by Mara McQueen
He closed the heavy door behind them and leaned his hands against it, head falling between his shoulders, trying to regain some semblance of calm.
Ava's steps echoed in the empty, golden room.
"Do you think this is a game?" he asked menacingly low.
Her icy laughter resounded around them. "If it is, I think I'm finally winning."
Raiden grated his teeth. He'd done this. He'd hurt her so badly all she wanted to do now was wound him right back. They couldn't go on like this. They'd destroy each other.
He took a deep, centering breath and turned. "Who do you think you are?"
She blistered, shoulders snapping back. The ceremonial room was cold and still bare, but she filled it up with her fury.
"I am whoever I want to be."
"Who do you think you are?" He started advancing toward her slowly. "Are you a vindictive vigilante? Are you a righteous soul despite all the darkness you've had to go through? Are you hungry for power?"
Ava tilted her chin up, but took a step back, away from him. Then another and another, until her thighs hit the polished table.
"Are you lost and lashing out?" he went on. "Are you cruel and cold?"
"What if I'm all of them?" she asked with the haughtiness of a Queen.
Raiden closed in on her until there was nothing but a breath between them. Ava leaned back on the table, staring straight at him.
"You need to decide and decide fast. Because once we get back to the city, this royal life is going to hit you and hit you hard. You need to know who you are and what you want before you can lead anyone else. And if you don't, people will die."
"Threatening me again?" She narrowed her eyes. "I've had my life turned upside down too many times to count. My parents dying. Getting dragged in front of an altar. Everything you and your precious advisors threw at me. And I still got up, day after day, ready to face more. I survive. That's what I do and that's who I am. I'll be standing after the rest of you have fallen."
She would, because she was magnificent. She hadn't let the Underworld cower her, and she'd never would.
Raiden honestly wished it was an empty threat instead of the cruel reality. "I'm trying to prepare you for what's to come. The responsibility of making decisions will crush you if you're not ready. Who lives, who dies, who you save, who you can't."
She huffed a laugh that sounded wrong. "Now you're willing to share everything?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth from the start." More sorry than he’d ever been in his life. More sorry than Ava would probably ever believe.
"You're not," she said simply. "You're sorry I didn't fall on my knees to thank you that you've kept me in the dark for weeks. You didn't do it for me, you did it for your Clan—"
She was his Clan now, whether she acknowledged it or not. "It's my duty as Prince."
"—and for yourself," she finished with a hiss. "For your plans and your schemes."
“I have to save lives."
"I will, too. And I won't wreck them like you almost did to me."
"Hate me if you must.” He felt his soul howling at the words. "But I only wanted to keep you safe."
Some of the shadows left her gaze. "Maybe you shouldn't have."
Her eyes fell to the small bite mark she'd left on his lip.
Raiden's tongue darted out to lick it. She gulped.
The air around them crackled.
Their lips drifted closer until they breathed each other in. Their eyes were still locked, watching each other.
She propped herself up onto the table. Raiden settled himself between her open thighs.
He wanted her. He knew he shouldn't—this tension between them was on the verge of spilling over and breaking them for good—but he did. It was the deepest truth of his life.
He wanted her. All of her, heart and soul. Wanted her laughs, smiles, stolen glances, and small touches. Most of all, he wanted her trust. Her affection. Her love.
Raiden captured her lips in a fiery kiss. All their frustration, hurt, and disappointment poured into it. Teeth, lips, tongues, sucking, biting, licking.
A frenzy took over them both. It felt like nothing was going to satisfy this craving.
"No biting," he whispered against her lips. "This time."
"No promises."
His hands wound in her hair, angling her face so he could taste her fully.
Ava groaned. The sound shot straight through Raiden.
She tugged off his jacket and started on his shirt buttons. Her nails scraped against his chest, as she arched into him.
A single thought pierced through the haze of lust. She hadn't done this before, not really. Except for that night in the throne room, when she'd been happy and hopeful. Now she was one argument away from hating him.
He couldn't let that happen.
Raiden ripped his mouth from hers, breathing heavily. He didn't miss the way her lips followed his, as if on their own accord. She wanted more, too.
He caught her earlobe between his teeth, sucking gently. Ava tangled her hand into his hair, tugging him closer.
He wasn't going anywhere now that he had her under him.
He peppered kisses down her neck, tugging her robe and shirt to the side to expose her shoulder.
His lips trailed down to the junction of her neck. He nibbled on her skin, then sucked on it. Hard enough to leave a mark.
She gasped and coiled her legs around him, tugging him into her with a moan.
When she went back to her room tonight, took off her clothes and looked in the mirror, he wanted her to see it and think of him. Of this moment, when they were so close to melting together from this heat that always rose between them when they touched.
He licked her reddening skin, loving her small breaths in his ear, trembling hands trying to undress him.
He splayed a hand on her chest and pushed her down onto the table. She looked up at him with nothing but lust in those big, beautiful eyes.
It almost undid him. But she all the time and attention in the world.
Raiden had made enough mistakes when it came to her. Her first time wasn't going to happen in a centuries-old building, on top of a ceremonial table when she'd wanted to scratch his eyes out only minutes ago.
But that didn't mean he couldn't show her how good they could be together if only they let their guard down. For real, this time. No prides, no secrets, no lies. Just him and her.
Hand still pinning her to the table, he leaned down and shifted her shirt up. Still keeping his eyes glued to hers, his tongue darted out into her navel.
Her entire body tensed, rising toward him.
She couldn't hide any of her emotions. Her forehead furrowed, her mouth opened and sucked in air desperately.
That's it. Lose yourself with me.
He popped open the first button of her jeans.
Muffled voices echoed outside the building. Raiden and Ava's faces whirled toward the entrance. People were coming closer. Probably to start decorating the ceremonial room he and Ava had almost lost their minds in.
Fucking—
Ava hissed at the door as if she wanted to obliterate whoever was on the other side, who’d dared interrupt them.
It soothed some deep, primal part inside Raiden.
"I want you," he whispered against her skin and gave her hip another lick before rising to tower over her. She looked disheveled, hair messed up, clothes askew, cheeks reddened. Raiden licked his lips. "I want you so much."
She seemed to want him, too. He was relieved. At least they still had this all-consuming attraction between them. That, he could build on and slowly bring her back to him.
She looked at him as if she was a deer caught in the headlights. Why was she so afraid she wanted to screw his brains out?
She shook her head, inhaling one deep breath after another. She hopped off the table and pulled at her clothes until they looked presentable again. Good thing neither of them had popped buttons or ripped anything this time.
<
br /> She dashed toward the door as if she was running from a fire. Raiden swallowed his sigh.
He wasn't getting a reply, was he? Would he ever?
He picked up his jacket and followed her. Next time—because there would be one; there had to be, or else he’d lose his mind—he was taking them into a room, barring all doors, and closing all windows.
Ava stopped, hand on the doorknob, and looked at him over his shoulder.
"I want you, too," she said. "But what good does it do either of us that I don't want to want you?"
Nothing was ever easy with her, was it?
He let her run out first before following.
Still had to keep up appearances, until they went back to the city.
They had to stop these almost-moments before he went insane. He was turned on, pissed off, and so tired of pretending she wasn't—
"Stop," he murmured warningly, barely moving his lips.
Miraculously, Ava did—and didn't turn around.
Raiden scanned the crowd again.
He knew what he'd seen. A pair of eyes, watching Ava walk out. A face that had turned too fast and then gotten lost in the throng of people.
Raiden hadn't been trained to believe in coincidences. The advisors' guards were on duty today and someone was doing recon on Ava.
"You wanted to know everything?" he whispered, relaxing his shoulders for any onlookers, while he raged inside. "Then get ready, because we're having some unwanted guests tonight."
Chapter Forty
AVA
Ava must have been a shitty person in her other lives and had to pay for it in this one.
Otherwise, how could she explain having not one, not two, but three goddamned attempts on her life in less than two months?
She didn't even count Darius' piss-poor show of intimidation at the wedding. But she counted tonight.
She'd been hiding up in the web of beams above her room, deep in the shadows, for more than two hours, like she'd agreed to with Raiden and Seleka. One-hundred-twenty-three bloody minutes had passed. Ava had counted each time the clock struck. Every minute, every second.
Two hours of tight muscles, clenching her jaw, flinching each time a leaf blew outside her window, and staring apprehensively at the gun Raiden had given her.
"You shoot only if both of us are down and they see you. Is that clear?" he'd whispered as the sun set, and handed her a sleek gun. "And then be prepared to run, because once this goes off, you'll reveal your hiding spot."
Ava had stared at it like it would bite her bloody. "I've never fired a gun before."
"Then how did you hunt back home?"
"Mom had a shotgun I wasn't allowed to touch," she'd said, feeling that bottomless emptiness at mentioning her parents. "I had my chickens, I could fish. And one single time, I was up in the trees with my switchblade when a very unlucky deer wandered past and…"
It had been a harsh, hungry winter and she'd gotten desperate. Her parents had refused to train her as an assassin, but they'd taught her how to defend herself, just in case. The carotid arteries were in the same place whether you were attacking or protecting yourself.
Raiden had given her a long look. "If you'll be forced to use this gun...it won't be like killing a deer."
Ava didn't want to use the gun. What if she accidentally shot Raiden or Seleka?
The music and cheers from the town square were in full swing. What she didn't hear were Banu and Dima's guards' steps outside, even though they should've been doing their rounds right now. Bastards.
Ava had given Marcella the night off and had to push her out the door to have fun and not worry if Ava's pillows were fluffed enough, for once.
If anything happened tonight, Ava didn't want Marcella here to witness it. Why scar her for life and put her in danger?
And something would happen tonight, if it had gotten Raiden so worked up.
Ava had seen a lot of sides to him, from infuriating to emotionless, but as he and Seleka planned for tonight, he'd shown nothing but stern efficiency. Every word he'd spoken in that calm, matter-of-fact tone that left no room for argument had weirdly calmed Ava. She could see why people followed his orders without second-guessing.
Ironic that she trusted him with her life, but not her heart.
She rolled her sore wrist—nobody had said climbing and waiting to be attacked were easy—and slid her fingers underneath the bullet-proof vest Raiden had given her. She gently touched the mark he'd left on her shoulder.
What was wrong with her? Whenever Raiden so much as touched her, the logical side of her mind blanked and all she thought about was how desperately she still wanted him.
Ava would have loved to hate him, but she couldn't.
Each time she thought about why he'd hid the truth from her for weeks, a little bit of the sting and hurt dissipated.
She couldn't have that. He could say he'd wanted to protect her all he wanted, but he'd been concerned about his Clan.
As a future ruler, she couldn't fault him for putting hundreds, maybe thousands of lives before Ava's feelings. But there was a part of her—which Ava definitely hated—that doubted his words.
Doubted that he, the famed Dragon heir of the Brotherhood, would risk anything for her.
Uncle Baron and her parents had taught her one good thing—anyone could say they cared for you. They were words, vanishing into thin air as soon as they were spoken. Those who really loved you proved it. Though actions, not promises.
Ava swallowed her sigh and looked down at the human-shaped lump in her bed. If anything happened to Seleka, she'd never forgive herself. But the mercenary hadn't even wanted to hear about staying away.
"Not only am I getting paid a lot of money for this," Seleka had said while she'd sharpened her menacing daggers. "But I swore to protect you. I keep my promises even when I don't like my bosses, I'm not backing out this time."
"Why, Seleka, was that a compliment?" Raiden had asked. These two were so at ease, you would've thought they were planning for a tea party, not an assassination attempt. "You are going soft."
Seleka had only grumbled and went back to her daggers, with the serenity of someone who'd been in life-and-death situations a million times before and always won.
And Raiden...Ava knew he could handle himself in a fight. Had heard all the rumors, even before she'd met him. Had seen how fearsome he was. But she was still worried out of her mind.
She was bad luck, that's what she was. Everyone that got too close to her ended up with a target on their backs.
She shook her head.
No.
She couldn't think like that. It was not her fault someone wanted her dead just because she'd been stubborn enough to survive until now. The advisors had it out for her and the blame rested solely on their wide, pasty shoulders.
A movement near the back window caught Ava's eye. She felt the danger before she even heard the soft hiss of something— most definitely handled by someone—sliding along the window frame.
A dark figure stepped inside, as silent as the night, illuminated from behind by the moonlight.
Another shadow followed. Then another and another, until five bastards circled her bed. They all had weird masks on and were dressed in black.
Ava was about as terrifying as a fly. Who would send five goddamned assassins to kill her?
Though, after two failed attempts, maybe they weren't taking any chances.
One of them raised his gun at the lump in the bed.
Chapter Forty-One
AVA
Ava's throat constricted. She could hear the blood pumping in her veins.
The assassin fired five silent shots, all along the body's shape, then three more in its head.
"That didn't sound like a skull," one of them whispered.
They ripped the shredded duvet off.
As the puff of feathers rose, Seleka's daggers glinted from underneath the bed.
One quick slash at the ankles and two assassins fell. As so
on as they thudded to the ground, Seleka shredded their throats.
The other assassins whistled and started firing at the bed. Their bullets only hit the hard sheet of metal Ava had borrowed from one of the vendors and stuffed underneath the mattress.
In the commotion, Raiden stepped out of the shadows.
Ava had known where he'd waited. Had seen him melt into the darkness as they'd turned off the lights. But she still startled at seeing him blend back into sight.
His sword arched high. When it came down, another two bodies hit the ground, now in oozing pieces.
But more figures crawled into the room just as Seleka slid from underneath the bed. Shit.
Ava raised her gun, but they were moving too fast. Were too close to Seleka and Raiden.
Seleka took on two of them, diving out of their guns' way and mercilessly digging her weapons into them.
Raiden fought four of them at once, gliding between them and taking chunks of flesh as he went.
So many people. So much bloodshed. But everything was silent, apart from the sound of metal digging into flesh and quick steps.
This was a cold and efficient massacre between professionals.
Ava whipped the barrel of the gun around. Whenever she thought she had a clear shot, the maggots moved away or Raiden somersaulted into her line of sight.
Useless. She was useless.
They were risking their lives for her and all Ava could do was wave a gun around like she was spasming.
Then she saw one of the assassins break away from the group, on the other side of the room. He raised his gun straight at Raiden's back.
Fury, unlike any Ava had ever felt, blazed through her. She wanted blood.
Screw hiding her position.
She raised her gun and fired. She'd aimed for the assassin's head. She got his shoulder.
He fell with a groan, the gun sliding away from him.
Ava felt a beastly satisfaction at hearing his whimpers.
He'd wanted to kill Raiden. She aimed her gun again. She had to finish the job.
The lights flicked on in the hallway, filtering into the room and revealing the pool of blood soaking the floor.
