The shadows coil at my feet, rippling out like wind over tall grass, feeding off the violent promise in my mind before I forcethem back. I refuse to become that kind of monster. At least, not yet.
But I killed for her.
Not for me.For her.
The moment I ran my knuckles down her crimson cheek, I realized I would do anything to protect her.
And I mean fuckinganything.
I didn’t expect her to ask me to stay. Maybe I should have said no, but when those huge, dark green eyes looked into mine, I knew I would have unmade existence itself if she asked me to.
The knight and the monster in my mind fought throughout the night until she woke up, clawing at her neck. Only then did they stop battling and start screaming for me to help her.
I’ve never been so scared.
When Aurora fell to her knees, her tiny body convulsing with each violent sob, I felt as though the world itself had splintered. My entire being screamed to reach for her, to hold her, and make the suffering stop. But, from experience, I know better than to touch someone after enduring severe trauma.
Last night, the chance to fuck Aurora came my way once again.
She wanted me. She would have said yes.
I could have taken advantage of her severely fucked up mind. When she straddled me, it took every ounce of control not to unzip my pants and sink my cock deep inside of her.
I could have fucked her and walked away, like I’ve always done.
For millions of fucking years.
But last night, something shifted.
The knight, the thing clawing for control since I saved her, didn’t fight the monster. It didn’t try to purge the hunger from me. It embraced it. And somehow that made me whole.
I did the right thing for the first time since I saved that scrawny little huskmaw brat. And when she begged me to touch her this morning, the only thing I wanted was for her to feel safe with me so she’d allow me to feel her skin against mine again.
Every time Aurora came, my shadows thrummed around us, pulsing with her pleasure. And in the darkness, I saw the flicker of yellow-orange fire licking over her skin.
A promise of what she is … and of what she will become.
My goddess. My flame. My undoing.
She’s so close—so fucking close—to unlocking everything she is.
Aurora will claim her power through me. Not fate. Not prophecy.Me. That’s the truth written in my shadows and carved into the cosmic dark—the force that made me, and then placed her in my path.
Christ, I can still taste her. Sweet and lush, with an edge of something divine that would break a lesser man. And the way she talked about sucking cock almost broke my already fraying resolve. The wicked little goddess knew exactly what she was doing.
I’m still hard from earlier, and my balls ache for release.
Unfortunately, my own pleasure will have to wait.
Aurora is currently down the hall, taking a shower while I sit in her living room with the hell-mutt. It’s time to put aside my internal struggles and accept the decisions I’ve made. There’s no point in fighting it anymore. Every road I take, every path I could possibly carve, leads me right back to her.
Settling into Aurora’s reading chair, I mindlessly flip through a book, unable to concentrate on a single word. Internally, I’m struggling to navigate my new reality.
As old as I am, I should have all the answers.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the Daughters, I’m just as lost as Aurora. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that wemust remove the spells cast on Aurora and Louie. Which means I have to do something I hate: ask for help.
As if asking Thane for help with the cellphone wasn’t enough. Now I need to grovel at the feet of a fucking wrakh.
