I didn’t think. Throwing myself in Liam’s arms, he caught me, surprise lighting up his eyes as I leaned in, pressing my lips to his. The moment my lips touched his, the grip on my hips tightened. The blue light at our chest died down to a small flicker and our tongues intertwined. Warmth trickled down my chest and pooled between my thighs as desire slammed into me tenfold.
“Alright, get a room. This area is restricted,” the voice called out, closer now.
Liam pulled back, eyes glowing orange, then he leaned into my ear, “I hate that I want you,” he whispered, his breath sending an electrical pulse down my neck, making my nipples tighten and my wings snap erect.
Pulling away, spinning, he took the man off guard and plowed the right side of his palm in a hard karate chop against the dude’s neck. It was just like the movies. The man crumpled, out cold.
Liam turned on me, lips still wet from our kiss. “You need to drop this hunt. Keep your six crystals and leave the rest on Earth.” His wings were erect, and my heart pounded as it settled over me what needed to be done.
I had to know. “Why are you stealing it from your own father?”
He looked back at the unconscious guard. “We have different visions.”
“Your father’s the … Winter King?” I also had to know if my suspicions were correct.
He just glared at me.
I shifted nervously. “I’m just … trying to know your story.”
He was my fucking soulmate and it killed me that we weren’t on the same side … but maybe we were. He was against his dad; I was against his dad. Maybe we could be a team.
Liam’s gaze darkened. “Lily, that’s your name, is it?”
My stomach warmed at the sound of my name on his lips. He must have seen it around my house before he left, because I hadn’t told him.
I nodded.
He stepped closer to me, reaching up to trace my collarbone. My mouth went dry as I held in my whimper. “You don’t want to know my story. I’ve done things so horrible they would make your blood run cold.” He leaned in, his breath washing over my neck. “We’re not friends. We’re not lovers. We’renotin this together.”
His words should have scared me, but they only saddened me at what I knew would need to be done. He pulled back and took my chin into his hand. “Go now. Don’t come back—”
With the base of my knife, I cracked him over the head, cutting the words off in his throat.
Seeing the look of betrayal cross his face before he crumbled to the ground killed me inside. Tears blurred my vision as I spun and burst into the room. There, lying on a pedestal, were … two crystals.
Holy shit.
Jackpot. It was only when I got closer that I saw that one of them looked … different than the rest. It was bluish green and fading to black at the base. It didn’t look like the other crystals in Faerie but … I should still grab it, right? Surely it was the same thing?
Reaching out, I grabbed the blue Tree of Life crystal and slipped it into my bag, hesitating on the second one. I don’t know why, but my intuition was screaming at me not to grab it. But surely it was the same one we needed? It was the same size and shape, just a different color. Without another thought, I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the dark crystal. Hot searing pain shot up my arm to my elbow and I screeched in agony, drawing my hand back. Sweat beaded my forehead as I looked down at a black scorch mark on my palm.
Shit.
My hand still throbbed with pain as I decided to ditch the dark crystal and ran out of the room. The guard was stirring, but Liam was still out cold. Guilt gnawed at my gut as I remembered that first day I met him and how he’d hidden me inside of the closet…
Shit! Shit!
Pulling out my knife, I cracked the guard over the temple, knocking him out again, and grabbed Liam under the armpits. Heaving him backward with all my might, I stashed him in a dark alcove behind a potted plant. He almost looked like he’d had too much sex and booze and had just passed out. Hopefully, that’s what someone would think if they found him there.
Footsteps down the hallway had my heart jackknifing in my chest. Letting my wings beat slowly enough not to make too much noise, but fast enough for flight, I hovered as a guard with big horns walked out into the large space.
“Shit, Donny!” said the guard, and ran for his fallen friend. I noticed that the second floor had a window open. It was large enough for me to fly through, so I aimed for that space.
As I slipped out into the cold night, the weight of the crystal in my messenger bag gave me comfort.I did it!I’d got the crystal.
I was halfway across the yard, ready to land and run to where I’d stashed the bike, when I heard the flapping of wings.
Fear gripped me as I took off like a hummingbird, glancing over my shoulder to see none other than the Winter King himself.
