I wanted to go with him, but the reality told me that was impossible. The truth which I’d avoided finally hit me in the chest like a sledgehammer. There was no freedom for me even if I got to Nina. Not while my family was trapped in Middale. If I ran now, if the Keeper of Winter disappeared, there was no doubt my family would pay the price somehow. I’d only get one shot at escape, and it had to be with Nina in tow when my family was safe and far away from Middale.
I pressed my cheek to his chest. “I have to stay.” My words were a whisper.
Killion made a sound, part pain, part sob. “I can’t leave you here with them.”
I took a shuddering breath. “You have to.” I gripped him tighter, inhaling him, memorizing his unique aroma. “Gather your strength and come back for me.”
His fingers dug into my hips. “Seven days,” he said. “I’ll give you seven days. After that, you’re mine regardless of whether you find your sister. I won’t lose you again, Dani.”
“Again?”
His expression twisted in torment, his gaze misting as if he was being assaulted by memories.
“Killion?”
His gaze sharpened, fixing on me with a determined intensity. “You’re mine.” He kissed me, a bruising kiss that left me aching. “You always have been.” His chest heaved against mine, his hands moving over me as if memorizing my every curve.
I arched into him, offering him my breast so he could cup it and knead it before he claimed my mouth, swallowing my moans. What were we doing? This was madness. This was dangerous. But I couldn’t stop.
We couldn’t stop.
The tension of the past year, the almost-kisses, the fleeting caresses, they all pooled together to create this moment. This explosion.
His hands tangled in my hair, and he pinned me to the wall, groin to groin, his arousal pressed against my heat. He devoured my mouth as if it were a ripe peach, swirling his tongue inside and sucking on my lips like a man possessed. Our moans and groans were too loud, and yet I didn’t care. I needed this. I wanted this. The pressure, the friction in just the right spot.
“Fuck!” Killion pulled away. “Dani…” He nuzzled my neck. “Come with me. There is more at stake than a handful of lives. The whole of humanity is at risk, and you and I, we’re connected. If I’m going to save your people, I need you by my side. I may be the weapon, Dani, but you…” He pressed his palm to my cheek, brushing his thumb across my lips. “You’re my trigger. You always have been.” His lips brushed mine in the softest of kisses, and I shared his breath. “I can’t lose you, I won’t.”
I wanted to. I wanted this. I wanted him and freedom and safety, but I wanted my family’s safety, too. More than anything I could want for myself. “Seven days.”
His gaze tracked a path across my face as if committing it to memory. Then he gripped my jaw and pressed his lips to my parted mouth, branding me with an unquenchable heat. “Seven days,” he growled. “Play the part, Dani. Play the fucking part.”
And then he was gone.
32
I’d made it back to my room. I was safe, but Killion was gone. I was alone. My chest ached. What if I couldn’t do this? What if I failed?
Part of me wished I’d left with Killion, but the bigger part reminded me that I would never have forgiven myself if I’d abandoned my loved ones. My mouth was still swollen from his kisses, my body ached for his touch. Seven days. I had seven days to make this work for me.
Focus.
I fingered the deep blue tunic the maid had left for me. I’d put it on, along with slacks. The clothes fit my body snugly, but the material was light, breathable, and easy to move in. The blue shade matched Aspen’s clothes, except mine weren’t embroidered in gold at the cuffs and collar.
Someone would come for me soon, and the show would begin. They couldn’t know I’d had anything to do with Killion’s escape. If I was going to get into the red zone again, they needed to think I was their puppet. That I was loyal.
They needed to believe I would do anything for them.
You need to hide me.
I looked at the sword on the bed beside me.
Hide me now.
Someone was coming.
I grabbed the sword and shoved it behind the dresser before perching back on the bed just as the door slid open.
Aspen stepped into the room, bringing the crack of frost and the sharp, sweet scent of berries with him. He was holding something in his hand—a weapons belt? I didn’t get a good look at it before he tucked his hands behind his back.
He looked down at me, raking me over. “You clean up well.”
“Thank you.”
“I suppose you heard the commotion.”
It wasn’t a question. “What was it about?”
He shrugged, but his expression was speculative.
“You don’t know?”
“Being a Prince of Winter is merely a title. It doesn’t come with knowledge or power. Not even the Regency holds power. The power is held by the council.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because we are about to play a game, Winter’s Blade, a game where the odds are life or death, and if you want to survive, you’ll need to learn the rules, and to do that, you’ll need to trust me.”
My pulse kicked up at his words, and my mind scrambled to figure out the possible meaning behind them. Wait, had he just asked me to trust him?
“You’re deluded. Why the hell should I trust you?”
“Because you wouldn’t be alive if not for me.”
He’d killed his teammate to save me. How could I have forgotten that teensy fact?
Question was, why? “What’s your game?”
“Play along, and maybe, if you’re a good girl, I’ll tell you.” He slow-blinked, dark lashes fanning against high cheekbones.
What choice did I have?
I nodded.
He handed me the weapons belt he’d been holding. “Put this on. It’s time.”
The new weapons belt housed a dagger with a gold hilt and a blade that was so sharp I could probably cut myself looking at it, but I’d barely had time to appreciate the weapon before being whisked out of my room by Aspen.
The sense of being trapped intensified as he led me through winding corridors, deep into the maze that was the Tuatha mothership, and into an ornate antechamber. Double doors faced us, tall and wide, and two liveried guards stood ready to open them.
Aspen looked down his nose at me. Frightening and regal with his burnished stag horns curving up from his head. “Blink away the tears, and cover your pain,” he said coolly.
Tears? I touched my cheek to find it wet. Motherfucker.
“Winter’s Blade does not cry. Winter’s Blade is deadly.”
I had no idea what his agenda was, but I’d go with it.
Seven days.
I wiped away the traitorous tears.
And then the doors were being swept open, and I stepped through, ready for the performance of my life.
To be continued…
Danika’s adventure continues in Feel My Power.
Order it HERE now
Other books by Debbie Cassidy
The Gatekeeper Chronicles
Coauthored with Jasmine Walt
Marked by Sin
Hunted by Sin
Claimed by Sin
The Witch Blood Chronicles
Binding Magick
Defying Magick
Embracing Magick
Unleashing Magick
The Fearless Destiny Series
Beyond Everlight
Into Evernight
Under Twilight
The Chronicles of Midnight
Protector of Midnight
Champion of Midnight
Secrets of Midnight
Shades of Midnight
Savior of Midnight
Chronicles of Arcana
City of Demons
City of th
e Lost
City of Everdark
City of War
For the Blood
For the Blood
For the Power
For the Reign
For the Hunt (novella)
Heart of Darkness
Captive of Darkness
Bane of Winter
Fate’s Destiny
Deadworld
Deadworld
Dead City
Dead Sea
The Nightwatch Academy
Shadow Caster
Shadow Weaver
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Master
The Nightwatch Series
Ghost of a Chance
Give up the Ghost
Ghost at the Feast
Lay the Ghost
Deadside Reapers Series
Reaper Unexpected
Reaper Uninvited
Reaper Untamed
The Iron Fae Series
Taste My Wrath
Feel My Power
Dragon Guard Series
Dragon Trial
Survivor’s Heart (Planet Athion World)
Novellas
Rogue
Rebel
Survivor
Standalone Novellas
Blood Blade
About the Author
Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Space Fantasy, and Reverse Harem. Connect with Debbie via her website at debbiecassidyauthor.com or twitter @authordcassidy. Join her Reader Group or sign up to her Newsletter to stay in the know.