She cut off with a cry, her eyes slamming shut. Pleasure, of course. But also magic. The void’s green glow leaked out from her eyelids, seeping through her face and shining from her chest.
“You wanted?” Vale prompted, thrusting faster. His completion was rushing toward him, undeniable now.
Ivy let out another shaky laugh. The green light was brighter now, but it did not matter. Vale saw her perfectly: her wonky braid and her flushed cheeks and her beautiful face naked with desire.
“I just wanted to find a place that wanted me,” she admitted.
Vale pushed as deep as he could and came with a weak growl. It was not a powerful orgasm, but still enough to make his legs shake. Although apparently even walking could do that these days.
Ivy’s green glow dimmed. Vale pulled back to ask if she had seen something, only to pause as he noticed her hips.
Her dress had fallen over them again. The gauzy material was stained red with tiny dots where he’d sunk his claws in.
Vale brushed them gently. “I can find some soothepine.”
“Don’t bother.” Ivy touched the small wounds, her fingers fitting between his claws. “I quite like them. The sensation is exciting. And, well… if they scar, then it’s like I’m yours.”
“You do not need a scar to remind you of that,” Vale assured her. “You were given to me, and I am keeping you.”
Ivy beamed, her eyes filling. She opened her mouth, then stopped, her gaze fixing on something behind his head.
Vale turned to see the wall behind them flickering.
Ivy gasped. “The painting!”
She climbed off his softening cock and stumbled onto the bone floor, walking around the thrones to reach the glowing circle that had appeared across the wall.
“It’s in the middle of the light motes,” Ivy said. She reached up, ghosting her hand over the glow that would have matched the painted creatures if the paint was not so faded. Then she turned to grin at Vale, who was still sitting on the throne.
“This has to be it! Come on, let’s go find the antidote!”
Vale heaved himself off the throne and went to her side. He attempted to walk as he always did, but Ivy’s sagging smile proved otherwise.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
His least favorite question. Vale sighed, his tail lifting grudgingly. The temporary energy from having Ivy on top of him was gone, leaving only the void’s exhaustion behind. If the mortals wanted to make him easier to bind, they had their wish.
“I can still fight,” he said.
Ivy did not look comforted by his words. Vale scooped her up, settling her in his arms. He took one last look at the faded painting he was about to step into, his long-gone light-motes forming a circle of light for them. Almost as if they had been waiting.
“We will find your uncle,” Vale announced. “We will retrieve the antidote. We will kill anyone who gets in our way.”
Ivy squirmed uncomfortably in his grip.
Vale’s eyes narrowed. “If you did not want me to kill your Circle, you should not have told me they were cruel to you.”
“They weren’tthatbad,” Ivy protested.
Vale sighed. “We will only kill people who try to kill us first.”
Ivy kissed his chin. “Good. Now let’s go save our void.”
The words sent a fissure of rightness through Vale’s heart.
He tightened his grip on Ivy, then he stepped out of the wilderness void.
Seventeen
