Dark Promise by Annika West

20

Blood coated most of his body.

My insides reacted to him on instinct with a twist of fear and a spike of heat. Even through the anger, all I could think of was how fucking relieved I was to see him alive.

Before I could move, his thoughts came. “We do this my way or the hard way. One that involves knocking you out and dragging your ass back home.”

The nerve on this man was astronomical.

I gave him the middle finger while I walked casually past him, even though he couldn’t see me.

I might still be infatuated with this psychopath, but that didn’t erase what he’d done. How he’d treated me.

Knowing that he was alive was good enough for me.

I caught a flash of a feral, downright evil grin.

And then something tugged on my wrist.

Whipping around, it only took me a second to realize what it was.

“Sorry, Aster.”

A thread of golden light wrapped around Hux’s wrist.

And mine.

“You fucker,” I hissed. “You piece of old, stale caramel. You —”

“I know you’re likely insulting me and threatening to replace my coffee with decaf, but you are leaving this island with me whether you like it or not.”

His turned, his eyes easily finding me. They were golden coals, lighting the wet blood on his body and the savage expression on his face.

He looked ready to go to war.

And I was his prize.

That’s my cue to run.

I tore into the tunnel. There wasn’t any time to be careful about these things. I had a murderous dragon on my heel.

A sexy, untrustworthy dragon that broke my fucking heart, and yet I still got butterflies when I looked at him.

He’s the worst.

The golden thread was still there, and though I couldn’t hear Cayne’s thoughts, I knew he was on my heel. Somehow, he’d connected us. The bastard.

As if the I.E. contract and mating runes weren’t enough? No, the asshole had to go ahead and get me a leash.

The purple glow caught my eye a moment before I passed through its almost imperceptible veil.

My skin prickled painfully. That’s not good.

Just one glance down told me everything I needed to know. Some rocks had crumbled from the ceiling, leaving them sliced in two.

This spell had the power to split solid rock in two, and my dumb jailer-turned-mate was running right toward it.

My anger ordered me to run and finish the mission.

My glowing mating rune tethered me to the spot.

When Hux came into view, running full-speed toward the death trap, I launched myself forward and shifted into the physical realm.

Hux and I crashed together. The impact jarred every bone in my body.

The dragon held me to him while I moaned and cursed.

“Why do you have to be so fucking solid? It hurts.”

“And here I thought you liked my physique,” he shot back.

That’s when I noticed his hands were trembling.

The ceiling of the tunnel was lined with witch lights, thankfully, so I wasn’t totally blind down here.

But he was definitely covered in blood. I’d assumed it was mostly Oz’s, but —

At least he’s safe. For now.

Our breath was the only sound in the cave.

I allowed myself one second of enjoying his touch before forcing myself to push him away.

His grip tightened over my arms painfully. His godlike stare bore down on me. “Tell me, Aster. Were you always working for my brother? Or did he convince you to betray me only after our contract was signed?”

He squeezed harder. Enough to make my bones creak.

Every ounce of relief drained away.

“Ow! What? Are you serious?” I tried to tug out of his grip, but it was useless.

He bared his teeth at me and growled.

This bitch is trying to intimidate me into submission, isn’t he?

My limbs shook. Another evolutionary, instinctual response I’d give to any predator. I sagged a little in my very physical terror.

“Let go,” I ordered.

“Did you know we were fae before I trapped you in my employment?” he demanded. “Did you know you were my mate?”

“Now I know you’re crazy. Let go —”

“Tell me!” he roared. His neck and chest glowed orange and red like coals.

I pushed at him with my pitiful strength. “You are the only one that’sgood at betrayal, Cayne. I don’t think past tomorrow’s breakfast. How could you even consider that I’ve been on your brother’s team? Are you listening to yourself right now?”

“Do you take me for a fool who cannot see how intelligent you are?” he pressed on, completely ignoring my words. “You’ve shown time and time again how quick you are on your feet. How well you can plan in advance. Was it at least difficult to keep your roles in place? Or was lying as easy as breathing?”

I flinched at the venom in his tone. “You know what? I shouldn’t have stopped you from running through the slicey spell. Why don’t you walk three feet forward and drop dead, you fucking idiot.”

I disappeared.

It didn’t matter that the energetic realm still had that stupid cord connecting our wrists. Being physically near him carried too many dangers.

Like accidental kissing.

And death.

The rage burning inside of me was as limitless as my caloric intake. Not only had he betrayed me, but now the motherfucker was projecting.

He was the one lying to me from day one.

He used me to his heart’s content.

He’d known that we were fae. Or, at least suspected it.

At every turn, it was Hux with all the answers and solutions, all the while letting the hungry little Cut throw her candles around while he controlled every aspect of her life.

The fire brewing inside Hux exploded outward, filling the cave with white-hot heat and killing the witch lights.

Even with my healing rune, my arms hurt where he’d held me.

“I will follow you to the ends of the earth,” he promised as the cave faded into darkness again, leaving only his brilliant eyes.

“You don’t even deserve the chance,” I whispered back, knowing that he couldn’t even hear.

This pain, this bitterness, was way too much for one little sugar addict to manage.

The mission. Focus on your mission. Forget about him and complete the task you actually have control over.

I sped through the tunnels, leaving Hux behind and hardly taking the time to plan where I was going.

There wasn’t any use to stop the tears either.

Since there was so much dust in this realm.

Yup. Dust.

That’s the story I was running with.

Once I’d found a part of the tunnel with working witch lights, I followed it, making sure to stay out of the walls as much as possible. No use getting lost inside a mountain, you know?

Rage and sadness twisted like steel cords in my chest, but I shoved them away.

I had to focus on this mission. Completing it was the only thing that mattered.

After that, I’d forge my own path and keep on surviving.

Besides, when life stabs you in the back, it’s your job to smile through the pain and mock the knife for missing your heart.

A warmer light shone in the distance.

Adair had said this tunnel would end at an ante-something.

Antechamber. Look at me, remembering my vocabulary words.

When I made it into the room, I actually gasped.

It was… well, beautiful.

The dome ceiling opened at the very top, letting a delicate waterfall pour into a pool of in the center of the room. There were foliage and cute little bugs and cobblestones all over the place. Statues of what looked like gods or spirits guarded the walls.

Temporarily shocked out of my emotional shitstorm, it took me a second to notice I wasn’t alone.

There was an actual guard.

He was built like a mountain and wore very little clothing except for an iron mask. In fact…

I squinted. “Are those plumerias on his board shorts? Good grief.”

Sighing, I examined the room. There didn’t seem to be any crazy spells in here. Maybe that was a good sign?

All I had to do was pop into existence behind the guard, set the crystal into a port at the bottom of the fountain, and bounce.

What could possibly go wrong?

Even in this dimension, I felt like I needed to be cautious. Too many spells and wards here.

Tremors ran through my fingers, but I ignored them and pulled out the crystal, then stepped into the fountain.

The port was a little circle that would fit the crystal easily. I lined up the crystal, took a deep breath, and then shifted into the physical dimension.

Just an easy, sneaky mission. No one will even know I was here!

The crystal clicked into place.

I shifted back into invisibility…

Only… I didn’t.

Well, damn.