Chapter 38

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Rose

I didn't feel the blade across my neck at first. I still couldn't breathe at the sight of Magnus run through with a sword the size of a sledgehammer. My vision narrowed as it contracted and expanded with the room. Lights flashed, words stretched, and I felt like I was being ripped in half all over again.

No. This could not be happening again. I needed more time. Time. Why wasn't there more when I needed it? I wasn't ready.

When the room finally came back together again, stitching itself piece by piece, I surged forward with my fingers at my neck until a hard set of hands caught me.

"Magnus?" I prayed it was him. Dear Goddess, please. I'd do anything. This had to be a nightmare.

"Of course. Who else would it be? What's wrong?"

I opened my eyes and drank in his big, beautiful, scarred face, certain I'd never seen anything more perfect in my entire life.

"Are you okay?"

He pulled his brows together as concern washed over his features. "Of course I am. My soon to be mate just made me the happiest man in this realm or any other. I only hope I recover enough to go and visit Corvina later. We really need her help getting inside that castle unseen."

"What?" I jerked free of his arms, and despite the still spinning room, I realized we were not in the same place as before. It was the day…before?

I scrunched my eyes closed and took a quick second before opening again. Still not where we were supposed to be. What the hell was happening to me?

"Whoa." Magnus scooped me into his arms and off my feet. "I don't know why you are swaying or shaking like your bones are about to break. But how about we get back in that bed until we figure it out?"

I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his chest, inhaling deep at the same time. This was what I needed. Him. His heat on my skin, and his scent all around me. If I could, I'd burrow deep and potentially stay there. Whatever nightmare loop I was in, I couldn't take another round.

"We need to leave here now," I whispered. "This isn't going to work."

"What do you mean? We just talked about this. What happened in the last five minutes that has you so freaked out?"

The idea of rehashing this all again sent a hard shudder up and down my spine. But what choice did I have? Only this time I had to convince him to believe something I didn't even understand. Thank the Goddess we had more time this go round. If he hadn't even talked to his witch yet, then I had hours to come up with a new plan. Namely, get the hell out of this village. He'd said there were other kingdoms. Surely one of them would give us—did they offer asylum here?

"I've watched you die twice. I can't do it again."

"What the hell does that mean?" He reared back and I grabbed at his shirt to try and keep him close.

There was no avoiding or getting out of this so I forced myself up to a sitting position and took one last fortifying breath. "Two minutes ago, I was in your castle throne room and had to watch one of the guards run you through with a sword while a knife was pressed to my neck." Before he could say anything, and I could see that he was about to burst, I held up my hand to stop him and rushed to continue. "I know it sounds crazy. But it wasn't the first time. The first one was worse in a way, but not really, because watching you die felt like I was dying too. And I probably was about to, when I blinked and suddenly was back here. That's why I was shaking, and barely breathing. Because you were dead, and there was nothing I could do to stop it."

I slumped forward as I felt the weight of the world, or at least my world, pressing down on me.

"Baby, I don't understand." He lifted me back into his lap and held me with tight arms. It was a bit hard to breathe, but I didn't care. I'd give him my air if it meant we didn't have to go back there and go through it again.

"I can't do it again. Please. Can't we just leave? Let karma get your uncle? Because I promise it will."

His back stiffened, and I knew his answer before he ever opened his mouth.

"No. I can't. It’s not just my life at stake anymore. But you can. I don't know what's going on, but the grief engulfing you right now is palpable, and I'm about a breath away from a killing spree."

The tears I'd held back dripped from my eyes onto his shirt. I didn't care. After what I'd been through, didn't I deserve them? I'd certainly earned them.

"Shhh. Don't cry, my sweet little flower. I'm not that easy to kill. I'm sure we can figure out something."

"That's what you said last time!" I cried on a low wail. I was losing it, and there was no taking it back.

"Rose," he said slowly, alarm and disbelief clearly in his eyes.

"Look," I interrupted. "I need you to take this seriously. I do not know what the hell is going on, but this is no ordinary premonition. We were there, damnit. Twice. If we go a third time, I'm pretty sure one or both of us won't be getting out, and those odds are unacceptable. We. Must. Do. Something. Different. Or I'm going to give you valerian again and make sure you can't go!"

He probably thought I was kidding, but I most suredly was not. I was prepared to do whatever it took?—

"Wait. That's a really good idea." I scrambled away from him and began making some mental notes and a checklist. "Do you have a notebook and a pen? I really need to take some notes." The ideas and formulas were flying through my brain faster than I could process them. "If we can just get our hands on some specific plants, and if your kitchen has basic supplies, I might be able to concoct something that could help. But it's—" I turned suddenly back to him to find him still sitting, his mouth slightly parted and his eyes wider than ever. "What?"

His eyebrows pinched together. "I thought we'd agreed that poisoning me again was not a good idea."

I dropped my hands and fought not to laugh. While there was nothing remotely amusing about our predicament, his mistake that I planned to poison him caught me off guard.

"Don't you laugh at me." He shoved across the bed and pulled me back and over his lap. "I could pin you here and spank your ass for even entertaining such a thought. And don't think I won't do it. Even joking about it is not funny."

I snorted. As much as I tried not to, his incredulous and offended tone was too much. "You really are insane. Maybe I should have taken Isaac's warnings a little more to heart."

"Why you—" He didn't finish his sentence before his hand smacked down on my bottom with a stinging slap.

I reared back and had his other hand not been pinning my torso to his lap I would have head butted him. "What do you think you are you doing?" I no sooner got the question out before another strike hit and the burn of fire accompanied it. "Stop," I cried, squirming and fighting for my freedom.

"No," he said simply, although his hand began softly rubbing where he'd struck me instead of spanking me again. His touch was like magic as the sting dissipated and I started to feel something entirely else from his ministrations.

"You are the devil," I said with little to no heat.

"Is that why your back arched, and your beautiful ass is reaching for more?"

My entire body jerked at his words. I was not— Oh Gods, I was. And he was too. I could feel the evidence rubbing against my core.

"This is not what we should be doing. We don't have that much time."

"I beg to differ," he said, sliding his fingers between my cheeks and then lower. It didn't matter that I had clothes on. This man's touch felt like fire no matter where or how he touched me, and I couldn't resist it.

I tried to stifle a moan, but the second his warmth reached my clit, I lost all control. He'd already proven more than once how easy it was to turn me into a mass of writhing need. Every time he got close, and I scented his smoke and ash, I was halfway there. But this time I found myself both desperate for him and a little angry about it.

"You don't play fair," I snarled as I twisted off his lap before he could catch me. I flipped around and tangled my hands in his hair, tightening my fingers, and pushing him back to fall on the bed at the same time. "Now it's my turn."

A rumble sounded in his chest. Light at first but intensifying the more I tightened my hold. "You are playing a dangerous game, little wildflower."

This time I growled as I kissed my way across his jaw towards his ear. "That's okay. I enjoy games."

"What makes you think you can win?" he said, snapping his teeth in an attempt to bite my neck. I managed to elude his bite, but I knew it wouldn't last. Not that I particularly wanted it to anyways. The idea of his teeth sliding into my skin and his tongue lapping at my blood sent a shockwave of heat straight between my legs.

"I'll win because you want me to. Because the hardness between your legs tells me you like this game—a lot."

His low laughter rumbled through this room. "You got me there. I do find you like this hard to deny. But—" He suddenly grabbed me around the waist and flipped me underneath him. "I also like you trapped and unable to get away," he growled, licking his way up the side of my neck.

As tempting as it was to let him retake the lead, I was worked up and mad about whatever was going on in that castle every time we went there. I jerked my knee forward, forcing him to flip sideways to avoid a blow to his crotch, which gave me the leverage I needed to wriggle free once again.

"Not this time," I growled, letting him see my frustration as I fought to pin him down with my legs. For a second, he seemed too determined to best me, until his gaze met mine and he saw something there that made him back down.

"Okay, pretty Rose. You win this time. But I wouldn't get used to it. I'm far more into being the one who does the torturing in this relationship."

"Relationship," I barked. "Is that what you call this need between us for non-stop sex?"

He scowled up at me, his expression deadly serious. "Yes."

"That's messed up," I said, grinding down my hips against his cock in an almost desperate need for friction. "Sex is just sex." I gasped when his tip bumped against my greedy center, closing my eyes to revel in the sensation. "People in a relationship listen to each other. They believe it when one of them says something isn't right and they work together to solve the problem."

I was so lost in the heat and pleasure of his touch, that I missed the subtle change in his demeanor. Anger still flooded through me and because it had nowhere else to go, I wanted to fuck it out of me. So it took me an extra minute to realize he'd gone perfectly still. I glanced down to see his facial expression set in a grimace of hard stone. He did not look happy anymore.

"I believe you that something isn't right. But I thought it reasonable to assume you were having visions, all things considered."

I sighed and rolled off him, collapsing onto my back next to him. "It's not. I've seen things before like this and this is far different. It's a thousand times stronger and it's real. I can still smell the blood." My stomach tightened as the memories once again assailed me. No matter what our future held, or how far we got away from what I'd seen, I was never going to forget any of it.

"I think we need to go see Corvina early. She might have some insight into what happened and if we make some changes to our plans, it could cut down on a repeat of that scenario."

I thought about what he said. We were definitely going to make some changes, but seeing Corvina at a different time wasn't enough. "We need to stay the hell away from that castle. There has to be a better way to get to your uncle."

"There isn't," he said, gripping my hip and pulling me closer to his side. "He won't leave. Especially if he somehow knows I'm coming for him."

"Oh, he definitely knows. And I'm pretty sure that witch of yours is the only one who knows that."

"Okay, so if you don't think I'm listening, tell me what your take is on what's happening and what we should do different to prevent it." He squeezed my hip again. "And don't say leave. I'm not running from him. I'm going to end this now."

His words vibrated down my spine with the intensity of hatred that his uncle deserved. He'd abused his nephew for far too long and Magnus was right. The people here deserved a king who would do right by them, and no matter what had happened with Magnus in the past, I felt the good in him clear to my bones. This wasn't just vengeance. It was about what was right too. But we had to be smarter about this.

Meaning our back up had to have a back up.

Wait.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner."

"What?" he asked, sitting up when I jumped from the bed in excitement.

"Just Valerian isn’t going to be enough. I don't suppose there's a lab here that I could work in? Something with real equipment?" I worked to fix my clothes and hair so I didn't look like I'd just rolled out of bed, not to mention a fight.

He shook his head. "Not much call for that here. Not outside of the castle anyways. We have an alchemist who works for my uncle inside the castle compound, but that’s not going to be much help. There might be a few witches who experiment with potions and other concoctions if you think that will help."

"Of course," I said, nodding. "I guess it doesn't matter where in time you go, there will always be a good kitchen witch. But I think I can make that work."

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"I have an idea."