Something felt wrong. Glancing back at the prophecy on the wall, she chewed on the inside of her cheek as she processed what he’d said. Caius was filling himself with rage-fueled darkness, but Turney said the son would explode. Whatever that meant.
Twisting around to look at the other walls, she searched for something to help decipher his riddles.
“What are you thinking?” Caius asked curiously.
“I will die by the Lux King’s hand if the son is not found in time,” she said quietly and flipped around to look at Caius. His golden hair and eyes were the living embodiment of light. He might wield darkness, but he exuded light. “The light comesfromthe realm!” Caius looked thoroughly confused. “The son explodes!”
She wished Sam were here. He would understand what she discovered. The light coming from the realm was the son exploding. If Caius’ strength was fueled by positive emotions, would it be golden instead of black?
“Listen to me,” she commanded him, eating up the distance between them.
That signature smirk that drove her crazy made an appearance. “Yes, Miss Raven.”
“I’m serious. I don’t have time to fully explain, but I am telling you that you can only save me with light, not darkness.”
All mirth dropped from his face. “I cannot control light like Gedeon.”
“The prophecies aren’t literal,” she said. “Do these marks spread when you’re upset?”
“Yes,” he replied slowly. “If that’s what it takes to get to you, I will welcome the pain with open arms.”
“Stop talking like a poet. What if positive emotions had the same effect, but instead of blackening your insides, it brightened them?”
He wasn’t the type to roll his eyes, but if he was, she imagined he would do it now.
“My mother said you were the one to save me. She also said only the golden child can save me.” She waited for him to agree, but he didn’t. “Don’t poison your soul, or you’ll never escape Vincula. Please, trust me.”
His eyes bounced between hers, and the silence was deafening, but he finally blew out a breath and ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “I will try it your way,” he conceded. “But if I don’t progress, we go back to my way.”
She threw her arms around him as relief filled her to the brim. “Thank you.” Her lips pressed against his jaw. “I can’t lose you.”
Running his fingers through her hair, he gripped it tight, pulling her head back to kiss her gently. “I already lost you, and I’ll damn myself to hell before I lose you again.”
Every muscle in his body ceased movement, and his hand left herhair, trailing across the skin between her neck and shoulder. “You have a bite mark.”
She’d forgotten to tell him. “It’s from our last soulscape,” she said excitedly. “I was going to tell you tonight, but we were sidetracked.”
His eyes never left her neck. “It must be because it’s how I last saw you.”
“I woke up with it this morning,” she said, pointing at the bruise. “Did you know that if we are physically altered here, it stays?”
When his eyes met hers, they were filled with a predatory gleam. “I would like to find out. Mark me, Miss Raven.” His voice was husky, and it made heat pool between her thighs. “If I wake with it tomorrow, then we’ll have a definite answer.”
She traced his skin, wondering where she would leave her mark. Wait. “You have immortal healing. It won’t work on you.”
“I don’t have any of my immortal abilities here.” He lifted his arms wide. “Mark me.”
“Will it not heal when you wake up?” she asked skeptically.
“It depends on what you do to me.” He cocked his head to the side. “My body is yours, Miss Raven. Do with it as you please.”
She made a show of running her hand up his chest and around his neck as seductively as she could. “Even if I want to carve my name into you?” she asked innocently.
A scoff or a teasing laugh–those were the reactions she expected,not his eyes growing darker. “Do you know what the thought of walking around with your mark carved into my skin does to me?”
Her lips parted at his words. Their stare down lasted less than a minute before he reached his arm out to the side and leaned forward with his lips hovering near her ear. “Make sure you go deep enough to pierce every layer of skin I have.”
When he pulled back, he held a huge metal cookie cutter with an odd flat wooden handle that stuck out. The design looked more intricate than normal cutters, and she eyed it warily.
