refused to look at me, despite my subtle attempts to garner his attention.
“The squads normally arrange themselves in the same order when we’re all together. Anytime we’re near Madar and Kutya, we get terrible cooks. When you’re out there,”
Uzadaan jerked his head north, “you want good food and a comfortable bed more than anything. Though both are difficult to come by.”
Yet another reason I needed to slip away among all the chaos.
“Will you miss Izgath and Dromak?”
I asked Uzadaan.
He snorted as Dromak sauntered up, hands stuck deep in his pockets. The wry grin he sported spoke of nothing but trouble. “I will not miss Dromak’s boulder-sized ego or the way he flexes constantly after training,”
Uzadaan said, louder than necessary.
“Hey! I heard that,”
Dromak grumbled, his face falling immediately. The three of us burst out laughing, though the smile on Izgath’s face didn’t reach his eyes.
“Come on, Dromak, we’re going to get food.”
I gripped his thick shoulder and steered. “I know that’s your favorite.”
“Aye, and don’t you forget it when you and Uzadaan go off and leave me all alone with Izgath,”
he retorted. The aforementioned male rolled his eyes.
“You’ll finally have him all to yourself. It’s what you’ve always wanted, after all,”
Uzadaan teased, grinning widely. To see him opening up before the four of us were separated was bittersweet.
“I swear to the Fates, it’s not like that,”
Dromak huffed, but his face lit up as we continued to tease him.
“I will miss this,”
I said honestly. Their camaraderie had gotten me through the worst of this transition, and they’d welcomed me as a friend despite knowing nothing about me. For which I was grateful, because I’d done a terrible job at pretending to be Vagach. The three of them were easy to talk to, and I’d never had friends like them before—mostly because males and females didn’t mingle much thanks to Priestess Anara’s sharp eyes and sharper tongue.
Izgath’s stare bored into me. “I will miss this too.”
Heat crept up my neck and I secured my gaze on a sharp peak in the distance to avoid being caught with a mix of emotions written across my face. Breezy conversation flowed the rest of the way to Ur’s food station, though the volume of it increased as more and more males surrounded us in an attempt to eat, bathe, and settle in for the evening before everyone was split in the morning. All the while, I scanned our surroundings, looking for any path out that would keep me mostly hidden, and even more so, for the priestesses I had spotted earlier. If I was being honest with myself, that was the only way out of here without raising too many questions. So long as I was far away before they uncovered the stripped female, I would be safe. I had a few coins left in the pouch Olrus packed for me, hopefully enough to purchase new attire, food, and possibly even transport to another part of the Demon Realm.
Olrus.
The thought of the old Demon reached between my ribs and squeezed my heart. How could I have gone so much time without thinking about him? My stomach twisted around the food. I’d never received the raven he’d promised to send speaking of my disappearance.
Something must have happened to him. He must have been discovered helping me escape or someone must have discovered Vagach’s body. Oh, Fates, I had to return to Stryi to check on him. I couldn’t lose him too.
“Vagach, you alright?”
Uzadaan asked, snapping me back to reality.
Quickly, I shoveled the food into my mouth and nodded.
“He looks like he just saw an Angel fucking his wife,”
Dromak snorted, sipping from his drink to cover his teasing grin.
I choked, food flying from my mouth at his unexpected comment. The three roared with laughter as I desperately tried to clear my airways. Uzadaan leveled a hard smack on my back, forcing whatever was stuck in my throat flying forward and straight onto Dromak’s face.
Wide-eyed horror played out across it, and then I was laughing too, unable to contain my amusement with the utter absurdity of the situation. Tears streamed down Izgath’s face as he clutched his abdomen, howling with laughter. With a look of utter disgust, Dromak swiped the wad of half-chewed food from his cheek and flung it at Izgath, only for it to fly past him and land on the shiny armor of Jaku, who had appeared at the head of our table at precisely the wrong moment.
“What in all the worlds has gotten into you four?”
he asked, brows pinching as he glared at his sullied armor. “And what is this?”
“You don’t want to know,”
Uzadaan grinned, using his dining cloth to swipe it away. Izgath used his to dry his eyes, while I dabbed my mouth with mine.
Jaku rolled his eyes and then continued on with whatever message he was here to deliver. “Madar is sending us two males to replace Uzadaan and Vagach as Vezet?. Please welcome them, nicely, when they join us later this evening.”
“Please don’t tell me its Drul and Ikket,”
Dromak groaned, bracing his elbows on the table and rubbing his temples.
“Ikket isn’t that bad,”
Izgath butted in.
“Says you. When we were in the Es? Forest, he found one of those giant leaves filled with water and tricked me into standing beneath it. I was soaked for days!”
Dromak protested, slicing Izgath with a sharp look.
“Suck it up, Dromak, because they’re joining us,”
Jaku stated, his lips twisting into a mischievous smile.
“You know, Jaku, I’m beginning to think you like torturing me, you sadistic bastard,”
Dromak snipped, leaning back and crossing his thick arms over his chest.
Izgath laughed and patted him on the shoulder with all the condescension he could muster. “You make it too easy.”
“I’ll fetch you both when they arrive to settle in. We’ll need their help in the morning,”
Jaku replied, glancing beyond us to the swell of people moving about.
“Yes, sir,”
Izgath and Dromak said in unison. Uzadaan and I dipped our heads as our Százados departed.
Draining the last of my drink, I sighed, drinking in the feeling of being with my friends one final time. “Well, Uzadaan and I have a big day tomorrow. Better rest up before then.”
Pushing back from the crowded table, I rose, lifting my dining ware and preparing to depart.
Izgath mimicked me. “I’m tired from our journey as well. You two coming?”
Dromak picked his teeth with a small wooden stick. “I’ll stay for a bit, see if I can snag an ale from someone. The Halálhívó might not allow it, but there’s always some around.”
Uzadaan shook his head.
“We’ll regroup later then,”
Izgath said, following me to the washing tent a few paces away. After handing over our plates, cups, and forks, we dodged Demons coming and going, carving a path back to the Lovak squad’s section.
The light was quickly fading, and by the time we reached our adjacent tents, darkness had fallen over the war camp and all of Uzhhorod. I made to slip into mine, but Izgath grabbed my wrist. “Assyria, wait.”
Spinning, I hissed, “Don’t say my name, it’s not safe.”
He glanced around us, finding the row completely empty. “Are you not going to say goodbye?”
“We still have through the morning,”
I said, my voice no more than a whisper as I stood there, facing the male with whom I had this undeniable connection, appearing as the male who had abused me.
But I had hoped to leave without having to say goodbye.
The shine to his garnet eyes was painful, and my heart was already so slashed with grief that I didn’t want to—couldn’t—say any more goodbyes.
Everyone I loved died; everyone who loved me died.
I didn’t want that fate to befall Izgath.
He took a step toward me, and I took one backward, the canvas of my tent brushing against my back. “Then we have until morning,”
he breathed, backing me into it with the intensity of his gaze alone.
My low belly clenched with the promise held in his tone. The logical part of my brain screamed at me to refuse him, to tell him to leave so I could make my escape. Yet, I couldn’t bring my mouth to form the hateful words.
He closed the space between us. “Drop your magic, Assyria. Let me see you,”
he whispered.
I did as he bid, shrinking into my small frame, Vagach’s clothes draping me like heavy curtains. “Izgath–”
He put a finger to my lips, slicing through the protest I was about to give. “The Weaver will bring us back together again, Assyria. This isn’t the end of us.”
Tears scorched the backs of my eyes, and I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel them and gaze upon Izgath through the haze.
How had he known exactly what I needed to hear?
The finger on my lips brushed across my cheek and caught the drop rolling down it. “No tears for me, beautiful.”
I dropped my gaze and I shook my head. “I can’t do this.”
With a hooked finger, he used my chin to tilt my face up at him again. “Yes, you can. We’ll tell Uzadaan and he will take care of you out there, until we can be together.”
“Can we trust him?”
I breathed, a fresh wave of sorrow and apprehension rising to my eyes.
Izgath swiped the tears away again. “I trust him with my life.”
“Okay,”
I whispered. Wetness smeared against my cheeks as I blinked, and then Izgath was kissing me, stealing my breath and my sorrow in a single swipe of his tongue. His strong hands gripped either side of my waist and hoisted me into the air. My legs wrapped around him instinctively, and I kicked off the heavy oversized boots as he carried us to my bed.
Our lips never parted as he settled us on it, his large, hot body pressing into mine. With a roll of his hips, his hardness dug into my thigh, and my core throbbed with need. His fingers were incredible, but I wanted to feel him inside me too. We deserved that much before we had to say goodbye. The world spun as I tangled my fingers in his hair, too overcome with want to break apart for air. I tugged him to me, and he pressed harder, as desperate for me as I was for him.
Air flooded my lungs as he broke our kiss, moving his mouth along my jaw and down to my collarbone. “I’ve got you, Assyria.”
He bunched up my shirt, revealing my bound breasts. With each press of his lips against my skin, he whispered my name, and I lost myself to the smooth, silky sound of his voice.
“Izgath,”
I whispered back, using my grip in his hair to direct his lips to my nipples straining against the fabric. In one smooth motion, he unbound them and sucked one into his mouth, dragging his teeth over the peak. I hissed, arching into him. Those sensual tendrils of his magic unfurled and caressed me, and I groaned, long and low as I flopped back again.
“Let me make you feel good,”
he murmured against my breastbone.
“Yes,”
I breathed.
Snatching me upright, he tore my shirt overhead and tossed it and the band to the side so I was bare to him from the waist up. He wasted no time in leaning back and removing my pants and the rest of his clothes. When he resettled between my thighs again, his cock nudged at my slit. But he did not enter me; instead, he continued to work his tongue over my breasts and magic over my skin.
I watched with rapt attention as he sucked and cupped my breasts, my hands trailing over the hardened muscles bunching and flexing around his shoulders. The knot of hair atop his head came tumbling down as I tugged the leather strap free, the ends tickling my skin.
The sensations he delivered made the world around us melt away until all I could think about was him, the way his body pressed against mine, where his mouth would go next, and how much I wanted to remain like this for the rest of eternity. Forget the war, forget the Angels, forget my name for the pleasure he delivered.
Izgath lifted his head from my belly and leveled a serious gaze. “I can’t let you go off to war, Assyria. I need to know you’re safe. Marry me and I’ll send you to my parents, wherever they are. They’ll care for you until I return.”
His words stole the air from my lungs. “But, how, I mean I can’t marry again–”
“Change your name, your appearance, use your magic to help us. We’ll sneak away tonight to Uzhhorod and find a priestess. It happens all the time in the army,”
he said in a rush.
He moved lower so that his mouth hovered just above my core. His hot breath fanned against it, sending a rippling shiver through my body. What he was offering was exactly what I needed—an escape. But did I want to tie myself to another male so soon? Izgath would protect me, could protect me, had protected me. If I refused and was shuffled off, along with Uzadaan, the risk of being discovered was so high that my death was nearly imminent.
I still had so much life to live.
“Yes,”
I breathed, and the grin that split Izgath’s face healed some of those deep gouges in my heart in an instant. He kissed my core, then returned his mouth to mine, gripping himself and lining with my entrance.
“Fuck, Assyria, I need to be inside you now,”
he groaned against my mouth, the head swiping at my clit before dipping down.
My answer was a roll of my hips that rubbed him against my slit.
His thumb moved to the apex of my thighs, circling there and sending sparks of pleasure shooting across my heated skin. “I’m a lot bigger than my fingers and I don’t want to hurt you,”
he murmured, lowering himself to suck on that spot under my ear.
“You won’t,”
I whimpered as he worked faster, his cock pressing harder against me. The heat of his body pressed into mine, while his magic brushed against any exposed skin. His entire attention was focused on me and my pleasure, and I’d never felt so safe, so protected in my life.
A whimper slipped past my lips and into the open air when he broke our kiss. “Assyria,”
he breathed, gazing down at me with such devotion that despite my doubts, I knew I’d made the right decision. The way he said my name was like a prayer, more reverent than any he’d said to the Fates as I led our daily rituals.
He hiked one leg up higher, preparing to enter me. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as he parted my folds and swiped himself through my arousal pooled there. Wetness gushed between us, so slick that the movement between us was audible. “Deeper,”
I panted, tension coiling low in my belly like a snake preparing to strike with just the right movement.
He tightened his grip on my hip, and I tried to relax and allow him entrance. His glutes flexed, and he sucked in a breath.
“Who the fuck is that and why are you in Vagach’s tent?”