Chapter 30 Lore
THIRTY
Lore
I DRANK IN the sight of the prince I thought I’d lost forever and exhaled in relief. Sloth was unharmed, alive, and even more breathtaking than I remembered.
I threw my arms around him, squeezing tightly, feeling the solid, comforting mass of his body against mine.
Surprise flickered through me when he nestled his face into the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply as if memorizing my scent, his breath warm and steady against my skin. I swore an electric current passed between us.
Considering how tightly he held his emotions in check, that action was the equivalent of him falling to his knees and weeping for joy.
I knew I’d wormed my way under that icy exterior. Felled by feelings really came through.
We stayed like that for a few moments before I slowly drew back.
“You found me.”
He stood in the shadows, so it was hard to make out his features clearly, but I thought I saw his mouth curve with a hint of amusement.
“Always.”
I felt more than saw his attention slide from my face and trail down my body, and knew he was checking for injury and cataloguing anything amiss.
“I waited on the beach all night,” I said while he continued his inspection. “When you didn’t show up, I really thought the serp-i-corn killed you.”
His teeth flashed in the darkness. He was definitely amused now.
“Have a little faith, Peaches. I’m trying to not be insulted. Suffering through more pirate talk would have been far more likely to kill me.”
I gave him a flat look. “The uni-pus was larger than the ship. And you went after it like a madman.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Fortunately, I can swim.”
He was clearly downplaying the situation—he hadn’t simply survived because he’d been a good swimmer. He’d been trapped underwater for the gods knew how long. And he was not even at his full strength.
“But you did choose to go after the creature, correct?”
“Yes. I didn’t think it was strictly from your story and wanted to test a theory.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe the Liber Noctem killed my master librarian and is somehow moving from host to host as the Trials draw closer to the end.”
“Do you think it can inhabit anyone?”
“Or anything, given the last encounter was a beast.”
It sounded plausible, but something about it didn’t sit right. If I’d been that close to the Liber Noctem, wouldn’t I have felt it?
I could consider all that later; right now I couldn’t stop staring at Sloth.
His presence felt surreal, like a dream I was afraid to wake up from.
He stood there, holding me up, blond hair tousled and clothes torn in several places, indicating he’d had a long, rough journey despite his nonchalance.
But he was here and that was all that mattered right now.
Something deep inside me settled, like a weight was suddenly lifted.
Against all odds, he’d found me.
My heart swelled with disbelief and joy as tears threatened to spill over.
I blinked rapidly, willing them back.
“Lore.” He shifted his hold on me so he could use his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that escaped.
“I promise it will take more than tiny hissing vampires and whatever that sea monster was to end me. Your nightmares will not be my destruction. Give me your worst and I’ll still be by your side. It’s okay.”
It was more than okay.
My romance-centered brain was having a complete meltdown.
This was far better than any story.
Sloth kept his promise. He’d stalked me across realms from the depths of the ocean, over an island of vampires, and through the forest of Faerie.
Never stopping, never giving up.
I didn’t think his devotion was entirely related to the Liber Noctem or the Trials. This felt personal—like he would have come for me regardless.
The thought sent a strange shiver through me.
He went preternaturally still.
I froze too, bracing myself for a nefarious plot twist.
It took another few seconds for me to realize it wasn’t because he’d sensed danger. He was taut for very different reasons. Ones I was now acutely aware of.
When I shivered, he’d felt it since his body was fitted to mine, pinning me against the tree. And he’d physically responded.
I dropped my attention to the area in question.
His bulge was impossible not to notice or feel, especially since I’d locked my legs around his waist when I’d hugged him. And I hadn’t released him.
Now that he knew I wasn’t injured, he seemed to finally notice my rising hemline. And the way our bodies were intimately pressed together.
My breathing sped up.
I was trying to think of a joke to lighten the mood, but the longer we went without speaking, the more a heated tension started to simmer between us, like one tiny spark would set off a fire neither one of us could put out or control.
Or maybe that was just my wishful thinking.
“Lore.”
His hands gripped the back of my thighs where he still held me up, his fingers pressing into my skin like a brand.
My own hands rested on his broad shoulders, and his muscles tensed beneath my touch. I sensed it was because he was trying to rein himself in.
“I apologize for…” He trailed off as I shifted a little, hoping to ease the physical tension.
It had the opposite effect.
Our hips were now aligned in a way that left very little to the imagination.
When I wriggled up, I felt how turned on he was by the motion, and I’d unintentionally increased the friction between us.
I muttered an apology, and like the smooth seductress I was, I tried to make things less charged by moving again, the same way. Obviously, it had worked so well the first time. This was why I hadn’t courted anyone in forever.
I’d now accidentally dry humped the prince on a few separate occasions. That had to set some record for embarrassing encounters in a nightmare world.
I stopped fidgeting and honestly wasn’t sure if that helped.
His breathing slowed, and his gaze locked onto mine, a storm flickering in their depths. His expression was impossible to read, though.
I wondered if he was suddenly recalling our kiss, how it felt like the purest form of magic, and how I’d never be able to forget how perfect it was even if I lived for a thousand lifetimes.
Something seemed to shimmer around us, some magic locking us in this moment, safe from the nightmares for a little while.
For one wild, reckless second, I imagined him closing the remaining distance between us, his fingers plunging into my hair right before his mouth came down on mine in a searing kiss, ending this growing torment.
“We should hurry,” I said, slamming the door on any romantic notions.
“Mmh.”
He hadn’t removed his attention from my lips.
And he looked ready to devour me.
I was fairly sure that was not wishful thinking on my part.
“There’s a hunt and we really don’t want to be found. I think War wants to either murder me or convince me he’s not just pretty and boring. In the original story, he ended up in a love triangle with the main character. But I haven’t really met Death yet, so I doubt we have to worry about that.”
That caught his attention.
His gaze snapped up to mine. All ice and no fire now.
“If anyone tries to touch you, harm you, or take you in any capacity, I will destroy them.”
I smiled.
Only a sociopath wouldn’t bat an eye at the prospect of fighting literal harbingers of doom. “They’re the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. You might be outmatched.”
A dark shadow flickered over his expression.
“Fuck the horsemen. Anyone can be killed with the right knowledge and skill.”
I cupped his face lightly. “There’s my sunny sociopath.”
With his face tilted upward, I finally got a better look at him in the sliver of moonlight. Something was wrong.
Sloth’s pupils were blown wide, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air around us. This wasn’t the cool, calculating royal I knew.
This was a male on the verge of turning completely feral. I had no idea how he’d managed to hide… whatever was happening. He’d sounded perfectly fine.
“Are you all right?” I whispered. “What happened to—”
My words cut off as I spotted the injury on his wrist: two puncture wounds.
“You were bitten.” Ice flooded my veins. “By one of the specters?”
If that was the case, that was bad.
In the original story, their bites were known to drive their victims out of their senses, making them act on animal instinct.
A low growl rumbled in his chest, proving the point.
“Did any of them harm you?”
It sounded like he was trying very hard to speak around his anger.
My sweet, vengeful prince.
It really was good to have his murdering self back.
I shook my head.
“I’m perfectly fine. Aside from being locked in that livestock pen for a few hours.” He looked ready to stalk into the forest and hunt the horsemen down for that. “Did I mention I missed you and your sociopathic tendencies?”
His grip on me tightened a fraction.
“You have no idea… When I finally tracked your scent on the island and discovered someone had intercepted you, I almost went mad.”
“I hate to break this to you, Blondie, but I’m not sure you’ve got that impulse under control yet. You’re looking a little feral around the eyes.”
His gaze dropped to my lips.
“That mouth will be my undoing.”
He leaned in so fast the movement barely registered until his breath tickled my neck. Sloth hesitated for a fraction of a second before his teeth grazed my skin.
He slowly dragged them along my throat, in a caress laced with promises of dark, wicked seduction.
The sensation sent shivers of pleasure down my spine before he tore his mouth away. His attention flicked up to mine in quiet assessment. Holy gods. That was unexpected, and I kind of wanted him to do it again. And again.
If he was expecting me to be upset or shove him away, he would be disappointed. This unleashed version of the icy prince set my blood on fire. So different from his usual detached, cool demeanor.