The ruined structures still rushed closer. Vesryn twisted, forcing her above him. Chest to chest, his arms locked around her, his body a shield between her and the earth.
His wings vanished. Serenna squeezed her eyes shut as a decapitated spire rose to meet them. She sensed a shockwave of Essence detonating from the prince, a concussive burst of force that arrested their descent in one violent breath.
She pried her eyes open to find them hovering inches above the fractured floor of a broken tower.
Vesryn released his power.
They struck the ground.
So did the lightning.
The sky cracked open through the spire’s shattered crown. A bolt plunged after them, still hunting.
With the last scrap of awareness she possessed, Serenna snatched the current and wrenched it sideways.
Stone erupted, shards of rock splintering outward as the charge punched through an archway. Cracks fissured across the floor, debris raining down as the ruin groaned beneath them.
When the echoes finally died, the only sound left was Serenna’s heartbeat, pounding against the breath between their chests.
Above, lightning seethed through the bruised sky. Silent now, but waiting.
The fear, the drop, the impossible stop—all of it crashed through her at once. With no more distance left to fall, a raw sound broke free, half laugh, half sob. Serenna’s lungs caught, then found air again as she collapsed against Vesryn’s chest.
On his back, the prince lifted his head to meet her eyes. “Still alive?”
“Yes, you reckless idiot!” Serenna hissed, slamming her palm against his armor. “I’m not even going to askwhyyou did that.”
She started to push herself upright, but Vesryn snagged her wrist before she could pull away. His eyes—bright from flight—locked onto hers, green fire flickering through the gloom.
“Slap me like you mean it.”
Serenna stilled, her pulse rioting beneath his thumb.
“Or do you need a little more incentive, princess? Maybe if I—”
Her hand cracked across his cheek, snapping his head to the side. Palm stinging, the sound rang through the hollow tower.
Slowly, the prince turned back to her, breath shallow, lips parted. The chaos in his eyes had burned away, replaced by something far more ravenous.
Vesryn seized her waist. The world tilted as he flipped her beneath him. Stone struck hard against Serenna’s spine as his weight pinned her, stealing the air from her lungs.
His mouth crashed into hers, rough and claiming, the taste of him still wild from the storm.
CHAPTER 29
SERENNA
Dust rained from the tower’s fractured crown as Vesryn’s hips drove Serenna’s further into stone. His kiss seared away the last trace of fear in a blinding rush that had nothing to do with safety. The world narrowed to breath, to every gasp stolen and returned as their mouths collided.
Serenna’s fingers locked around his arms, tracing the flex of muscle where heated skin met armor. Vesryn’s hand slid into her hair, angling her face up as he caught her lower lip between his teeth, dragging out a helpless sound.
Her magic unfurled to meet his, shivering along every place they touched. The bond throbbed, demanding and insistent, its pulse answering her own.
A truth gathered in her chest—that shewantedto accept this connection between them. But the words withered on her tongue when Vesryn flung another flare of Essence skyward from the broken tower.
Serenna didn’t open her eyes or break the kiss as the sky ravaged itself apart to strike. She felt the bolt tear free from the clouds—sensed it veering toward them—and shoved it back into the storm before it finished raining down.
Vesryn only growled into her mouth, the sound vibrating through her as he pressed into her like chaos only fueled his hunger.
