I listen to Azalea’s labored breathing as she peeks into the hallway in front of us through the small slits in the closet door. Suddenly, she whips around, her entire body rubbing against mine in the process, and she smacks me hard in the chest.
“Tell me the truth,” she demands.
I look at her incredulously. “What?”
“Scratch that, tell me about Rhoden. Did you find her? Did she get to you in time?” With each question I listen to Azalea’s panic rise. I quickly grip her hands and squeeze them tightly, taking the fact that she’s not pulling away from me as a small win.
“Rhoden was breathing when I found her. She’s currently in the infirmary getting nursed back to health.”
Azalea releases a sigh of relief, and her body sways toward me before she thinks better of it and pulls back as much as she can.
“Thank you.” Azalea gives me a soft smiling before narrowing her eyes and smacking me on the chest again. “Now, tell me what happened that day,” she demands in a hushed whisper.
“Right now?”
Azalea’s glare turns withering, and I let out a heavy breath.
“Wildflower, if we make it out of this alive, I’ll get the truth tattooed to my fucking forehead.”
She rolls her eyes, and great Celestials, she is so intoxicating. Before I can stop myself, or think better of it, I pull her to me and claim her with my mouth. To my sheer delight, her arms reach up and wrap around my neck, pulling me closer to her. The kiss goes from blissful to bruising, and we both seek the unspoken truth between us. Her wondering if I’ll be honest in the deal I made, and me wondering what will be the final straw that makes her leave me. Her body molds against mine, and I almost forget that she’s only wearing a silk slip until my hands begin exploring her beautiful curves as if trying to further burn the memory of how they feel in the palm of my hand into my brain.
She pulls away first, her fingers tracing where my lips just branded her.
“Thank you,” she finally says softly.
My brows pinch. “For what?”
“For coming to find me.”
I brush a few curls behind her ear and cup her face. “Thank you for staying.”
“Yeah, well,” she laughs and pulls away from me. “I’m already regretting that.”
Despite everything that’s going on, my lips quirk up in the smallest hint of a smile.
After a beat of silence, she asks, “What are we going to do?”
“We have to kill her,” I state bluntly.
“Never took you as one for the dramatics.” When I don’t say anything, she blinks rapidly at me. “Are you serious?”
I only stare at her in response.
“Are you crazy? How do you expect us to kill her? She has magic!”
“All magic is tied to an object, right? We just have to find what she’s tethered her magic to and destroy it. Then, she has no more magic, and I can finally get rid of her once and for all.”
Azalea cowers from the intensity in my eyes. Her mouth opens, but a loud crash coming from behind the closet halts her from responding.
“We have to move,” I say, sliding my hand down the smooth skin of her arm before weaving my fingers through hers.
“Wait” Azalea places her hand on my chest. When I look down at her, her eyes have glazed over as she works through something in her mind. Her mouth drops, leaving it slightly ajar, and her eyes zip back and forth. I can see her getting lost in her thoughts, and I gently shake her hand to bring her back to me.
“Azalea, we have to go,” I urge, ready to pull her out of the closet.
Azalea blinks roughly. “I think I know what the witch tethered her magic to.”
64
