King of Shadows (The Masks of Under, #2)

by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

I keep you here to keep you safe. Safe from those who would harm you.” “You were just hunting me,” she reminded him weakly as he stepped closer. The warmth of his skin under her hand brought something very strange out of her that she didn’t know what to do with. She did her best to ignore it, but it was growing much harder to do as time went on. “Yes, and I reveled in it. If I had caught you, and if you had even begun to surrender to me…I would have ravaged you. I would have taken you as mine. I would have shown you bliss as you have never known,” Aon purred darkly. It set her cheeks on fire once more as he placed his clawed gauntlet upon her hip. “But you refused me. As is your right. As was my vow. But know I would hunt you through this maze once more in a heartbeat. For the joy of it. For the hope you might change your mind.”

“Warn the others. Tell them to muster their armies and try to stop me.” Aon stalked toward him slowly, forcing Lyon to retreat. “For millennia I have had to listen to you all whimper and whine like children about how I seek to destroy this world. Heed me now, Priest, and know that you have not once seen me try.”