Chapter Thirty-Four
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Aurelie’s wrist ached where Severin held her.
He was moving through the woods like a creature born of them as wind sliced through the trees, carrying whispers that made Aurelie’s skin crawl as she struggled to keep pace.
“Vex,” she practically gasped. “The demons don’t know you’re with us. Can you go ahead and see if you find anything?”
The vesper’s brows pinched low. “Just be careful,” she warned, and was gone a second later, winking out of view.
“Yuri’s close,” Severin said. “They’ll be waiting for us to come for him.”
Light, she was going to be sick.
“Why not kill him outright?” she panted, fear keeping her moving despite her body’s exhaustion. Her cheeks burned from the cold, each inhale sharp. “It’d all but secure their victory against Rhovar.”
“I’m sure they will, but Kieran is vain. He’s one of the oldest descendants of Pride, and the bastard likes to play with his meals. He’ll take his time.”
The trees thinned ahead, moonlight sifting between bare limbs. Severin slowed, pulling her behind the gnarled trunk of an oak. She crouched there, her breaths coming hard and fast. Severin, blast him, wasn’t winded at all.
“Kieran’s horde is significant,” he warned. “As we are, we won’t make it inside unnoticed.”
“I didn’t expect we would.” She shifted the weight of the dagger at her side. “We’ll fight our way through.”
“We could do that, but how about an idea that might actually keep us alive? We should use magic.”
She frowned. “I can barely summon Glory reliably.”
“Not his magic. Mine.” Severin’s eyes darkened, that vivid red bleeding into the same impossible green she’d first seen in the archives. “Our bond is strong. We could change our faces to blend in.”
Aurelie’s heart gave a nervous flutter. “The last time I used it was by accident. What if it drops, or I make a mistake?”
“You won’t.” His certainty was infuriating. “You’re a natural, and the closer you and I are, the more power you can draw from me. I won’t let go of you.”
She swallowed, hoping her cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt. “Won’t others think it odd if you’re touching me the whole time?”
“They’ll think it odd if I’m not. Kieran’s horde is mostly lustborn. There’s some greed and pride in there, too, but the demons … Do you remember the lustborn at my tavern?”
She thought of entangled limbs and sharp teeth dragging against skin. A wash of heat raced beneath her ribs.
“Kieran’s horde makes mine look like a nunnery.” Severin leaned in, curling his finger around her hair. “We’ll turn you into one of them. Lustrous skin, pretty pink hair … No one will recognize you. But for this to work, you’ll have to play the part.”
“What would I have to do?” Anticipation ghosted along her skin, and she was startled by the dark thrill of her curiosity.
“You’ll need to pretend that you like me, Badger.” The demon’s smile was insufferable. “That you really, really like me.”
He tucked the strand behind her ear, frowning when Aurelie flinched in surprise.
Before she could recover, Severin pressed her back, caging her against the tree.
His hands braced on either side of her head, his body so close she could feel the heat of him setting every inch of her aflame.
His forehead dipped to hers, and Aurelie’s grip tightened on the tree behind her, knuckles pale as her heart thundered.
“I don’t know what will happen once we’re inside,” he warned as his lips brushed the curve of her jaw. The touch was featherlight, and she shivered from an ache she couldn’t name. “It’ll all be for show, but you’ll need to touch me.”
He caught her hand, guiding her palm to his chest. Heat radiated beneath her fingers. Warm, solid muscle met her touch, and her hand trembled.
“And I’ll have to touch you,” he murmured in a voice like velvet. “Not shyly or discreetly, but like I want to devour you.”
He pressed closer, the scent of him filling her senses. He was all spice and embers, something dark and rich that made her stomach twist and her skin burn everywhere he touched her.
Desire, sharp and dangerous, curled beneath her skin like smoke and rose with every brush of his breath against her cheek.
She told herself it was the bond—that this heat she felt wasn’t her own—but that lie was crumbling.
Ever since he’d lain with Melisandre, she’d struggled to get that night out of her thoughts. She couldn’t see even a bare slice of his shoulder or the contours of his chest without wondering what they’d feel like beneath her skin. Now she was touching him, and still it wasn’t enough.
This was wrong. It was reckless.
She couldn’t let him have this power over her. And so she leaned in to meet his challenge.
“I’ll do it,” Aurelie decided, telling herself over and over that this was for Yuri as Severin’s thumb traced the curve of her lips.
The demon’s eyes narrowed. “Take whatever you expect and amplify it tenfold,” he warned, scanning the tension of her mouth and the slight wobble of her lips. “You still have no objections?”
“None.” Her voice was steady despite the storm raging within her. “I’ll do whatever’s necessary to get Yuri back.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, slowly, Severin’s hands slid down her arms, his fingers finding hers.
“Good girl. Then let’s change that pretty face of yours.”
Aurelie had tried not to model herself too closely after any particular demon when she’d crafted her glamour. Magic shimmered just beneath her skin, the form she’d chosen soft and alluring in a way that quickened her pulse.
It felt like she was slipping into another life, and the freedom of it took her by surprise.
With every step she took in this borrowed skin, the burden on her shoulders lifted, if only slightly.
She wore no armor, bore no crest, and there were no expectations pinned to her name.
There was only the quiet thrill of becoming someone else, untouched by duty.
The freedom of it curled through her, weightless and strange.
Severin stood before her, his horns small and straight, wings tinted a deep crimson.
He remained every bit as broad and as tall as his usual self, though there was something distinctly prideborn about him now.
An arrogance in the way he held himself.
Golden eyes that surveyed the world as though it were his for the taking.
“Not bad,” he mused, assessing the luster of her lavender skin. Pink hair spilled down her shoulders, and her hips were wider than before. That had been the most painful part of the change, but she’d managed. “You’ve got a knack for this.”
They’d made scraps out of her cloak, cutting down the sides and tearing across the bodice to create some semblance of a dress with a plunging neckline. Severin had helped adjust the garment so that it cinched tightly at her waist, drawing attention to the swell of her chest.
Her shoulders were smooth and bare, and slits in the skirt revealed glimpses of her thigh whenever she moved.
It was far more revealing than anything she’d ever worn, and she feared that at any moment the entire thing would come undone. Severin, all the while, promised that her outfit would be considered chaste compared to the rest of the horde.
“You can always go in naked if you’re worried,” he suggested. “That’d be the best way to blend in.”
She resisted the urge to swat at the demon, even as heat bloomed beneath her skin from where their bodies pressed. Every point of contact pulsed with restraint, the bond between them vibrating like a lute string.
“Stop staring and tell me how we get inside,” she said, shifting her focus to the village in the distance.
“We walk.” He spoke casually, though there was something tense coiled beneath the words. “And regarding Kieran’s pleasure den … Just know that it welcomes a rather eclectic crowd.”
She held to his arm tightly as they walked, body thrumming with equal parts nerves and a horrible curiosity she wished she could scrub free from her mind.
“It’s time to start acting, Badger. Everyone needs to believe that you want me.”
She tightened her hold on him, though it became apparent that Severin was waiting for something more when his brow quirked.
“That’s how you behave when you want someone?” he hissed. “You hold their arm?”
Aurelie cursed inwardly, hoping he didn’t notice the clamminess of her skin. “Is it not enough just to touch you?”
“Hell’s teeth, you’re wasting your full potential. There’s so much more power you could claim without ever lifting a sword. But you’ll see soon enough.” His voice turned to a purr. “Pay attention once we’re inside. Maybe you’ll learn a trick or two.”
Severin pulled her in closer, his breath feathering against her skin. He laughed suddenly against her neck, the vibration of it sinking into her bones before his lips followed, brushing down the slope of her throat until he reached her collarbone.
He bit her. Just a graze of teeth, but it sent heat lancing through her.
It was then that Aurelie noticed they weren’t alone.
Demons filtered in and out of the pleasure den, some laughing, others locked in lazy kisses, hands roaming with no regard for who was watching.
Her stomach twisted at the sheer brazenness of it, but her feet rooted in place as her gaze locked onto a prideborn with massive leathery wings.
The first thing Aurelie noticed was that he was stark naked. The second was the black markings curving along his crimson skin, winding down his chest and lower …
She sucked in a breath. He caught her staring, a slow grin curling his lips as hunger darkened his eyes. His partner took notice, her tail flicking with interest. He lifted a finger, beckoning Aurelie forward.
Severin hissed as he yanked her against him. His possessiveness would be expected of a prideborn, but the way his body locked against hers felt dangerously real. A sharp thrill shot through her before vanishing as Severin pulled her away and ushered her inside.