Chapter 3

Senka

Istepped into the bathing chambers in a room deep below The Smoke where the natural hot spring that ran beneath the city, welling into several bubbling pools. The warm steam enveloped me like a comforting embrace. The flickering candlelight danced on the glistening stone walls, casting shadows through the lonely darkness.

The water was soothing against my skin, washing away the grime from the city. I took my time bathing, relishing the quiet solitude. I just wanted to sleep for days and days until I could clear my head again.

Was I really being asked to infiltrate the palace publicly? To play the part of courtier? My death orders were normally week-long missions that required stealth and precision, not galavanting around in pretty dresses. I shuddered at the thought of having to make conversation with anyone from the upper city, let alone live with them for any amount of time.

I grumbled as I dried myself off and finger-combed my long black hair until it hung down to brush my hips. When I was dry, I rubbed some rose-scented oil into my light brown skin until it glowed faintly under the warm, flickering light. After slipping into my silk nightdress, I draped a black hooded cloak over my exposed body and made my way back to my room.

Nobody looked at me as I passed by. Everyone kept to themselves, and nobody bothered to poke around in anyone else's business. To do so could easily get you killed if you messed with the wrong person on the wrong day.

I reached my room, letting my shadows slip beneath the crack under the door to search the darkness. With a smile, I let myself into the room and locked it behind me.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me back against a solid chest. A calloused hand snaked around my neck before encircling my throat, and hot breaths brushed the shell of my ear.

"Why must you always fucking challenge me?" His low growl brushed against my neck, sending shivers over my entire body. My body responded eagerly, pressing back into his hardened form as he let out a sharp intake of breath. "Fuck, you smell like…" he paused to press his face against my head, inhaling deeply. "Like sugar and jasmine."

"Do you think Prince Bazaan will like it too?" My smirk was hidden by my cloak.

His grip around my throat tightened. "When you"re with him, I want you to remember who makes your body tremble," he growled. "When his cock is deep inside your pretty cunt, I want you to feel me instead."

Before I could say a single word, my cloak was ripped off and tossed to the floor. I was being turned in a pair of strong arms, lifted off of my feet, and tossed onto the bed in one swift motion. My shadows didn't stir inside of me. They knew what this was.

Cross.

I laid on the bed as he approached, stripping his shirt off and revealing a heavily tattooed, leanly muscular chest and arms. He bore scars that crisscrossed over his abdomen and shoulders. His pale, white eyes burned into me. Not blind. Not in the slightest. He saw every inch of my oil-slicked body in the light of a single candle.

I allowed my thighs to part as I dragged my fingers down between my breasts, revealing myself to the underlord. His chest rose and fell swiftly, and his nostrils flared with pent-up need.

With a swift motion, he undid his trousers. My lips parted in anticipation as I watched him stroke his thick cock with controlled movements. I couldn"t resist the urge to touch myself, feeling my wetness intensify under my fingertips. A low moan escaped my lips as a wave of pleasure crashed through me. But it wasn"t enough. I needed him inside of me, dominating me completely.

There was no need for words between us as he covered my body with his, ripping the fabric of my night dress down and exposing my breasts, but then, with a grunt, he decided to just rip the entire thing down the middle, leaving it in tatters. I glared at him for ruining one of my favorite night dresses, but one look at his face had my mind going hazy. Our hands, lips, teeth, and moans clashed in a frenzy of desire and urgency.

Our bodies moved against one another in a primal rhythm, both hatred and need mingling as one. He was buried inside me in seconds, both of us groaning in unison. I clawed at his back as his hips began to thrust. In and out, he fucked me hard and fast until the headboard of my bed rocked against the wall.

In that moment, there was only us—two twisted souls bound by blood and secrets, seeking solace in the chaos of our fucked-up world. We'd been meeting in secret for months now, fucking like beasts until we were bruised, bloody, and sated. Until the rage that thrummed through both of us was tempered for just a little while.

Cross was a hard man. The power that coursed through him when the gods spoke was full of pain and agony. Wolfe and I were some of the only people who'd ever seen it in the flesh. When Cross received a message from the divine, it was often followed by thrashing screams of pain as he tried to hold onto his sanity.

My curses turned into moans as he increased his pace, and I gripped the bedsheets tightly. His body loomed over mine, an irresistible force that I couldn"t fully grasp onto. He pinned me down with both hands gripping the headboard. His long, pale braid teased my sweat-drenched skin as he took me from a new angle, dominating every inch of my being .

My hand snaked down between my thighs and thrummed my clit with the same intense rhythm that he fucked me. With his grip on the headboard, he slammed into me faster and more controlled. Curses fell from his cruel lips, and I could feel his cock starting to pulse inside of me.

My thighs shook, and heat built in my abdomen, warning me that I was about to fall right over that edge into oblivion. In a smooth, swift movement, Cross moved one hand from the headboard and clenched his fingers around the hollow of my throat, pressing against my windpipe.

"You belong to me, deathbringer," he growled, his voice laced with a dangerous charm. "Mine to possess, mine to destroy..." His words dripped with a seductive threat that sent me into a frenzy. "That's it, my shadow…"

My shadow.

Sparks of intense pleasure made me scream as my eyes rolled back in my head.

I heard him curse again, followed by a guttural groan as his hips stilled.

He pulled out of my heat, his hand moving from my throat to the base of his cock, and in a heartbeat, hot ropes of cum landed on my abdomen.

I wasoff the bed and washing his cum off of me in the washing basin before either of us could attempt to make conversation. It was always like this after the fact. Cold. Distant. Unfeeling.

Cross stood from the bed and dressed, and I pointedly looked away.

"Get some rest, my shadow," he whispered, passing behind me, letting his rough hand graze across my shoulders for a heartbeat. "You're going to need it."

He vanished through my door, closing it gently behind him, and I rushed to turn the lock once he was gone. I dried myself off and slipped into another nightgown, glaring at the discarded shreds of the last one that lay on my twisted sheets.

I stared at the empty bed and let out a shaky breath and then extinguished the candle before sinking into the darkness, my mind racing with thoughts of the upcoming pageant.

I could do this.

I had to do this.

It's what the gods wanted, and who was I to question the gods?

As I slipped into a restless sleep, I made my plans.