I open my eyes to find myself in the same bedchamber as before. But something’s different. Not just the seeker on his knee before Eraldon, or the bright moon through the window. The difference isn’t there. It’s … in me. Not the wings or the heightened senses. There’s another feeling, as if there’s a presence inside me. Someone else. Someone cold.
“Sit up, Emma.” Eraldon strides to me, his dark eyes drinking me in.
I do as he says, and I do it quickly. It’s almost as if I get a sense of—pleasure—at obeying him. I blink hard and try to find my reason for resisting him before, the basis for my fight. Because I fought, didn’t I? I search for it. For thereason. But what is the reason?
“I’m the reason.” He sits beside me, his hand coming to cup my cheek. “You have no need to look any further, pet.”
“Eraldon.” I breathe his name like a prayer and wrap my arms around his neck.
He pulls me close and waves away the seeker, who leaves on silent feet.
“My blood and your long sleep have done you good.” He strokes my bare lower back, his fingers grazing my wings and sending tingles through me.
“I was having a dream. About …” I can’t remember. Where is that little wisp of memory that, if I pull it, will unravel the entire dream?
“About me?” he coaxes.
That would make the most sense. “Must have been.” I rest my head in the crook of his neck. “What else is there to dream about?”
He strokes my hair. “Conquest.”
“Conquest?”
“The day realm. We’re almost ready to seize it. What do you think of that, my little nightling? Would you like to sit on the day throne with me?”
“You should have it all.” I pull back and meet his dark eyes. “Every realm.”
“You think so?” He smiles and looks down at my body.
I move closer, my gaze darting to his lips. “Yes.”
His fingers seize in my hair, and he pulls and sends little shocks of pain through my scalp.
I gasp.
“You want me to be king of all Arin?” His mouth hovers at my throat, and my eyelids flutter closed.
“Yes.”
In a quick movement, he pins me to the bed, and I welcome him between my naked thighs. Is this my dream? Or am I awake? What is this? I blink. Wasn’t I just in a palace of sunli—
“Only me, nightling. I am your only concern.” His words wrap around me like a vise and tint my every thought with his own dark hue.
Yes, that’s right. Only Eraldon. He is the true king of all the realms, and he has marked me as his own. I am his. I feel so certain about it, but somehow, a faint tendril of hesitation lingers. Was there another king? One with golden eyes and a lion’s heart. “There was a king—”
“King? I’m your king, little nightling. We are the dark. Born here, forever part of the never-ending shadows. Daylight is our enemy.” His grip on me tightens. “Say it.” His lips meet my throat. “Tell me I’m your king.”
The pull of his words is undeniable. I can’t stop myself. “Youaremy king.” I dig my nails into his back as he bites me, his fangs sinking in and marking me anew.
King. That word sticks in my mind.King. Why do I keep hearing it echo over and over? Like a memory trying to surface. There is only Eraldon. No other.
He cups my breast. Eraldon is my fantasy, my love, my mate. My blood tells me so. It thrills at his touch, but there’s something underneath. Something to do with a king. An image flashes through my mind. A bright crown made of pure flame. Or is it something else? It looks like fire but glows more brightly than anything I’ve ever seen.
“Shh.” Eraldon’s gaze claims me. “Think only of me.” He kisses my lips, his mouth tasting of my blood and the darker swirl of his own. “Must I drain you again? I will if that’s what it takes.”
My mind tries to whisper to me, to remind me of a king. A crown of fire. No … It’s not fire, it’s pure sunl—I cry out as Eraldon grips my throat hard.
“Look at me, nightling. You belong to me. Only me.” He growls. “Tell me.”
