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January 19 - February 15, 2024
Once the back of my legs hit the wooden bedframe, Levi broke the kiss and instead planted a hand on my chest. With one firm push, he sent me toppling backwards and onto the bed.
“I love the way my name sounds on that sharp tongue of yours.”
“Yes, you do,” he whispered, so softly that I almost couldn’t hear him. “You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
I kept my eyes on Eve, and I wondered what her friends on the north side were like. Wondered if they had never told Eve that they had her back. Because as I looked at my usually so confident and collected spitfire, I swore that I could see tears glistening in her eyes.
For a moment, it looked as if he was going to continue being a stubborn ass. But then it was as if all the terrible tension inside him just shattered. As if he released the walls that he had been keeping around himself. The sheer intensity of the emotions that flooded his face in their wake was so strong that I sucked in a sharp breath and stumbled a step back. “Oh, spitfire, I never hated you.”
“You picked me. You chose me over your duty, your colleagues, your job. Instead of prioritizing your own mission, your own needs, you chose to let me go even though you knew that it would mess everything up for you. But you did it anyway.” His voice became thick, and he swallowed before pressing out, “No one has ever picked me before.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” His eyes seared into me as he gently brushed his thumb over my cheek again. “I love you, spitfire.”
“I love you,” he said again. A wistful smile blew across his lips. “And I think I have loved you since the moment you pulled a sword on me in my own throne room.”
When had my life gotten this complicated? I used to just go to work and spend my days trying to bring dark mages to justice. And now I had gone and fallen for one of them. And he apparently loved me too.
Levi and I could never be together, so why the hell did we have to fall for each other? It made no sense. And it was an incredibly cruel trick of fate.
Because I always kept the promises I made, I had always been very careful with how I worded things. I had told them that no one except me would walk into the building. And technically no one else had walked into it. Christian White had just appeared inside the room.
“You only have one choice now.” I swept a hard stare over them all, and when I spoke, I let every ounce of my lethal power pulse from each word. “Obey. Or die.”
Victory pulsed inside me, bright and gleaming, as the entire crowd of dark mages dropped to a knee and bowed their heads in submission. A grin spread across my lips. The south side was mine.
“What the hell is this?” I demanded. “Did Levi betray me? He swore that no one would get hurt!” “We haven’t hurt anyone,” Tyler said, holding up his hands. “Levi sent us here to stage a fake attack.” “Why?” “To make sure that your claim about a deal going down looked as real as possible, so that you wouldn’t get into any trouble.” I blinked at him. “Oh.”
“Levi said to tell you, please come to my Court.” I raised my eyebrows. “Those exact words? Please come to my Court?” A smile ghosted across Tyler’s lips. “Yes. Those exact words.”
:')
I wondered how they were going to explain who and what I was. The thought sent a stab of panic down my spine. I didn’t even know who and what I was anymore.
A sly smile played over his lips as he raked his gaze up and down my body. “Fuck, you’re hot when you’re armed and angry.”
“Yes, spitfire.” His eyes danced with light as he locked them on me. “I heard you loud and clear.” “Good. I despise having to repeat myself.”
Handcuffed, blindfolded, and trapped naked against a wall with no control and no idea what was going to happen next… There was just something so sinfully hot about being this exposed and completely at his mercy.
“Yes.” His lips skimmed across my jaw. “Say it.” “I like it when you dominate me.”
“Beg for it,” he commanded as he pulled back.
“I said, beg me for it,” he growled against my lips. Dark desire pulsed through my soul, making heat course through my entire body. “Please dominate me,” I gasped into his mouth. “Please, I’m begging you.” He smiled against my lips. “Good girl.”
I glanced down at her. And for the first time in weeks, I felt only joy when I looked at her. Ever since that day in the warehouse when she let me go, all I had felt when I so much as thought about her was pain. Pain because I knew that I loved her but had to pretend like I hated her. For her own safety. But that agony was over now, because I didn’t have to pretend anymore.
“Bastard,” she said. “You ran like a coward before I could say it back.”
“I love you too, you arrogant domineering asshole.” My heart stopped. For a while, all I could do was stare at her with my mouth hanging open while those words ricocheted through my skull. Then I blurted out, “You do?”
Fuck, I really hated her in that gold-trimmed white leather uniform. When we had first met, and she had been wearing those outfits of black and red leather, she had looked fierce. Free. But every time I saw her in that constables’ uniform, I couldn’t help but feel like she looked trapped. Stifled. Like it was suppressing her soul.
Because she still walked out the door and took my bleeding heart with her.
No one even suspected that I had just come from his Court, where I had fucked him and then told him that I loved him.
“If I didn’t know better, I would almost think that you worked for him.”
We were able to kill two of the dark mages. Unfortunately, the others managed to flee before we could apprehend them. However, there was also a civilian casualty. Dan Sterling, the owner of The Black Emerald. I swallowed back the tide of emotions that washed over me at the mention of my father. He ran across the room towards where his daughter was hiding right as I shot a lightning bolt at one of the dark mages. Regrettably, it struck Dan Sterling instead. He died instantly. My head went unnaturally silent.
When he died, he left behind a ten-year-old daughter, Eve, who had been hiding underneath the table during the incident. Since she hadn’t seen anything, we decided to tell her that he had been killed by the dark mages instead. I recognize that this was a questionable decision, but we decided that this tragic accident might be the start of something good. Given that Dan Sterling was a known dark mage sympathizer, we thought that his death might at least turn young Eve away from that wicked path and instead set her on the course of light and justice. I couldn’t breathe. Given that Dan Sterling
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Since this was my decision, I will take personal responsibility for her and make sure that she chooses the right path in life. Silence roared through my head as I stared down at the signature of the person who had written this report. Senior Constable Ulric Smith. A gasp tore from my throat unbidden.
NO FUCKING WAY
My father had been a dark mage sympathizer. And Ulric, my mentor and the man I had thought of as my uncle for the past sixteen years, was the one who had killed him. And then he had lied to me about it. Lied to me about everything.
Dark mages hadn’t ruined my life. The constables had.
