Oh,gods,Ezer.
Wasshethe one who’d inscribed the rune on his hand?
The crash came back to him in a flash. He’d never forget her yelp of terror that had matched his own as they’d hit the snow, and then everything went dark.
Kinlear groaned as he sat up, head wobbling. He had to get to her, had to see if she was okay. Did Ezer bring him to this cave? He tried to shove Six’s wing off him, but his arms felt like wet noodles, and the damned raphon wouldn’t budge.
He shoved again, pushing against her wing, but she held him in place.
He groaned, as Six growled in warning.
But...
It wasn’t for him.
It was for Ezer, Kinlear realized, as he finally broke away from the shadow of Six’s wing and found a nightmare playing out before him.
Ezer.
HisEzer...was sitting onArawn’slap. Not just sitting, she wasstraddlinghim, her hands wrapped around his neck as a soft moan of pleasure left her lips, and Kinlear felt like he’d been stabbed in the chest.
That sound...
It was supposed to be forhim.
But it was Arawn who devoured her now, as he groaned against her, too. Their mouths moved in time as his hands dug into the small of her back, pulling her closer against his?—
No.
Kinlear closed his eyes, breathing deep despite the pain in his lungs.
She wasKinlear’sto love,Kinlear’sto hold,Kinlear’sto kiss in a cave just like this.
“Well,” he said, the word soaring away before he could reel it back in. “This is certainly an interesting sight.”
Ezer and Arawn broke apart, still flushed with lust and wanting...
And Kinlear swore something woke within him. He could feel its fury, its wrath...and a set of long, sharp claws that gougedinto the fringes of his mind, and a voice whispered, “Hello, Little Prince.”
He swore, deep inside his soul...
The monster had been reincarnated.
He saw only darkness.
It wanted him to hurt her, wanted him to make her pay for what she’d just donein front of him.
So, he broke her with the truth.
And he forced Arawn to tell her about her Uncle.
The bastard who’d murdered Six’s siblings...theErvosshe’d pined over, speaking about with sad and loving, loyal eyes...
He was still alive. He was inside the cells beneath the Citadel.
And Arawn had known, the entire time.
Kinlear had known, too, of course, for there wasn’t a thing that went on inside the Citadel he hadn’t uncovered. But he didn’t tell her that fact. He was plenty accustomed to a life of lying, even when it sent him straight towards penance.
