Chapter One

I loved the Corrupter.

And not in a spiritual, love-your-enemy sort of way. I was in love with him. The fucking Corrupter. The man who had terrorized my planet for years and caused the immortal races to discriminate and persecute my race for our weakness to Death Magic. I loved him. Yup. There it was—the key to ending the war. I loved the man who had once been my enemy. Because I now knew that he had never been so.

Aranren was a prisoner. A puppet of Death. I knew that because I had been Death's prisoner and puppet too. The Consciousness of Death Magic had betrayed us both. Just as it had with Ara, Death had wormed its way into my life and nearly convinced me that it was on my side. It had trained me and helped me. But it had all been a lie. A way past my defenses.

When I tried to test Death's loyalty, he took control of me. My body. My mind. All of me. I was still there, but my thoughts were his. Twisted. Cruel. Pure poison. I learned Death had tricked me from the start. Even his training was more about combining my magic rather than using his. He didn't want to show me the real Death Magic until I was under his control. Because that shit was bad. Real bad.

Just as everyone had warned me.

But I had convinced the Wraith Lords and even the Emperor to give Death a chance. I felt like a fool. I consoled myself with the knowledge that my folly was a part of my destiny. I had to stumble on my path to get to the end. Even the Goddess knew it. She had let Death take me because he took me to Aranren. And Aranren needed me. I saw him at last, the real man beneath Death's cage of bones, and I fell in love with him.

I knew then that my love for Aranren was the way to end the war. How could it not be? Bringing him into the union I had with my lovers would free him of Death's cage and protect him from being retaken. Except it didn't.

When I bonded with Aranren, I thought it destroyed Death's hold on him. But Death deceived us again. He withdrew into a tiny speck, so small that we couldn't sense him lurking in Ara. Then he rose slowly. Subtly. Death whispered in Ara's mind and inspired him to guide me and my other lovers back to his fortress where Death tried to take us all. We managed to get free, but only because Ara sacrificed himself. He even tried to get Lord Vexen to behead him before Death took him completely. But first, he broke our bond so I wouldn't suffer. Luckily, breaking our bond created a backlash of magic that sent Vexen tumbling away with the rest of us, unable to deliver the fatal blow.

We escaped, but we had to leave Aranren behind. Alive and consumed by Death once more. The Corrupter.

I was glad that Vexen hadn't killed Aranren for several reasons. The first and most obvious being that I was in love with Ara. But the second was that Vexen turned out to be my secret admirer, the one who'd been sending me romantic letters. Those letters worked their way into me even deeper than Death had. I was falling for Vexen, but that wouldn't have been possible if he had killed Aranren. If he had done that, I would have never forgiven him. No amount of pretty words could have gotten me past that.

Of course, if he had done as Ara asked, the war would have been over. My forgiveness wouldn't have mattered since I wouldn't be trying to take another lover.

But the war raged on. Death had renewed his efforts to claim all of Varr. Attacks on cities and villages had doubled. Wraith Lords were summoned several times a day. With the mood at the citadel already soured from the departure of the people of Fress, these extra missions were taking an even greater toll on the lords. The very air seemed heavy with discouragement and exhaustion.

As I said, my old neighbors had their town back at last. Fress was officially rebuilt. And with spring's arrival, there was no reason for the townsfolk to stay in the citadel any longer. The adults were hard enough to lose, but it was the lack of the children—those bright faces always on the verge of laughing—that really brought down the ambiance in the Wraith Lord Citadel. No one even sat at the table they used to occupy in the dining hall. It was left empty like a tribute.

A weaker man would be depressed. But I didn't have the luxury of being weak. I had to fall in love again and make our team even stronger so I could save Ara and end the war. With that weighing upon me, I focused on joy instead of sorrow. Yes, it was a complicated task. But I was determined.

“Kiss me again,” I urged Vexen.

“No,” he said, his lips twitching.

Even though it was spring, it was still chilly in most parts of Varr, including the citadel. It probably didn't help that the citadel was built on a column of rock in the center of a drafty ravine. But we weren't at the Wraith Lord Citadel. Vexen had taken me home, his home, to see the valley he had grown up in. We were on the continent of Raxis, up north, where it was warm all the time. Vex kept a house there, but we were outside, in his garden. A garden that was more jungle than tended rows of flowers and vegetables. We lay sprawled on a blanket, enjoying the spots of sunshine that broke through the tree canopy and the heady scent of tropical flowers.

Oh, and each other.

“Come on,” I whined as I rolled halfway onto his sculpted chest. I pulled at the V of his tunic until I revealed a portion of the tattoos that adorned his upper chest and traced one of the swirling, dark designs with my fingertip. “Just a kiss. I won't try to have sex with you.”

“You mean, again ?” Vexen teased, his teeth shining bright against his skin. “You're always trying to have sex with me.”

Vexen was even darker than Kel, with deep honey-walnut skin that made every color set against it seem brighter and more vivid by contrast. Or, in the case of his tattoos, darker and more mysterious. Yes, his skin was so beautiful that it made everything near it beautiful too. I sighed and stroked the curve of his hard pectoral, recalling how much he loved my chest as well. He had written about it in one of his letters.

“Ember?”

“Huh?” I looked up.

Vexen chuckled. “I'm losing you.”

“Never,” I declared, then kissed him before he could stop me.

It was just a quick press of lips to lips, but it was enough to make me angle my hips forward in need. To be fair, it wasn't just Vexen's gorgeous face or hard body that aroused me. Not even his pale green eyes, so startling against his skin. It was all his words. Hundreds or even thousands of words that he had written to me about me and about us being together. Beautiful, romantic words, but also very naughty, erotic words. I was his before I knew who he was. All right, I wasn't in love yet, but definitely his. Well on the way to love.

Vexen rolled me over and settled between my thighs, a growl vibrating from his chest and into me.

“Oh, thank the Goddess!” I declared and wrapped my legs around him.

That broke his serious expression, turning it into a smile. “I'm not having sex with you, Ember. I just want a kiss.”

“Why not?” I whined. “It's been weeks. I'm ready. I fucking see you! Now, I want to see you fucking me, Vex!”

Vexen burst out laughing, his beautiful face becoming even more handsome. As he bent back his head, a ray of sunshine hit him, bringing out the gold in his skin and reddish tones in his hair. I sighed again, wanting him so badly that I was tempted to just get naked and bend over. He wouldn't be able to resist a bare-ass lift, would he?

“Vex, is it?” he asked.

“Well, it's appropriate, isn't it?” I shot back. “You are the most vexing man I've ever met.”

“Ember,” Vexen said gently. “I want this to be perfect. I've waited so long for you.”

“Then why wait any longer?” I grabbed his thick ass and pulled. “We know I'm going to bond with you.”

“Do we?” He went serious again. “Do you love me?”

“Do you love me?” I shot back.

Vexen sighed and rolled away.

Because we both knew it was a deflection. I wanted Vexen. I craved him. I was going mad from my need for him. But I was still wrestling with my love for Ara, and that had put a hold on my heart. It was odd. I'd fallen in love with Keltyr, then fallen for Taroc soon after. No issues. But because I had lost Aranren, our love was different. It haunted me. And it kept me from loving Vexen.

“I'm getting there,” I whispered.

Vexen looked at me, hope in his eyes. He rolled onto his side. “I know, Ember. I feel it. But until you are there, I don't want to make love to you. Because it will only be making love for me.”

“Vexen,” I whispered. “Are you saying—”

“No,” he cut me off. “I'm not. I won't say it. But I don't have to, do I? You see me.” He laid his hand on my heart. “And I see you. I will wait, Ember.”

“Then I will try to be patient, Vex .”

Vexen laughed again, and as usual, it lightened my heart. A heart that I hoped would soon have him in it.