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“They’re not mine,” Erik said, voice flat. “They were my mother’s. Walk with me, love.”
“You are not weak because of fears, but I will do what I can to help you wade between the fears that are plausible and the ones that are the mind trying to paralyze you.”
“Do that, Songbird. If ever it is a choice between your life or another, strangle them with thorns.”
“Pretend there is no one here but me, love.” Her cheek twitched. “Ah, but you are the problem, Bloodsinger.”
Livia’s fingertips played with the ends of my hair behind my neck. She closed her eyes when the sea breeze kissed her cheeks. Gods, she looked made for the Ever.
Little by little, this tether between us was growing. Little by little, I was handing over my scorched, rotted heart.
“If you fail, which you won’t because you’re too bleeding stubborn to prove yourself, I will do what I must to find them somewhere else to live.”
“Through the Chasm, Songbird. I would give myself to your people in exchange for refuge of mine.”
“Erik, I’m going to try my hardest. If it doesn’t work, please know that. Despite how I was brought here, I don’t want your people to suffer.”
Following her to that masquerade had begun my dangerous descent. From the first tug of the undeniable pull to the cautious chirp of her laughter, to the cunning look in her eyes when she tried to intimidate me, I should’ve kept a distance. When I saw the sea singer dragging her away, the tight, noxious panic ought to have been a signal I’d crossed a line.
I plummeted over a ledge for her, and I wasn’t coming back.
“Stay with me, Erik,” she whispered and took a step forward. “I don’t know why, but the nearer you are, the stronger fury burns.” “Always.” I kept her pace.
“Keep your hands on me.” “Gladly, Songbird. Gladly.”
“I was fatiguing, but your touch brought it back.”
To touch her as fury raged in her veins was strange. Like shards of it melted into mine, our magics spilled between us. Strong enough, I thought connected like this, Livia’s blood might be toxic. Perhaps, I might be able to summon the blooms as she did.
I didn’t know how to call to the damn earth, so I conjured up a memory of digging in soil, of placing dark seeds, then a blurry recollection of the elation when the tiny blooms broke the surface. The laughter and a woman’s gentle embraces that followed.
“You didn’t fail, Songbird. As I said.” “Don’t be an I told you so kind of king.” “But I did.” Livia laughed. A true laugh, and I would kill anyone who tried to take such a sound from me.
If it was true, then I had an invisible enemy with a damn blood claim to the Ever.
“Songbird.” “Serpent.”
“Violent? I think you were jealous, Bloodsinger. As you should be. Sewell is my favorite.”
“Not the thing a man wants to hear when he’s had his mouth on your body, dragging out those desperate sounds from your throat.”
“Good.” My lips caressed the slope of her neck. “Because I’ve thought of nothing else other than your sweet legs wrapped around me, your naked body in my hands, and my name on your tongue right before you come apart.”
“You want me as much as I want you, Songbird. Admit it.”
On the surface, I was calm, snide, even arrogant. Inside, I was pleading, pathetic, and simpering. I never knew how desperately I wanted to hear the words from her, the words telling me she ached for me back.
“Rather protective of your bond with the woman. Is that the only reason?” “She is the mantle of the Ever King, Lady. You will give her the honor of such a title.” “Still on about the mantle.”
A woman who succumbed to nerves chose this as her bleeding moment of boldness?
“I am willingly aiding the king. Perhaps it did not begin that way, but desires change. I know the beauty of his black heart, I’ve seen it. But I also know, every bleeding step he has taken has been to save his people. I’ve seen that this curse in the Ever was caused by enemies among you.”
“Doesn’t Narza’s repulsion of me make it obvious?” I took another step for the door. “I killed her.”
A symbol that bonded you to my grandson because, even as young ones, your heart found itself in his.
“A bond of two hearts, girl. An old spell, but one that is nigh unbreakable when truly accepted. It would’ve given Thorvald the power of every sea, of every house, if he would’ve embraced and honored the power that comes from such a bond. My daughter loved Thorvald, she believed he loved her. How wrong we all were.”
“You think Erik will be a new Thorvald, but you’re wrong. His darkness pulls me closer the same as his light. I want all of him.” I was falling in love with all of him. “I only wish his own people wanted the same.”
“A monster would not despise himself for taking a life if he did not care.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I want to see you. All of you.”
“It happened right before I was taken by your people for my blood.”
“I couldn’t finish healing my father’s blood before she started . . . gasping and writhing.”
“Love can bring more darkness than we can imagine. I’ve seen the lengths my people have gone to protect the ones they love. They embrace darkness, they burn worlds, crumble empires, all to keep those they love breathing. That passion is what won peace in the land realms. Love can be the most violent, the most powerful of weapons, Bloodsinger. Power can be taken away, but that kind of love—that lives beyond the Otherworld.”
“Want one of my confessions?” I whispered. His hands fell to my waist. “I live for your words, Songbird.” “I’ve felt calmer here than I have in many turns.”
“I’ve felt like I’m going mad because I should hate every moment with you. I shouldn’t sleep until I find a way to break free, but . . . I don’t want to.”
“I want to swim with you. Just you.”
“Curse me, hate me, but don’t lie to me. I know what I am; I know what people see when they look at me.”
Scars paint our stories, they give proof to the battles we’ve survived, the trials we’ve overcome.
“Songbird,” he said, rough and low. “The more I look at you, the more I want.”
“I’m not saying sweet words to bolster your ego, Bloodsinger.”
“I’m proving to you what I want.”
“You promised you would get me in your grasp, then watch me bleed. You’ve succeeded in that, and I hate you for it, Songbird.”
“I am in your hands, I am at your command, for you have made me love you, and you will be my destruction because of it.”
I stretched my hands out to catch a bit of every shade, laughing as the spray dampened my cheeks. When I looked back at Erik, his eyes burned in dark desire. His mouth was set in a tight line. I’d never been looked at in such a way, with such heated passion, like without me his world might shatter.
The kiss wasn’t slow; it wasn’t tender. It was consuming. All tongues and teeth, like we were desperate to devour each other.
“It’s been too long since my mouth has been on you,” he rasped against my skin.
