Smart, but it’s not working.
I try to replicate the same reaction as yesterday, to focus on a good place and get the hell out of this corner he put me in, but I’m rooted to the spot.
“I can’t,” I admit, frustration bubbling up inside my veins.
“You can’t or you won’t?” he asks, smirking, as he takes one last step. My body is flush against his, my nipples grazing the hard planes of his chest. I despise the thrilling sensations he’s awakening yet again. His rough hands grip my hips, pinning me in place, and his next words are just a whisper against my throat.
“You seemed perfectly capable last night, little umbra. Both to shadow travel and to run away. Why not combine both? Or is it just with your legs that you have a tendency to escape me, mmm?”
I surprise us both by slapping him, and the moment my hand connects with his rugged jaw, we explode in a fury of sable and crimson intertwined shadows that transport us back to his chamber.
The moment I feel solid ground under my feet, I stumble back a step.
Not this again. Why do I keep bringing us here? Am I so deranged that I can’t let go of that beautiful illusion of us? It has shattered already into a million tiny fragments, and no amount of wishful thinking could weave it back together.
“See, perfectly capable,” Killian deadpans while rubbing a hand against the spot I just slapped. His narrowed stare burrows itself under my skin, cleaving into my body forcefully until every nerve ending catches fire.
“I don’t know how I’m doing it.” I shake my head, trying to dispel this overwhelming, lingering attraction that still clings to me like a nasty rash that won’t subside no matter what I do.
“Try again,” he says, and I do, disappointment washing over me when I’m stuck in my flesh once more.
“It’s no use, Killian. You’re the worst teacher ever.”
“Try. Again.” His commanding tone is meant to get people to submit to him, but I do not cower.
Never again.
Not for anybody.
Not even him.
“Not. Happening. Asshole.” I snap, throwing my hands in the air. “I don’t know what triggered it. Both times you were touching me, and I just—“
Understanding washes over his features, and he grabs my wrists before I can react.
“Could it be?” he whispers in awe as the tingles envelop me again, and we dissipate in a swirl of shadows.
The transition lasts longer this time, and when we emerge into existence again, I’m hit by a suffocating wave of heat I’ve never experienced before as a blinding sun makes spots swim in my vision.
All around us, scorching sands shift in the tropical, humid winds.
“What in the blasted hell is this? Where the fuck are we, Killian?”
“Reweroth,” is his only response.
I squint my eyes against the incandescent light, and sure enough, a sprawling desert city unfolds before us, a gleaming palace standing proudly in the distance.
Fuck me.
Did we just shadow travel to the human kingdom while I’m still barely covered by my translucent sleepwear?
Chapter 7
Blaise
Mygazekeepsreturning,in a mesmerized daze, at Sariah’s perky ass moving up and down in a trotting motion on the chocolate Thoroughbred before me. We’ve been horseback riding for almost two days straight since we left Bradvva.
We crossed the border on foot with a group of fifty Dark Umbras, trickling into Wrahta in small numbers every few hours. Dressed as merchants and stragglers, no one paid them any mind, lost in the sea of people that transited the border every day. We regrouped in Bradvva, procuring horses for everyone, and we’ve been traveling straight to Sangeries since, only stopping for small respites along the way.
