Chapter Ten
Listen, and you will hear the victory plan.
Our lips met in a fervent press. I wound my arms around Cyrus’s sculpted form, drawn to the furnace of heat that poured from his body.
That heat seeped through the thin barrier of my clothes, and it was as if sunlight melted frost. He claimed my mouth with aching reverence, sweeping his tongue past my teeth, enthralling me with a kiss both a promise and a possession.
His rich, familiar taste struck a chord buried deep, where reason couldn’t reach. Something primal answered.
I matched the rhythm of his next thrust with a desperation that rivaled his, every lick an unspoken vow between us. He seduced me with devastating precision, stoking a slow burn of longing until it roared. My senses fractured and re-formed around him, sharper, hungry, and undeniably transformed.
Time blurred. Thoughts dissolved. There was no room for doubt. No escape from the intoxication. He was mine, and I was his, and we belonged together. Never should we part.
“You want more of me, sweetness?” He rumbled the words between ragged breaths. “Perhaps just a little?”
A new endearment. One I wished to hear again and again and again. And yet, a whisper of denial bubbled up. Not here. Not now. Not like this.
What was wrong with here, now, and like this? I’d longed for this moment, and I wouldn’t give it up.
I brushed the tip of my nose against his and with a throaty voice, beseeched him. “Yes, please, and thank you.”
“Then more you shall have.” He nipped my bottom lip and soothed it with a slow drag of his teeth, more reverent, more possessive. “I’ll give you everything, but I’ll demand nothing less in return.”
“Then take it.” I toyed with the ends of his hair. “I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”
Satisfaction glinted in his eyes. “I’m the man for you, not Domino. Say it.”
He thought I might be falling for the librarian? “You’re the man for me, Cyrus Dolion. Only you.”
With a husky groan, he clasped my hips, lifted me to his lap, and kissed me again. Everything else fell away as I straddled him, pressing closer. Closer still. He breathed my name. I mewled his.
What began as a slow, awed exploration soon unraveled into a frenzied devouring.
His hands roamed, kneading my waist, my backside, my thighs before threading into my hair to tilt my head just so.
The kiss deepened, quickened, but I couldn’t get close enough.
Couldn’t touch enough. His heat called to me, demanding skin to skin.
I fumbled at his shirt, eager for the barricade to be gone.
“Well, of course you’re here, doing her.”
The dry tone struck my ears, and I jolted. Wrenching from Cyrus, I leaped to my feet.
High Princess Lolli stood in the open doorway, clicking a blunt-tipped nail against a bar. Tap, tap, tap.
I panted while Cyrus remained seated on the bed, calm as could be. She wore a black tank top, camo pants, and combat boots. A sleek bun highlighted sharp, lovely features. Annoyance oozed from her pores.
My cheeks blazed, realization slapping me hard. Public make-outs weren’t my style, yet I’d done just that. How many of my classmates had heard us?
Although, the ward wasn’t exactly silent. Several trainees were moaning and groaning, creating a chorus. Unless they’d been released from their chains, they were pleasuring themselves. Others whispered together. Some snored.
“We need to go,” the princess stated. “Something’s happening in Theirland, and I know you sense it too. Vyle says he’ll brief us as soon as we arrive.”
They sensed things that were happening in Astan’s world? And what was happening there?
Domino’s voice whispered once again. A man able to contain the full brunt of Astan’s power has been born.
Astan’s horns will straighten. When they reach maximum height, they will release a blast across both realms.
I went cold. Were the gods closer to being freed? Had Astan’s horns fully straightened?
Cyrus worked his jaw before slowly unfolding to his feet.
A mere handful of inches separated us, ensuring we exchanged breaths.
Vibrating with banked ferocity, he lowered his chin and pinned me with his stare.
“I would die for you.” He canted his head slightly to peer at Lolli while still speaking to me. “I would kill for you too.”
She blanched but tried to mask it by blowing him a kiss with bite. “You’re whipped. I get it. Can we go now?”
Maintaining his languid pace, he leaned down and nuzzled my cheek with his own. “I’ll see you on the other side, Pink.” He strode off with the high princess.
Suddenly alone, I felt as though I’d tumbled down a hill, slamming into rocks. The man who’d threatened the other woman wasn’t the Cyrus I knew and adored. And yet he was the exact same, merely amplified. But at what cost?
The door closed behind him, but my guards didn’t return. As I struggled to order my thoughts, I sensed another presence. Familiar. “Show yourself,” I rasped, not sure what emotion he elicited right now.
A robe-clad Domino stepped from the corner shadows. “Astan already influences him.”
Ice crystalized in my veins. “Then I need to be a stronger influence, not avoid him.” I would remind Cyrus what we were fighting for. Who we were fighting for.
The librarian didn’t try to hide his disappointment in me. “I can’t and won’t try to stop you.”
“Good.” Smart, even. So why was my chest clenching?
“What I will do is offer advice.” He moved to my side, his bigger body eclipsing mine. Today he smelled sweet verging on heady, like the flowers that grew on top of the Rock. I didn’t like it. Not one bit. “Listen, and your heart will tell you things your mind hasn’t yet grasped.”
I recalled the whisper of denial I’d perceived while kissing Cyrus and gulped. “Any, um, news on my friend?” I asked, changing the subject to Mykal.
Domino studied me for a long while, silent as I shifted from one bare foot to the other. “Nothing new,” he finally replied.
“And my mom?” I shuffled to my bed and eased onto the edge of the mattress. “She’s well?”
“She is.”
I wrung my hands together. “And you still can’t tell me who my, um, new friend is?” The other Soalian.
“Correct.”
“So why are you here?” I demanded, suddenly mad at him, Cyrus, myself, and the world. And I didn’t even know why.
No answer came, and when I looked up, I discovered Domino had gone. His absence only added fuel to the fires of my irritation.
Hoping to better understand my reaction, I focused inward, spotlighting my memory garden. What in the world? So. Many. Weeds. Too many to pinpoint a specific section.
The sight roused tears I couldn’t bank. What even was my life anymore?
I had the truth but little else. Cyrus was my boyfriend, and he claimed to love me, but I rarely saw or spoke to him.
I was supposed to help him become king and overcome the courting of a god but also stay away from him for reasons.
I’d kissed him, but he’d walked away with a past girlfriend.
I’d become a Soalian, a citizen of the Kingdom of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, and a member of the much-feared Tome Society, and I should be shouting the truth from rooftops.
Except, I couldn’t mention CURED’s lies without the threat of death.
Though I’d always yearned to grow my own garden, I’d failed to tend the one in my head.
Right now, my best friend was a projection of a man no one else could see or hear, yet I’d sent him away. Hopefully only temporarily.
My shoulders rolled in but squared in a snap. This wasn’t a time to indulge in self-pity. I had work to do.
Determined to start fresh, I torched the memory garden, letting righteous flames of fury eat up the weeds. A simple action, and yet a weight I hadn’t known I’d been carrying lifted from my shoulders. Much better.
The morning bell spilled over the airwaves, and my door opened again. I flowed from the bed, collected my fragment of the Rock, and stuffed it in my pocket.
Today, I traveled to Theirland.
Head high, I stalked forward. Still no sign of my guards.
Though the hallway overflowed with trainees, none of them paid me any heed, per usual.
No matter. I continued with purpose, every step fueled by intent.
I would apologize to Domino at the first opportunity and help Cyrus as I saw fit.
I wouldn’t put anyone in added danger, not even myself.
After I showered and dressed in clean fatigues, I double-checked that I still wore my necklace—yes—and transferred my piece of the Rock into my new pocket.
With nothing else to do, I headed for the rift room, where one of three doorways to Theirland would instantly transport me to a CURED-owned military base.
Hmm. Knights and barons rushed through the crowd in a steady stream, all heading in the same direction, leaving a trail of stinging anxiety in their wake.
Whatever the high princess had referenced must have escalated.
I picked up the pace, lagging a few steps behind Cash and Miller. They muttered together, speculating about what could be going on.
Miller glanced back at me. When he did it again with a frown, I thought a spark of recognition arced between us. I frowned too. Surely that didn’t mean . . . he wasn’t . . . couldn’t be . . .
But maybe. I would find out.