123. Summer
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
Summer
T he lies they are posting about Alice have enraged me, but I know I need to be smart here. Right now, I feel as if I could destroy the whole realm, kill every single vampire who aligns with this belief, but I need to be smarter. Yet my darkness swirls inside me.
The stranger pulls me down a dark alley and toward the outskirts of Dr?culea. The only sound is our labored breathing as we run from the flaming building, the cobbles making it more difficult. He pulls me into a dark doorway and uses his body to hide mine.
“I can take them,” I whisper against his neck.
“Who?” he asks, pulling back enough to look down at me.
“The vampires. The council.” I may not be able to destroy every person who resides in Dr?culea, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give the aristocracy who are spreading the lies a good go. I can go after the government that is in cahoots with the sovereign.
“You plan to take them on?” he asks, placing his hand above my head and leaning deeper into me so that if anyone might see us, we will just look like a couple locked in an embrace.
I look up at him, realizing I like this glamour less than the others I’ve seen. That doesn’t mean I’m not wildly attracted to him. He’s still my stranger.
“Why not?”
“Because who will sit on the council under Alice’s rule? Who will she even rule? Their ashes?” he asks, brushing his lips along my ear, and I know he is still unhappy that he can’t feel the pointed tip .
“I simply meant everyone currently residing in the castle,” I say, the corners of my lips tilting up. “Besides, it’s a better alternative than the defamation Alice is facing.”
“Little fae, if you wished, you could leave the realm full of rotten corpses, with Alice atop the carnage, sitting on a throne of their bones.”
I glance at his lips, and for a second, I swear I can see past the glamour. Fuck, I want to kiss him. He fuels my murderous rage in the best way, tempting me to look deeper into it.
“But what of those who want to believe in her? Who don’t know any better than the lies that they’ve manufactured and force-fed them? A war of information waged unopposed is a war won.”
My gaze flicks back up to meet his, and I feel myself tense. If they’re stupid enough to believe baseless rumors, then perhaps they don’t deserve to live. “Fine,” I say, pressing back against the wall, trying to put a little space between us. It is a reluctant relent but a relent, nonetheless.
The stranger looks down at me and smirks. Stepping in close, he leans his body against mine, refusing to allow me any barriers. “I like your darkness, princess. It’s so incredibly sexy,” he growls, his lips brushing against my ear.
Feeling annoyed, I shove him, wiggling my arms between us and crossing them over my chest. It was unreasonable, but I was enjoying him letting me delve into my darkness, and his words shone a light into it, making it retreat. I hated it.
“Not enough to keep from making me feel guilty about it,” I say, ducking under his arm and moving out from between him and the wall. “Let’s go.”
He yanks me back and pushes me against the wall.
He fits his body close, and I can feel just how my darkness has affected him.
“I can think more clearly in these situations because I have been in them before. Many, many times. This is cold rationality. I will do what is needed to ensure that the future you wish for comes to pass. One where your best friend has her crown and her people.”
I glare at him, my lower lip protruding in a small pout.
He pinches my chin. “If we burned this entire realm to the ground and left her a throne of ash, would that please you?”
“Forget it,” I say petulantly. “Let’s go back.”
“And if your realm still existed? If you were surrounded by enemies, would you ask the same of me?” the stranger growls .
I frown.
“Would you turn me loose on your people? Those who would dare to stand in your way? Stopping you from taking what’s yours?
” he asks, and then a scene plays in my head, one put there by him.
It’s of an ancient battle, soldiers choking on dust. A male wearing all-black armor with white runes on one hand stands on a knoll, overlooking the carnage.
The image is terrifying, and I can practically feel the familiar power radiating off him. The stranger’s power.
My hands rest on his chest. “Would you do it? If I asked?”
He nods, the memory fading to nothing.
“I’m desperate for you to kiss me?.?.?.” I say, my lips parting.
He dips his head, his mouth hovering over mine. “A shame we agreed to no kissing,” he whispers, his breath teasing at my lips. I moan softly, digging my nails into his chest.
A door opens down the alleyway, and we both tense. There are at least two vampires, and it sounds like they are walking toward us. I whimper and lean my head back against the wall.
“We should go,” he says, his voice low and quiet.
I nod, and he picks up my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
He laces his fingers with mine and pulls me into the alley, passing the two vampires who pay no attention to us.
We are moving toward the edges of the city, looking for a place where we can open another portal when we come across another printing press.
I can see the papers being printed through the window, and I glance up at the stranger.
He smirks. “In the mood for more fire?”
I smirk back devilishly. “Let me play this one differently. Since you’re sympathetic to the cause.”
“Smart ass,” he says, pinching my ass.
“Wait here,” I say, undoing a couple of buttons on my shirt.
He growls, the jealousy rippling off him. “Summer,” he warns. “What exactly is your plan here?”
“Just stay here, okay?” I say, unbuttoning another couple of buttons and then applying a little lipstick. I step toward the shop, but he grabs my arm.
“I know what you’re doing.” He digs his fingers into my arm, bruising me. “How far are you going to push this?”
He’s so jealous, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it .
“Trust me,” I growl.
“Fine,” he says, releasing me reluctantly.
I walk into the shop, and I’m immediately clocked by a vampire who watches me with interest. He looks young, older than me, but younger than the vampire from the other printing press.
Perhaps he’s an apprentice. I swing my hips a little as I walk to the desk he’s standing behind.
His red eyes stay locked on my tits shamelessly.
“How can I help, miss?” he asks na?vely.
“I wanted to ask you about your news stories.”
He frowns, watching me a little more carefully.
“My name is Winona. I have been researching Elvira’s actions to build a case to ensure she never sits on the throne. But I need to know the name of your informant.”
He looks uncomfortable, and I lean my elbows on the counter, squeezing my breasts together.
“I know you’re not writing these articles yourself?.?.?.” I look at his name badge and brush my fingers over it. “Norse.”
“I do the printing,” he says, puffing his chest out a little.
“And what a wonderful job you do, but who is feeding you these stories?” I ask, my voice deepening seductively, and I can tell it’s working.
“I know that Mr. Bleaker is out right now meeting with Dimstraeux.”
“You never query the validity of these stories?” I ask, quirking a brow.
“That’s not my job, miss.”
“That’s too bad. Thank you for your time, Norse,” I say, slowly sliding my tongue along my bottom lip and looking him over hungrily before straightening and turning away from him.
“Perhaps you could stay awhile? Mr. Bleaker goes out for hours when he meets any of the council members.”
I glance at him over my shoulder. “These council visits. Did they occur before the death of the regent?”
He frowns, thinking. “Never. In fact, I had planned for the press to be closed for the next couple of weeks, but we’ve never been busier.”
“I heard a fire destroyed the one at the other end of town tonight, so I guess you’re going to get even busier.” I wink at him as I leave.
I felt the stranger’s impatience and annoyance the whole time I was in there, and it’s not hard to track the anger trickling off him to a nearby alley.
There is only one way I will be able to calm him down, only one way I will be able to mute this anger, and it’s not one I’m completely opposed to.
We have established rules against this, but his jealousy can be explosive, and we’ve already made enough of a stir here.
I walk straight to him and slam my lips to his.
He growls against my mouth but doesn’t miss a beat before he kisses me back.
The glamour disappears from around his mouth, and we fall back, landing in my bed.
I start to lose myself in the kiss. I shouldn’t have done this, and it takes everything in me, but I manage to pull back and roll off him, much to his dissatisfaction.
We pant as we lie side by side, staring up at the ceiling.
It takes a few moments, but when I finally catch my breath, I roll to face him.
I can still feel the annoyance radiating from him, so I shift to lie on top of him, stacking my hands on his chest and resting my chin on them.
“So . . . I got intel.”
He looks at me and immediately softens.