Page 83 of Realm of Dreams & Shadows

I’m the last Bride. Of course he’s charming—a willing Bride is worth more than a reluctant one. And no matter how much some traitorous part of me wants to believe the daisies and that intoxicating mischief in his eyes are real, I can’t afford to be wrong about that.

He moves even closer. He’s devastatingly beautiful in this realm. His silver eyes seem to hold starlight. And the scar on his left cheek only enhances his otherworldly perfection. The way he speaks, low and intimate, sends heat unfurling through my core.

I hate that my body responds to him, hate the way my breath catches when he takes another step closer. The way I feel pulled toward him, like a magnet to steel.

The pull I can explain away—prophecy, magic, ancient runes, whatever. But the rest of it—the heat, the longing, the ache in my chest when he looks at me…

Perhaps I’m being foolish, but that part feels grounded. Real.

As if he knows the battle I’m fighting, one hand goes around my waist as he draws me tight against him. “Your talents are wasted building gardens, my Queen.”

My heart flutters, and a wave of pure, hot desire—both awesome and terrifying—crests over me as he holds me firmly, as if I’m something cherished that he’d lost.

I close my eyes and I think of Chase, the man who’s protected and taught me. Whose kisses have warmed me. And who I wish was here beside me instead of this man. This king who’s making my blood sing when every cell inside me is screaming for me to run.

“You’re afraid.” He tilts his head, his lips curving into a smile as his narrowed eyes skim over me. “But not of me. Of yourself. Of what you feel when you look at me.”

“I don’t feel anything,” I lie, backing up until my shoulders hit something solid—a wall that wasn’t there moments before.

His smile is knowing. “Your heartbeat says otherwise.”

The space between us shrinks with each word, and I’m drowning in the scent of cedar and winter nights that seems to emanate from his skin.

When he reaches up to trace one finger along my cheek, my whole body betrays me. My eyes close. Just for a second — an involuntary flutter, but. can’t take it back, and now he’s watching me with an expression that says he just learned everything he needed to know.

“You’ve put a spell on me,” I murmur.

“No. I haven’t.”

He’s lying, of course. Because if he’s not, then what I’m feeling for him is just…mine.

I suck in air, then cry out in my mind for Chase, desperate to break whatever spell Adric is weaving around me.

But there’s no reply. Or none that I can hear. Just the barest hint of a whisper, so distant it might be imagination.

“You’ve gone too deep,” Adric says, his hand tucking a strand of hair behind my ear with devastating gentleness. “That’s the risk of playing in the Neutral Zone. You’ve slipped too far away from your anchor.” His lips curve into a sweet smile, and he runs a strand of my hair through his fingers. “Tell me you don’t regret getting lost here with me.”

I have to force my lips to stay firmly closed.

His eyes lock on mine, and his smile is almost seductive. “You’re in my realm now. And truly, Cora, why would you want my brother over me? I am a king who can offer you the world. He is a Hunter. A man who lives by violence.”

He bends forward to whisper in my ear. “Have you asked him what exactly it is that he hunts? Have you asked to see the metaphorical heads mounted over his mantle? Such lovely heads, all.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about, but panic claws at me. Not just because I’m trapped and scared and I’ve so obviously screwed up…but because I’m not sure how I’ve screwed up. Trusting Chase? Craving Adric?

Because I do. I really do. Something deep inside me craves his touch, and I can imagine the soft whisper of his shadow cloak on my bare arms as he draws me close.

And some horrible, hidden part of me wants that fantasy to be real.

No. No, no, no. “I want to go back.” I have to force the words out.

He raises a single brow on that ridiculously gorgeous face, so like Chase’s, and yet so different.

“Do you? Really?” He gestures to the garden around us. “Look what you’ve created, Cora. This beauty, this life—it’s magnificent. Imperial blood flows in your veins, my love. You’ve not even scratched the surface of what you’re capable of.”

Despite my fear, I can’t deny the truth in his words.

“In my realm, you could create entire worlds. Universes limited only by your imagination. You could be a goddess, a creator of realities.”