Her eyes are wide and unblinking. She licks her lips and flicks her gaze down to my leg. “Ez—”
“Eyes on me when I’m talking to you,” I growl.
A flash of mischief crosses her face. “What if I don’t obey? Are you going to choke me, tin can?”
I can’t help my smile. “Only if you ask nicely.”
Her perfect mouth drops into a delicious O. I tighten my grip on her wrists. “Where did you think you were going?”
“Away,” she whispers. “I was… embarrassed.”
I trace the hand that isn’t holding her wrists up along her jaw. “Now, why would you feel something so ridiculous as that?”
Her breast heaves close enough to touch my chest plate. Suddenly, I understand Dayton and his preference for going without a shirt. “Because I couldn’t help myself—”
“And you should never have to.” I inhale deeply, tilting my helmet to curve into the dip between her neck and shoulder. “It is a privilege and pleasure to be at the beck and call of your arousal.”
She squirms beneath me. I tighten my hold on her in response and push in closer, trapping her between my body and the wall. “Ezryn…”
I drop my hand from her jaw down the line of her neck. “You deserve to be satisfied, Petal.”
She barks a laugh, which is quickly cut off by the light press of my hand on her neck. “Did I say something humorous?”
She gasps, and I feel the delicious bob of her throat against my hand. Her heart beats in a nervous cadence, but she swivels her hips to brush against mine. “Well, not everyone thinks that way.”
A growl rumbles through my chest. “Who dared not satisfy our lady?”
She looks sheepishly to the side. “Dayton—”
I swirl her in my arms, reveling in the press of her body against mine. She looks up at me with wide eyes and a genuine smile, and for a moment I’m mesmerized that I’m finding joy in such an evil place.
I dip her, and she throws her head back, long hair dusting the ground. “Dayton is a fool,” I say. “His mistake should be rectified immediately.”
I stand her straight and lace my fingers through hers. And then I pull her down the hall.
It’s been decades since I’ve been to Cryptgarden. My last memory of my time here—Kel’s rage, the hurt in his eyes when he saw me and his army—threatens to overtake my mind, but I shove it away. Right now, I will stay present in this moment. For her. For me.
Though it’s been forever, I know my way through these halls. And things don’t change much down in the bowels of the Vale.It’s probably still here.
I lead us up a staircase that winds round and round one of the towers.
She says nothing, but excitement lights up her face. My heart thunders.
The stairs land us on the ramparts of the castle, the walls lined by a series of violet doors. “The residents of Cryptgarden Castle have a bit of an obsession with the world above. Many consider themselves collectors. They keep treasures from the surface within this section of the castle.”
“Wouldn’t the residents prefer to move to one of the realms?” Rosalina asks.
I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to remember the right door. “It’s not so simple. Many are considered traitors from conflicts predating the War of Thorns. Others seek refuge; it’s a place where smugglers, illegal merchants, or shunned nobility can disappear.”
Rosalina looks over the edge of the railing, staring out beyond the castle to the vast city below. An image flashes unbidden into my mind: Kel standing on the top of this very tower.“Admit it, Ez. There’s a certain beauty here.”
I never saw it. The jewels shine with magic sapped from the earth, the purple and sapphire light has no natural source, no sky, only hazy fog above.
I breathe in, trying to detect the scent of wood and dirt. “Through this door.”
Rosalina squeezes my hand tight and follows me. I try the door handle. Locked.
“Let me.” Rosalina pulls a thorn from her crown and leans down to the lock.
