I swallow hard, then hold my breath in my lungs, not knowing what to say. My heart balloons when I look at him, the high of feeling him buried inside of me, fogging my mind.
I cannot explain our connection. So why do I feel like a fly, unaware it was in the spider’s web until it was captured? His power already expands in my body. Perhaps being his domain enhances the magic, continually, like an endless well. How many times can he pull it from me before I can’t cope?
“Your powers are growing again,” he states.
“It only happened since I’ve been here. I could control them when I was Ennismore,” I say, curling my hands into fists as if it may restrain my powers.
His brows knit together, but he takes off before I work out what he’s thinking.
I shake my head, pulling myself out of his trance as we reach the beautiful, ivy constricted pillars of the temple. I follow Death inside, his steps echoing as we head down to the hunter’s room.
Ari and Drake come into view, locked in hurried, intelligible conversation. They stop whispering when they see us, and Ari gasps. “Where were you?” She looks at Azkiel, then grits her teeth.
“The forest,” I say. “We were checking the area.”
Drake’s tone drips with venom. “Was that all you were doing?”
“Yes!” I grab my dagger from the table they had used to cut the berries and mushrooms, then place it in the holder strapped to my thigh. “Let’s go. You too, Drake.”
He shakes his head. “I can’t leave.” His glare snaps to Azkiel, and I put my hands up.
“He’s breaking the blood oath,” I explain, and he scoffs, glancing between me and Azkiel, holding back the countless things I know he wants to say.
“Thank her,” Death commands before Drake can leave the room. “Now.”
Drake halts, his tense breath coming out in a rattle. “Shouldn’t I be thanking you?”
“Stop,” I say. “That’s unnecessary.”
“It is,” Azkiel counters and my stomach dips. Fuck. Now they definitely know what happened.
Drake turns, the bulb in his throat bobbing, his eyes crowning wrinkled anger, tears glossing his green irises. “Thank you, for whatever you did to persuade him.”
Shadows erupt from Death before I can throw myself between them. “You promised to let him go,” I say, and Azkiel hesitates when he looks at me.
Reluctantly, his shadows retreat. He peers around me, to Drake. “You are lucky, traitor.”
Ari nods, a far-off look in her eyes. “We all are,” she counters, always the peacekeeper, although I can sense her disdain when she stops beside me. “We should leave before Dephina comes for me.”
It’s dark by the time we reach the edge of the forest to the Black Sea.
We pause by a clearing, and Ari gathers a bundle of Nocturnum Somnus—the same plant that almost put us into a comatose state when Cordelia and Briar attacked.
“Careful,” I tell Ari as she stashes the poisonous plant away between some leaves. “That’s not for eating.”
“I know,” Ari says before pocketing the root and flowers of the plant. “It’s just, if Dephina makes another appearance, I want to protect myself.”
“No one will hurt you while you’re with me.”
My heart skips a beat as Azkiel emerges from the darkness, his lustful eyes finding mine across the clearing.
Drake looks from him to me, then shakes his head, sighing. Ari follows Azkiel deeper into the depths of the forest, and I breathe in the woody scent, closing my eyes.
When my eyelids flutter open, I find Azkiel’s eyes focused on me and a prickly sensation climbs through me, and my lips press tight at the memory of him buried inside of me.
My cheeks flush, and Death’s lips part to speak, but Drake clears his throat, stepping beside me. “Nice dress.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to say something,” I say, ensuring Azkiel continues walking so he doesn’t attack Drake again.
“Am I right in my thoughts?” Drake asks.
My face burns and Drake’s green gaze tracks my facial expression, then spots the marks from Azkiel’s nails embedded in my wrist.
He grabs my hand, then drops it while Ari and Azkiel walk ahead. “Tell me you didn’t,” he hisses in a whisper, then shakes his head, disappointment filling his rugged features. Unlike me, he stinks of blood, while I smell like the wilds, mixed with a musky scent, like… Azkiel.
“I can’t,” I admit, lifting my chin.
Drake’s dark brows draw together, his lips down-turned as he looks me up and down.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? He’s a murderer. He put us on this island.”
Ari pauses ahead, her brows rising as we all come to a halt.
“He did, but he is also getting us out,” I shout, putting out my arm when Death draws closer. “Stop! I can handle this.” I turn my gaze to Drake. “If you hate Azkiel for his actions, then you should despise me, too. I killed Isolda just so I could get here. I’ve done worse and will continue to, to protect the people I love.”
He jabs a finger in Death’s direction. “You’re becoming darker by the day, and it’s drawing you to him.”