Chapter 9
KARMUTH
SWEAT DRIPPED DOWN MY BACK, AND MY MUSCLES ACHED FROM exertion. I wanted to believe the fact that I’d lasted this long against all of them had something to do with Isay watching—and I knew she was watching; I caught her eye a time or two when Sinister crouched over from the hilt of my dadao in his gut or Regar fell flat on his back when I tripped him.
While I did want to impress Isay, I knew it was more to do with part of her ecos thrumming through me. I could almost prevent every single move any of them made. I could certainly outlast them, and by the looks on their faces they were reaching their limits.
“Okay,” Hiko called out breathlessly, his sword only half rising to parry my strike. His hand shook under the force. A vein on his neck pulsed, and his teeth gritted as steam rose from his damp forehead. “Timeout.”
Overly satisfied with myself, I dropped my dadao back into its scabbard and turned to fully look at Isay on the stacked stone wall. She found the patch of grass by her feet more interesting all of a sudden, but heat flared up on her cheeks at my attention.
The itch was back. The one deep in my gut I had no way of scratching, but it turned out she was the one to make it prickle.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that it flared up whenever she was near. What it meant, I had no clue whatsoever. But fuck if I didn’t want to find out if the same remedy I used Sela for would work with Isay.
Once that thought surfaced I couldn’t force it down again.
Would she shiver as I ran my fingers up her thighs? Would her breath catch when I’d pull at the fabric of her panties?
Yep, that would most certainly be the origin of the itch, because it suddenly flared up into a burning that almost left me gasping. A hunger. Even as my ecos had never been fuller, I’d never felt this hungry. It was Isay who brought this craving to such an extent.
While the fighting hadn’t done much to my breathing, Isay got me panting without even raising her eyes from her feet. I was in so much trouble.
Needing to focus on anything other than the encompassing sensation taking me over, I walked closer to her.
“Come, it’s your turn,” I beckoned.
That’s all I could come up with. While others took a breather, I could show Isay some moves. I stared at her as I waited for her response.
She looked at me then, incredulous. “What?”
“You against me, I’ll go easy on you.” I grinned. “What do you say?”
She scoffed, “How about no?”
“How about: Yes, Kar, that sounds like so much fun?”
“In your dreams, maybe. You won’t hear me repeating that.”
At least she was talking to me. After last night, I wasn’t sure she would. Now I was certain I could coax her out of her comfort zone.
“Hmm mhmm. You have no idea what kind of dreams I have.” Lately? I’d been dreaming about her all right. Big surprise there. Did it show on my face just what kind of dreams? Pretty sure of it.
“Please… I don’t want to know.”
That flush was going to be the end of me. I hadn’t yet gotten what I came for, which was a distraction from the hunger—because now that I recognised it as that, it couldn’t be anything else. But I couldn’t keep myself from prolonging this conversation. Which, by the way, distracted nothing.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. My dreams are incredible.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good for you.”
“Last night, I dreamt of—”
“Karmuth, I mean it. I don’t want to know.” This time when she said my name it was cold, as if all the melody in her voice fell flat and out of tune. It lost all of the stunning ring to it that kept me wanting to keep her talking.
That same chill replaced the blood in my veins when she finally fully looked at me. Not a sideways glance, not keeping her eyes at my chest, but met my gaze dead on. Her eyes cut through me sharper than any weapon ever forged.
“Last night all I could dream about was ashes and death. The euphoric cries of all of the fae at the courtyard. The whole bloody ordeal. I closed my eyes to Elisia’s terrified face and didn’t open them until your lovely prince barged into my room to play witness to this wonderful show of gallantry.”
I turned a venomous gaze towards Hiko, who remained oblivious to it as Isay kept on fuming.
“Once again not getting breakfast before I was whisked away to someone else’s errands. I don’t need to hear about how incredible your dreams are. I do not care. I want my life back.”
Taking a deep breath, I took a moment to find my response. I couldn’t in all honesty apologise to her about what I’d done, because I was not sorry. It needed to happen and the only thing I regretted was it happening the way it did.
I could’ve waited for Elisia to give up the fight and drawn the life force from her with a simple contact. I didn’t have to do it the old-fashioned way, the move where the ‘kiss of death’ originated from. It had been used to lure oblivious girls down the dark alleys once before, like Isay had pointed out at the king’s wedding. I’d only proven her right with executing the same exact treachery.
I enjoyed it, too. I had no basis to condemn Sinister for his preferences. My own preferences were tenfold worse, no matter how well I attempted to sugarcoat them.
“How about you let me give you a lesson on self-defence?” I said slowly, paying attention to her reaction to my words.
Just as I thought, she shook her head as if I hadn’t understood a thing she’d said. I did, though. I really did. She wanted to get rid of me; couldn’t stand the sight of me after what I’d done.
Getting stuck with me as her protector was rubbing her the wrong way. While I itched to touch her, she’d rather see me dead. At least I knew that much.
I sighed, “Once you can hold your own with a blade, I’ll convince the king to drop the guard on you and you can spend your time however you wish to.”
“You would do that?” Her eyes widened.
