Chapter 18

K erys's bubbly laughter echoed across the terrace. "Me? Helping to incite a prison revolt? And you're telling me I killed people?" Her speech slurred, and she shook her head before taking a deep gulp from her glass. "I still don't believe it. No way!"

I refilled her drink with the last of the wine from the carafe and placed it next to two empty ones on a food cart beside the table.

"What reason would I have to lie?" I teased.

A shrug lifted her shoulders and she reached across the table, drawing idle patterns on the back of my hand. She smirked, eyes alight with tipsy courage. "Then tell me my favorite part again."

I chuckled at her mischievous expression. Night had broken long ago, metal filigree lanterns on the patio and in the garden throwing shadow patterns along the ground, their golden glow attracting moths with silken wings.

And in just these last few hours, Kerys had changed.

At the start of our dinner, she'd told me about her past in this life.

She was born in a tiny village outside of Hedonfel. The daughter of a humble candlemaker, her childhood was uneventful until her mother died from illness, and her father sought comfort at the bottom of any bottle and distraction in perpetually bad hands of cards. She explained how he lost his business and took loans from the wrong people to feed his gambling habit.

Pain speared through my heart when she said she'd only heard about his debt after he'd died in a drunken alley brawl, and his debtors broke into their cottage in the middle of the night. They took everything of value. As a parting gift, they threatened they'd be back in two weeks to collect the rest of what they were owed—and if she wasn't able to pay in coin, she'd do so with her blood.

In turn, I had told her about myself. Decades of loneliness and grief had a way of scattering memories like ashes in the wind, but I bared whatever I could recall.

That my mother raised me and my sisters by herself, but I was the one who provided for us. Her brows rose when I admitted to cutting off my family when I became a killer for hire, but she didn't shy away, no fear in her eyes. She gave an understanding smile while I explained that I didn't want them to be in harm's way but kept sending them money for as long as they lived.

I spoke of the botched assassination that put me into prison, reminiscing about the mines.

And, of course, I recalled our fated, first meeting.

I told her about her husband, He'zath. She was appalled when I said that it had been a loveless marriage of convenience, how her father had sold her to the highest bidder to save their noble house from falling into arrears and disgrace.

I omitted He'zath's violent tendencies.

I'd been there for her when she worked through her trauma the first time, when her proud, strong fa?ade cracked, and she sobbed in my arms at night. If she remembered, I would have supported her again, but I saw no point in forcing her to relive that grief.

Still, I couldn't leave out how I'd stolen her from him, proudly proclaiming how willingly she fell into my embrace. Then I told her about the secret notes, the schemes, the uprising.

She'd asked about our wedding, too, but I saved that story for another time.

Both of us avoided the topic of her death. Whenever conversation leaned toward it, seconds of tense silence stretched, finally broken by another anecdote.

We both weren't ready to talk about it yet.

With every passing minute of us conversing and eating and drinking, she behaved more like my Kerys. Talked more like my Kerys.

The fierce stubbornness returned to her gaze, confidence in the set of her shoulders.

It was like watching an exotic flower bloom. Closed into a tight bud, protecting what lay inside, she was already marvelous. And now, her petals were oh-so-slowly opening, revealing even greater loveliness inside.

Kerys nudged my leg with her heel, wrenching me from my daydream. "Skrain, tell me!"

I poked her ankle with my tail, and she squirmed. "Making demands again, hmm?" I yanked my hand from beneath hers. Before she could react, I had her wrist in a tight grip, and her brows arched. "It seems you still didn't learn your lesson last night, my priceless treasure."

I jumped up, smirking, and pulled her to her feet. She stumbled, eyes like saucers, giggling as she bumped against the table, empty dishes rattling.

"I think you need a walk before bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," I said, intertwining our fingers. "But if you're a good girl, I promise I'll tell you one more time tonight. The short version."

Her grin widened. "Deal!"

We walked along the pathways, gravel crunching beneath our feet. The night air was cool and refreshing, and I couldn't stop thinking how fortunate I was. Stars glittering above, a full belly, and most importantly, the woman I loved on my arm.

"Once we're done with the ritual tomorrow, I'll tell you all those stories from my perspective," she drawled.

"I would love to hear them."

Her eyes darted along the flowering shrubs to our left, then the pond to our right. "And you're sure it'll work? My magic will return, too?"

My stomach flipped. No, I wasn't sure.

In fact, I was clueless, only had Dr. Mavix's instructions to go by. Such complex rituals were usually outside of my expertise, but the spell demanded someone from her past to act as a conduit, and I wouldn't have trusted a stranger with her wellbeing, anyway.

Though doubt gnawed at my mind, Kerys's idea to go through with the memory retrieval had grown into bull-headed determination. I knew from experience that persuading her to drop it would only make her insist harder. When I even attempted to steer her away from it earlier, she had doubled down, stomping a proverbial foot.

I'd given her few details, only mentioning the ritual would involve invoking a trance in a location with ties to strong emotions and powerful memories. It was easier that way. Worrying her made failure more likely and I needed her mind pliable, not tense with terror.

"Of course it will work," I lied with a smile. "But for now, I'll be the storyteller. So, the night of the coup, you snuck into the mining camp, using a devious excuse?—"

"I told the guards I had forgotten some of my enchanting tools that day, right?" she interrupted, tripping over her feet, and I caught her by the arm. "Because I was some kind of amazing gem enchantress, right? And they trusted me because I was the mine owner's wife, right?"

I snickered. "Exactly. And in your bag, you brought those tiny clusters of purple gems, one for each prisoner. They looked like glowing miniature grapes. I couldn't tell you how they worked, you didn't explain, and I didn't even have magic back then. But you told us carrying them would act like a shield, lend us strength for a while, harden our skin, and let us endure greater pain."

Kerys stopped to pluck a feathery, white bloom from a bush, thrusting it into the air like a sword. "And it worked !"

"It did. We took up our pickaxes and stormed the guard post. Even with their whips and spells, the guards couldn't fight us all off." I sighed. "I'll never forget that night. How good it felt to sink hard metal into their soft flesh, hear the crack of their bones as they shattered."

She bit her lip, giving me a long, sideways glance as we walked through a patch of fruit trees. "You enjoyed killing them."

A hum rumbled in my throat. "Very much. And so did you ."

"I-I did?"

My cock sprung to life at the memory of the massacre and the wild, voracious look in her eyes. "I remember all that blood got you quite … excited."

I flicked my tail up, slithering between her legs. She froze, gasping and dropping the flower as the tip dragged along her slit. I teased the stud above her clit before drawing lower, the thin, dampening fabric of her panties the only thing stopping me from sliding inside her. My mouth found her neck, and her moan made my dick throb.

"But you enjoyed killing him the most, Kerys."

"My … previous husband. Uh, He'zath, you said? I can't remember, but I-I don't think I liked him. When my mind drifts to him, my chest gets tight. I don't think he treated me very well."

In a bid to distract her from the suffering he caused her, I set a hand on her chest, kneading her breast. Instead, I wanted her to remember how powerful she felt when she ended him, how much she loved her revenge. My fingers found the ring in her hard nipple, tugging softly, and she bucked her hips against my tail.

"We both hated He'zath, but you reveled in his demise. What an arrogant mistake he and his brother made, building their manor to overlook the mines. We dispatched his personal guards, too, overwhelming them with the sheer number of prisoners. And when we got inside the house … oh, you were rage incarnate, Kerys. I'd never seen anyone so divine in their anger. My avenging Goddess."

I gripped the hem of her dress, and she raised her arms, helping me to undress her. While I tossed it aside, she kicked off her strappy heels, her quick fingers already unbuttoning my tunic. I bent and let her pull it over my head. The fabric tangled on my horns, but she yanked hard, the tearing of cloth loud in my ears.

"I knocked He'zath down, immobilized and bound him like a gift for you," I continued. "At twenty, I stopped counting how often you stabbed him."

My lips crashed into hers, and I forced my tongue into her mouth. She groaned, eyes rolling as she fumbled with my trousers. I pulled back, yanking off my boots, my trousers, and my smallclothes.

Kerys glanced down at my cock, swallowing thickly.

"My priceless treasure, you don't have to hesitate." I grasped her cool hand, bringing it to my length, and she smiled a shy, girlish grin. "You don't have to wait for permission. My body is yours. You're my wife, and you may touch me wherever pleases you, whenever pleases you."

She mouthed the word wife, and her fingers curled around my erection, stroking slowly. Heat flowed along my spine as she skimmed around my piercings. I rubbed her with my tail, sliding the rings atop the tip over her clit, her hips canting, seeking more friction.

"Tell me how I killed him," she whispered, a shudder in her voice. "My ex."

"Blood. There was fucking blood everywhere. On the carpet. The drapes. The furniture," I gritted out. "You were covered in it, too, drenched, red spattered across your face and your clothes."

I panted as I grabbed her by the neck, stepping into her. She gasped, but she didn't stop teasing me, the pad of her thumb circling along the head of my cock with each upward stroke. That was another thing she remembered without realizing:

How to set me on fire with her touch.

Her pulse fluttered beneath my hand, and I squeezed, cutting off her air. Desire burned through my veins, but fear still knotted my gut. Fear of the ritual failing. Fear of losing her.

It only made me want her more. I wouldn't waste another second.

I surged forward, pushing her back, and Kerys let out a wheezing laugh, losing her balance. She twisted, flailing, and her foot hit me hard in the back of the knee. Taken off guard, my leg buckled. I let go of her, trying to catch myself as I slipped—and failed.

I flung my arms around her. My laughter mixed with hers, my gaze on her beautiful eyes, narrowing with joy.

For a moment, it felt as if we were flying, weightless together.

Then gravity ran its course.

We fell.