“But...” My fingers flew to the empty dip in my throat. “If what you’re saying is real—if we truly were born this way and carry the R gene like Marcus said...then how can you explain meeting each other? Isn’t that too much of a coincidence? No one could’ve orchestrated the sequence of events that led me to Cinderkeep. It’s just not possible—”
“But what if it is? Even if the law of chance didn’t bring us together, what if synchronicity did? We’re drawn together whether we want to be or not. What if you were there by mistake but your blood told Marcus everything he needed to know? What if they’ve been searching for you this entire time? What if he’s not just after my blood but anyone with the R gene? What if...” He balled his hands as anger flared his eyes. “What if we’ve been their little pawns ever since we were born?”
“But...I ran away and no one chased after me.” I tried to reason. “I’m not trapped behind a wall back in Iceland.”
“No, you just took your cage with you.” His lips tipped in a slightly mocking smile. “You behaved. That was all you needed to do to be monitored and not manipulated. However, I think they’ve been waiting. Maybe for us to find one another or for something else to happen, but...if they ever learn we’re free, I can pretty much guarantee we’ll be going to war.”
I shuddered. “But Frank is like a father to me. And Dillon—”
“Your handlers and nothing more.” Slinky crimson shadows crawled beneath his skin as he stalked toward a flame-crackling tree.
I stiffened as he placed his hand against it, testing everything he’d just said.
Instinct urged me to rip his hand away but...he didn’t burn. He showed no signs of being hurt as tiny fires licked around his fingers. Cinders crowned his inky hair as they swirled like burning stars.
Even if no one found out what he was capable of, he couldn’t hide the fact that he no longer looked human. He was God-touched—a fallen angel sent to deliver vengeance.
The bond inside me yanked.
Lucien spun to face me so fast, he scattered a few ashy leaves.
His eyes searched mine, locking onto me as if he’d heard me. As if he’d felt me summoning him when I hadn’t even been aware of it myself.
My nipples hardened as he stared at me. The delicious ache in my core returned, melting for more.
The longer we stared, the more the world fell away.
“Fuck, you’re far too tempting.” He stepped toward me with a slightly uneven step. “I want you so badly.”
A gush of ice flash-froze my body, rustling his hair with a chilly breeze.
The oddest sensation of raw power. A bubbling fountain of something inside me. Something new and strange and dying to be called upon.
My breath turned to fog and a cape of snowflakes dusted my shoulders.
“Look at you.” He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. “I knew I couldn’t breathe around you for a reason. You’re absolutely...breathtaking.”
I jolted at the depth of need in his voice as he padded barefoot over leaves that’d long since turned to ash. Silhouetted by blazing trees and embraced with spiralling smoke, I couldn’t look away from him.
Ice flowed out of me in ways I couldn’t understand, freezing the ground.
Lucien just watched me as if I was the most fascinating creature he’d ever seen. Coming to a stop, he tortured both of us by not reaching for me.
In the reflection of his eyes, I saw how he saw me. Saw how I glittered with frost and snowdust. His pupils blew wide as his gaze dragged over me—slow and hungry and hot.
Smoke curled from his back, spreading outward like sooty wings.
A surge of molten-ice darted out of my heart, locking around his like a cosmic noose.
My breath hitched as something slammed into place inside me, threading through every nerve and strand of my soul, tying me permanently to him.
I needed him.
I reached for him.
With a guttural groan, he backed up and shook his head. “I can barely move with how much I want you, but...we need to get out of here. In case someone’s seen the fire.”
He talked sense.
He was wise.
But I wanted—
“Fuck, stop looking at me like that.” Marching into me, he clamped his scalding hands on my frigid cheeks. “I want to fuck you so much I can hardly breathe. I’m seconds away from breaking but—” He kissed me hard and fast, breaking.
I cried out as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. My hand found his hardness as he stepped into me.
Tearing himself away, he growled, “You want me? Fine. Then put out the fire. Keep us hidden, and I’ll drop to my knees right here and make you come.”
“W-What?”
His fingers went to his fly, ready to unzip. “Snuff out the flames like you always do, and I’ll show you exactly how badly I need you...and probably never stop.”
Chapter Forty-Five
HE EXPECTED ME TO STOP THIS?
He thought I could just wave a magic wand and stop what he’d caused?
The burning trees had spread, becoming a burning valley instead. Embers danced across the river, igniting the other side, while poor creatures scrambled for their lives.
Even though the fire didn’t hurt either of us...it hurt others. Killed others.
Staggering backward, I shook my head. “I can’t just put out the fire, Lucien. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Try anyway.” His hands fell from his fly, denying me what I needed. “Go on.”
“I don’t have a fire truck or a hose handy.” My temper unfurled at his crazy suggestion. “What do you expect me to do? Glare at it until it snuffs out?”
“Do what you just did.” He waved at me as if that explained everything. “Summon more snow.”
“Oh, suuuure.” I rolled my eyes, slipping down the slippery slope of sarcasm straight toward a meltdown.
I couldn’t help it.
One had been brewing ever since he’d revealed my beloved necklace was nothing more than a prison. I’d tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend I could accept it. But...my panic was growing worse.
I wanted to use sex to avoid thinking about it.
I needed to leave.
I needed time on my own to mourn everything I’d just lost.
Unlike Lucien who despised the people trapping him, I loved mine. The loss of my parents irrevocably changed me, and without Frank and Dillon...I doubt I would’ve survived this long.
To be told they were just my handlers...
No.
They weren’t.
They couldn’t be.
I couldn’t believe they’d hurt me—that everything about our relationship was a lie.
“What are you waiting for?” Lucien scowled a little. “The sooner you put out the blaze, the sooner I can be inside you.”
His words landed all wrong.
My temper flared with self-preservation, switching from lust to horror.
Animals were dying.
He’d killed countless creatures tonight just because he couldn’t control whatever lurked in his veins. And now he expected me to reverse such a tragedy? To be put in charge of fixing it? Me? The girl who fainted at nothing, swooned at everything, and endured a life of absolute misery all because of a damn necklace?!
Breathing hard, my chest tightened as the mess inside me notched tighter. Tighter.
More trees ignited, sending a funnel of embers into the sky.
“Rook?” He frowned. “Why are you silent all of a sudden?”
“I don’t think you’re listening to me,” I said calmly, carefully, my voice overly brittle. “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t even know what this is.” I gestured helplessly at the fire, the smoke, the sky bruised with orange. And then I pointed at my normal skin—melted and no longer glittering as if the coldness inside me had retreated—tucking its tail and slinking away because it was smart and knew how close I was to breaking. “I just...I can’t—” I balled my hands, wanting to strike something.
