CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Fuck—fuck—fuck—”
The curse was a jagged rhythm to my footsteps as I clutched the book to my chest and sprinted.
Aether kept pace, a streak of black and gold weaving through the aisles as they began to fold and twist like paper.
The library didn't just groan; it roared—the sound of a thousand years of silence shattering all at once.
“I told you!” Aether’s voice was a whip-crack inside my mind. “I told you not to touch it!”
“A little less 'I told you' and a little more running!” I panted, my heels skidding on the stone stairs as the architecture behind us collapsed into a shifting, impossible maze.
We didn't stop until the threshold was behind us.
The second we cleared the doors, the world snapped back into focus.
The cold night air hit my lungs with a sudden, freezing rush, shocking my system back to life.
I leaned over my knees, gasping, finally breathing air that didn't smell of old spells and rot.
Behind us, the massive doors groaned shut with a finality that made the ground beneath my feet tremble.
Runes surged across the stone in a frantic wave of red-gold light, sealing the entrance until the library looked as though it had been swallowed by the earth itself.
A sharp, metallic click echoed through the night—the wards resetting.
Then, silence. Absolute and suffocating.
I stayed hunched over, one hand white-knuckled around the book while the other braced against my knee. “Gods,” I rasped, my throat raw from the dust. “What the fuck just happened?”
Aether didn't answer with comfort. He stalked in a tight, agitated circle, his onyx tail lashing like a whip. “I am never doing that again. Never. You are a menace—a walking catastrophe. I loathe you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I love you too,” I muttered, my eyes dropping to my trembling palm.
“It’s gone. The mark—it was right here, I felt it burn—”
I stared at my empty palm for another heartbeat before the weight beneath my other arm registered.
The book.
Fuck.
I was still carrying it.
There was no way I was taking this thing back into the castle. Not with half the continent currently drinking beneath my father’s roof.
My gaze darted toward the old stone wall bordering the private gardens.
“Come on.”
I hurried across the grass and dropped beside an overgrown alcove, shoving aside a curtain of ivy. My fingers found the loose stone almost immediately.
Jax and I had discovered the hollow behind it years ago. We'd hidden everything from stolen sweets to bottles of wine there, convinced we'd found the greatest secret in Solkaris.
Apparently, we’d been thinking too small.
I pulled the stone free and shoved the book into the darkness behind it before replacing the stone and dragging the ivy back into place.
“There,” I breathed. “Safe.”
“Nothing about tonight has been safe,” Aether muttered.
I almost laughed.
And then the blood bond didn't just stir.
It screamed.
The connection stirred—not a nudge, but a frantic, living pulse that radiated from the center of my chest.
Beside me, Aether froze, his onyx fur bristling as we snapped our heads to the right in a single, jagged motion.
Then, a voice.
It was low and smooth, a familiar velvet that sent a glacial shiver sliding down my spine, turning my blood to ice and fire all at once.
“Darling.”
My knees didn't just buckle; they surrendered.
The world tilted on its axis as that single word collided with my senses, igniting every nerve like a strike of lightning.
The sound wrapped around my spine and yanked, and then—the bond.
Gods, the bond.
It slammed back into place with such violent force it stole the very air from my lungs.
It was a chaotic rush of silver and shadow, a warmth I hadn't realized I was freezing without. It was him.
“Asher—” I barely got out, my voice breaking as my body folded in on itself. My heart stuttered, and I doubled over as the force of him crashed through my mind.
The bond wasn’t just back. It was raw. Hungry. And gods, I needed him the way lungs needed air.
I ached. I burned. I wanted—
Him.
“Let’s play a game,” his voice murmured through the bond, dark and dangerously playful.
Dark. Sinister. Controlled.
And then—his emotions hit.
A flood. I lost my footing completely, barely catching myself as it slammed into me— a tidal wave of heat, longing, and desperation. Love. Gods, it was pure, overwhelming love.
I swallowed hard, my breath hitching as a sudden, sharp heat pooled low in my belly. I clenched my fists, trying to find some semblance of gravity as the world around me dissolved into the sensation of him.
“I feel Zya,” Aether muttered, his voice tight with a restraint I had rarely heard from him. “I’m leaving.”
And just like that—he was gone.
He left me standing in the shivering cold of the night, but the air was no match for the bond pulsing like a second heart against my ribs.
It was too loud, too heavy, vibrating through the very marrow of my bones.
“A game?” I sent back.
“Come find me.”
His voice was a silken thread of need, dark and husky as it wound through the connection.
A shiver spiked down my spine, leaving a trail of fire in its wake that scorched the lingering chill of the library.
Fine. If he wanted to be hunted, I would play the predator.
A wicked smile pulled at my lips as I pushed off, my heels striking the stone in a frantic, driving rhythm.
I surrendered to the pull—that sacred, undeniable tether that belonged to us alone—letting it steer my body through the labyrinth of the castle.
“I’m done, thank you!” I tossed the words over my shoulder, a breathless laugh escaping as I blurred past the startled guards. I didn't look back.
I didn't think. I simply was. Left, right, a blind sprint down the marble corridor—I followed the ache in my chest, and gods… the power of it was intoxicating.
The thrill was a fever in my blood. The chase, the sheer speed of it, made the bond pull tauter with every pounding step I took.
“Mm,” his voice hummed through the connection, a dark vibration of pure satisfaction.
“My little firecracker enjoys the hunt.”
The words struck low and sharp, a physical blow that nearly sent me skidding across the marble.
I faltered for a heartbeat, my breath hitching, before a dangerous, soft laugh broke from my lips. I didn’t slow.
I let the pull guide me like a compass, drawing me down the sweeping staircase toward the depths of the lower level.
The music swelled, a thrumming heartbeat that signaled the ballroom.
I shifted my sprint into a fast, predatory glide as I passed the arched entrance, my mask of composure firmly in place so the court wouldn't think I’d finally lost my mind.
Inside, the room was a blur of flashing silk and firelight, bodies swaying in a sea of gold.
I didn't stop. I couldn't.
The bond yanked harder now, an agonizing, beautiful tether. I burst back out into the night air—and froze.
Torchlight caught on a shock of auburn hair, turning it to copper. I stilled, my chest heaving, the air burning in my lungs.
“Ezra,” I managed, the name breathless and jagged.
He turned, and there it was— that quiet sadness buried behind his eyes, tucked neatly beneath his practiced smirk.
My brows knit together, the sight of it tugging at me even as the bond screamed for my attention.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Ezra said lightly, offering a wink as if the world wasn't tilting on its axis.
I didn't argue. I gave him a slow, devilish grin—a silent promise of trouble—and then I pivoted.
I dove back into the current, letting the bond haul me forward, out of the castle’s stone embrace and toward the wild expanse of the back gardens.
The guards were a blur of confused faces and half-started reprimands. “I’m fine!” I tossed the lie over my shoulder, my pace never faltering.
I wasn't fine. I was unraveling.
By the time the forest gardens swallowed me, I’d kicked off my heels. Fuck it.
Barefoot and breathless, I ran.
The damp grass was a cool shock against my soles, the earth grounding me just enough to keep me from flying apart as I plunged deeper into the trees.
Above, firelights drifted like lazy embers, casting fractured gold across the path while the shadows danced in a rhythm only the bond understood.
Where the hell was he?
“You’re getting closer.” His voice vibrated through the bond—low, dark, and impossibly satisfied.
A slow, treacherous smile spread across my lips even as my heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
Gods, he had no idea what was coming for him.
I slowed my pace, the trees thickening into a wall of ancient bark and emerald shadow.
The air grew heavier here, the distant roar of the festival replaced by the hushed rustle of the forest and the low the deep, ancient hum of the garden’s hidden magic.
I was deep in the heart of it now. Alone.
The bond snapped taut, a live wire that made every hair on my arms stand up.
He was right there—just beyond the veil of the shifting leaves.
My chest heaved as I pivoted, reaching out with my senses, desperate to catch the familiar, intoxicating scent of woodsmoke and an oncoming storm.
“Oh, darling…” His voice slid through the connection like velvet over cold steel, rough and heavy with a predatory hunger that made my knees weak. “You look… tempting. My cock is throbbing for you.”
Liquid heat pooled in my belly, a sudden, sharp ache that stole the very air from my lungs.
I swallowed hard, my tongue darting out to soothe my dry lips as my pulse spiked into a deafening roar.
“You’re in trouble,” I whispered into the stillness, my voice laced with a daring confidence.
If he wanted to play with fire, I was more than ready to let it burn.
"Don’t challenge me, princess," he murmured, his voice dropping to a gravelly, lethal octave. "You haven't seen the depths of my darkness yet."
What more could there be?
The thought should have been a warning, but instead, it sent a treacherous thrill racing through my veins.
I let out a low, involuntary moan, the sound a confession of how desperately I felt his presence.
A dark, melodic chuckle drifted back through the trees—he knew.
He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and Gods help me, I needed him to finish it.
“Why am I in trouble, princess?” he drawled.
The words were a physical weight, his desire punching through the bond and anchoring deep in my gut.
I was slick with wanting, a frantic need for release coiling tight within me.
A reckless idea ignited in my mind.
I leaned back against the rough bark of the ancient tree, my skin prickling. I could feel his gaze—heavy, predatory, and invisible—tracking every shallow rise of my chest.
The fact that I couldn't see him made it darker, sharper.
I looked straight into the void of the forest and slid my hand up my thigh, past the hem of my dress, until my fingers found the heat between my legs.
A broken moan escaped me the moment I touched myself, my pulse thrumming against my own fingertips.
“Fuck,” his voice flooded the bond, the vibration of it jagged and raw. His restraint was a frayed wire, and I wanted to be the one to snap it.
“You’re a curse, darling,” he whispered, the sound a mix of agony and adoration. “My darkest sin. But I’m not letting you find your peace without me.”
I looked into the darkness, my vision blurring, and saw them—slivers of living shadow, his twisted, beautiful magic, surging toward me like ink in water.
Before I could gasp, one shadow lashed upward, coiling around my wrist and pinning my hand above my head against the bark.
The second followed instantly, binding my other arm, leaving me arched and exposed to the dark.
One moment there was only shadow; the next, there was Asher. The forest went quiet as he stepped into my space, his silver eyes searching mine.
His hair was damp, his jaw rough with growth, and the sheer, carnal want in his expression made my blood sing.
He looked like a god of ruin, and I was his willing temple.
“You didn't answer me,” he whispered, his voice a low vibration in the small space between us.
Then the floor dropped out from under me.
Two weeks.
Two weeks of silence crashed back into me all at once.
The heat in my belly turned to ice, then to a roaring flame of fury.
“You promised me,” I said, the words a jagged accusation.
My arms were still held fast by his magic, but I refused to look away as his jaw worked in silence.
I didn't have to guess what he was thinking; the bond told me everything. Self-loathing. Adoration. Guilt so sharp it hit me hard enough to steal my breath.
In a single, violent motion, his hands found my waist and yanked me flush against him.
The impact was electric.
We were chest to chest, and I could feel the rigid length of him pressing into my belly— a hard, insistent pressure between our bodies.
He knew exactly how I was unraveling, but I needed him to see the wreckage he’d left behind.
Hot tears finally broke, tracking down my cheeks.
His gaze followed them with a devastating focus.
His hand rose, his touch light as a falling feather as he wiped the moisture away, his thumb lingering until it grazed my bottom lip.
My breath hitched, a jagged sound in the quiet forest, and I instinctively pressed myself closer to his heat.
His silver eyes snapped to mine, dark with a turbulent hunger.
“Tell me what you need,” he murmured, his voice a low, rough vibration. Surprise jolted through me as he continued, “Tell me what you need right now. We can talk—we can lay it all bare—or we can leave the words for later and continue the game.”
The game.
The reminder sent a fresh wave of liquid heat crashing through my center.
The anger was there, simmering, but the need was a wildfire. I didn't want the words. I wanted the ruin.
Talk later. Fuck now.
“What are the rules?” I whispered, my voice thick with a dark, unyielding desire. I licked the salt of the final tears from my lips, my gaze locked on his.
His expression darkened, a low grunt vibrating through his chest.
“It’s simple, darling,” he rumbled, his silver eyes tracing the line of my throat. “You run. And I hunt.”
My heart seized, my breath turning into a ragged staccato as my pupils blew wide.
He was looking at me like I was his prey, and gods, the heat that pooled between my legs was agonizing.
I nodded eagerly, my body already leaning into the directive.
He leaned in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, his scent of rain and darkness overwhelming my senses.
“Good little flame,” he hissed, the endearment a brand against my skin. “Now run.”
The shadows vanished instantly, their cool pressure retreating and leaving me staggering.
He stepped back into the darkness, granting me exactly one heartbeat of a head start.
My pulse thundered, and I fucking ran.