Chapter Twenty-Three

When morning came, Ara and I were exhausted, which played into our story.

"Did you enjoy yourselves last night?" Death asked gleefully.

"Yes," I said as I took Ara's hand and kissed it. "It was perfect. Thank you for giving us some privacy."

"Oh, my pleasure," Death drawled as cold seeped back into my veins. "Now, eat your breakfast, my beautiful boys. Ember's training begins today. His true training."

I took a deep, cleansing breath, feeling more powerful and determined. But my determination was to learn this new magic. All those weeks I had thought I was mastering Death Magic, when I was just learning ways to combine it with . . . hold on. I may not have been working directly with Death Magic, but those training sessions weren't a total loss. I knew how to combine it with the other magics. Including Spirit. This might be the key to reaching that light.

To escape Death, I would embrace it.

"I'm looking forward to reading your book," I said to Death. "It's where Aranren started, isn't it?"

"Yes. I should have remembered that," Death said.

"It's all right," Aranren said. "I will guide him as you guided me. Now, have you been making use of your time away from us?"

Ara's strong white teeth snapped into a sausage, but when the juice ran over his lips, he didn't allow it to slide down his chin. Oh, no, not the elegant Aranren. He licked it up before it escaped, making even that look graceful. He truly was a stunning man.

I blinked as this thought occurred to me. Was I attracted to Aranren? Was friendship and fascination turning into desire? How interesting. Maybe I would take him as my lover in truth. In fact, that might help us to free ourselves. Empowering him wouldn't be so bad if he was using that power to help me escape.

But the thoughts of my escape weren't so strong with Death riding me. They slipped under his influence, drifting away. Thoughts of world domination replaced them and my musings shifted. Would binding Ara to me help me conquer Varr? It would help me repress Death so I could truly rule. But then I'd have to fight Aranren for the throne. Unless I made him love me. Death was right about love turning men into sacrifices. A man in love would do anything for his mate. Even give up a throne.

I looked at Aranren with a calculating eye.

"You are so lovely today," I said and slid my hand on Ara's thigh.

Aranren jumped, then looked at me in shock.

I widened my eyes at him, as if I were putting on a performance for Death. I was, but I was also seducing Ara. I knew he wanted me. Death had confessed it for him, and I had also seen real desire in Ara's eyes on several occasions. Yes, he wanted me.

And our ruse was the perfect excuse to exploit that.

Nodding slightly at me, Ara set his hand over mine and said, "Thank you."

I leaned closer to whisper, "I can't wait to be alone with you again."

He shivered, and I smiled to myself as I straightened. When I withdrew my hand, he lifted his to caress me. And just like that, I added another layer to our game.

I spent the rest of our meal eating lasciviously. I licked gravy from my fingers, slowly closed my lips around sausages, and moaned over everything. By the time we had finished breakfast, Ara was boasting an impressive hard-on that his silk robes couldn't hide. What was even better was the delight I felt from Death. Both of them were falling prey to my brilliance.

Damn, that was an incredible feeling.

"Do you dance?" I asked Aranren.

"Dance?" He frowned and looked around the hall. "I haven't in, well, centuries."

"Do you think you can get some of these minions of yours to play something?"

"I'll handle that," Death said smugly.

A sweet melody began to play, lilting upon the air. The perfect tune for a romantic dance. I stood up and held my hand out to Aranren. Yes, it was early for dancing, but what did that matter when you had all the time in the world?

Aranren stared at my hand, something shifting in his expression, then took it and stood up. But he let go immediately to remove a layer of robes. Beneath them, he wore something tighter and shorter, more the length of a tunic, with loose pants. My gaze traveled down his body slowly, and I smiled as I drew it up again. He smiled back as he held out his hand to me.

Hand-in-hand, we went to an open space before the table. But once there, Aranren hesitated.

"It's all right," I said and took the lead.

His expression relaxed as I led us around the space. Soon, his body followed suit, his grip loosening on my shoulders. He began to smile, then it widened.

"I've forgotten how fun this is," Aranren said.

He was taller than me, so I had to stretch to reach his ear, but I did, so that I could whisper into it, "You're doing very well."

Ara licked his lips, setting them to shining. I suddenly wanted to kiss him. But I held back. Better to draw this out. If I wanted him to fall in love with me, I had to create some longing inside him. Of course, if I wanted to draw him into a binding, I'd have to fall in love in return.

I watched Aranren. His beauty was enhanced by his joy. So lovely. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever met. A twinge of discomfort slid through me when I thought of how little joy he had in his life. He'd been alone for so long. Just him and Death and the Corrupted. Did they haunt him? He didn't want to hurt anyone. It seemed to hurt him. So seeing the Corrupted every day must be awful.

We danced and danced, Death providing the music. But we still had my training to get to and couldn't waste the day entirely. So, I slowed us to a stop.

Then I bowed, "Thank you for the dance, Ara."

"My pleasure, Ember." His expression slid back into something I was beginning to recognize as his Corrupter mask. "I assume you're ready to begin reading."

"I am. But there's always tonight. We can dance more after dinner if you wish."

"I think I do wish for that." Ara brushed his fingertips over my cheek. "And maybe tonight, I'll lead."