“Hey, Aren.” Iria put both her hands on his cheeks suddenly. He blinked, every sense in his body standing at alert. “Are you all right?”
He definitely wasn’t, so he didn’t say anything. He stared at her instead. He could still make out her features in the dim, dying light. The freckles across the bridge of her nose. The curve of her lips. Her dark eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stop her,” he said, because he needed to say it to someone.
“Could you have stopped her?”
“Maybe. I ran away instead.”
She nodded and didn’t tell him it wasn’t his fault. He was glad. It would have been a lie. He liked that she didn’t lie to him.
“Let’s go back and tell Em.” She dropped her hands from his face. “She’ll know—” She turned to her horse and stopped talking abruptly. “Aren,” she breathed, pointing at something. He followed her finger. In the distance, an army marched north. Headed straight for Sacred Rock.
Em stopped in front of the house, lifting her head to look up at Cas’s window. It was closed, but she could see the edges of light around the curtains. The sun had set not long ago, and the chill in the air was making her even more nervous.
She knocked on the door and Galo answered. Violet and Mateo sat at the table, cards in front of them, and they said hello as she passed through.
Her footsteps were quiet as she walked up the stairs to Cas’s room, but she could tell he heard her coming as soon as she opened the door. He was sitting on the edge of the bed instead of against the pillows, his feet flat on the floor. His eyes were bright and full of life again. He looked even better than he had that morning.
“Hi.” She shut the door behind her. The room was lit by one lantern on the bedside table, casting a soft glow across the bed.
“Hi.”
She moved closer to him until her knees brushed against his. He tilted his face up.
“The warriors want you all gone in three days,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say.
He reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together. He didn’t respond to that.
“And there are other things I should talk to you about,” she said softly.
He put his other hand on her neck, pulling her face closer to his. “Whatever it is, I don’t care.”
She pressed her lips to his, softly at first. His hands circled her waist, and he parted his legs, pulling her closer to him. His fingers slipped beneath her shirt, tracing the bare skin of her back, and it didn’t matter that she had something to tell him, because she’d forgotten how to talk.
She climbed into his lap, letting her knees rest on either side of him. Her lips left his for a moment, and he leaned forward to catch them again.
She’d kissed him before. She’d kissed him in this bed before, even. But this was different. This was her body on fire, her brain turned to mush. This was nothing but him and the heat of his breath on her mouth.
She found the bottom of his shirt and tugged on it until he lifted his arms. She pulled it off.
His gaze met hers briefly before he kissed her again. She would remember the way he looked at that moment forever. Eyes blazing, chin tilted up to kiss her again.
He bit down gently on her bottom lip and she practically went limp in his arms. His fingers found the buttons of her shirt and he slowly released them. His hands skimmed her bare shoulders as he pushed the shirt off. She wore nothing underneath the shirt. Her lips curved up as he took in a sharp breath.
She ran her fingers into his hair, curling them around the soft strands. His hands were against her bare skin and she suddenly decided to never put her clothes back on. She’d spent far too much time with Cas with her clothes on.
He grabbed her around the waist and pressed her into the mattress. She wrapped her legs around his hips, her fingers skimming his firm back.
His lips weren’t against hers anymore, they were on her neck, then trailing lower, until sparks were shooting through her body.
His fingers fumbled with the buttons on her pants and she laughed as he sat back on her legs and tried to pull them free.
“Do you want some help there?” she asked, reaching for them.
He brushed her hand away. “No.” He released the top button. “You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about taking your pants off. I’m doing it myself.” He released the second button.
“How many times?” she asked.
He freed the last button and grabbed her pants around the waist. “A few.” He dragged the pants down her legs and dropped them off the bed. “Not as many times as I relived that night I unbuttoned your dress.”
“Yeah?”
He pressed his hands into the mattress on either side of her head, his hair falling into his eyes as he looked down at her. She wore only a scrap of fabric now, and her entire body lit up as he settled between her legs.
“So many times,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could. If she held him tightly enough, maybe he wouldn’t have to go. Maybe they could do this every night for the rest of their lives.
His fingers were curling around her thigh and pushing up to her hip when she heard the scream.
Cas went rigid, his head snapping to the window. Another scream.
Em darted off the bed, grabbing for her shirt and pants. She threw them on and ran for the door.
“Stay here,” she called over her shoulder.
She didn’t wait for a reply before sprinting out the door. Galo was downstairs with Mateo and Violet, and she repeated the same instructions to them.
Ruined and warriors streamed out of their homes as Em sprinted to the center of town. Aren and Iria were running from the opposite direction.
“Vallos soldiers!” Aren yelled.
Em turned, facing the direction where dark figures were approaching from the south. Horse hooves pounded the dirt. The blade of a sword caught the light of a torch.
She hadn’t expected an attack from the Vallos army so soon. It was inevitable, considering they’d invaded a town and she’d killed their princess, but they weren’t strong enough to take on the Ruined themselves. Why would they storm into town without backup from Lera?
“Kill them all! Every one of them!” Olivia’s voice rose over the noise. She strode out of her house with Em’s sword, her face calm. She handed over Em’s sword. “The warriors are waiting for orders.”
Em turned to find August and his warriors gathering in the town square, dressed in red and swords already drawn. She cupped her hands around her mouth.
“Attack! No prisoners!”
TWENTY
AREN’S CHEST SEIZED as Em called out the order. He and Iria rode as fast as they could, but the Vallos army had a head start. They barely made it back to Sacred Rock before the soldiers.
“Kill them! Kill them all!” Olivia screamed.
The Vallos soldiers were retaliating because of what Olivia had done. He couldn’t blame them. They already hated the Ruined because Em killed their princess. He would have done the same.