by JA Wren
She nodded. “Could’ve guessed that on my own.”
He grunted and began pacing a short path in front of her, like a caged wild animal. “But I think it’s about more than that.”
“More?”
He drew in a deep breath, his long legs striding across the short distance. “Day and night. Light and dark.” He paused to glance over at her, his eyes glinting with copper. “Life and death.”
A chill swept down her spine. A distant memory trying to fight its way to the surface.
Something Erebos had said in her memory.
Together, you will have dominion over death and life.
Asher moved to kneel at her feet and took her hands in his. “I’m guessing you haven’t remembered this yet, but when Nyx declared you her heir, she forfeited her right to ever take sides in any wars. She can’t join them even if she wanted. That decision would fall to you.”
“I never wanted any part in these stupid wars.”
But she wasn’t sure that was still true.
There wouldn’t be any victors, little goddess. Only death.
Liv was right. If she joined in, there wouldn’t be winners and losers.
“I know. And Nyx knows.” He tightened his hold on her hands. “That’s partly why she chose you, because she knew you wouldn’t willingly get involved in this shit. That you’d never go searching for thrones and power.”
She swallowed against the bubble in her throat. “Willingly.” A snort escaped her. “Looks like Apollo didn’t get that message.”
Asher’s eyes softened with sympathy and pain in equal measures. “Yeah, he’s never been one to take no for an answer.”
Tears swelled in Rayna’s eyes and she cupped his jaw. “We need to talk about your brothers—”
“Not yet.” He rose, dropping her hands to continue pacing. “We have more important things to deal with. This sigil for one.”
“But it doesn’t make sense. If Nyx can’t join any wars then who does the moon represent?”
Asher shook his head. “Not her. Besides the fact she can’t get involved, Nyx’s symbol is the triple moon. This is just one crescent shape.”
She sighed. “I repeat, then who?”
He stopped, his gaze fixed on the window despite it being pitch dark outside and thus no views for him to stare at. “I don’t think the crescent moon strictly represents night.”
She waited when he paused, unwilling to repeat her question a third time.
He finally turned to face her again, his body rigid and filled with tension. “Darkness. I think it represents darkness. That the two sides are working together. Fighting side by side in the coming wars.”
Light and dark are joining forces, babe. There is no middle ground here. No gray area.
Kally’s words rang in Rayna’s head like a bell. Loud and shrieking. She shook her head, but she knew where this was going.
“Erebos,” she whispered. “Our fathers are working together.”
“I suspect.” He sank down in front of her again and took her face between his palms this time. “But we can stop this. We can put an end to all of this warring shit. Together.”
“If they don’t use me as their own personal weapon to destroy everything.” Including you, she silently added, unable to let the words fall from her lips. It would hurt too much and her heart was already aching enough with the loss of her BFF and Tink.
Two totally different ways, but she’d lost them both in one night.
No way could she survive losing Asher on top of that.
Not again.
He growled. “Apollo already tried that with me—”
“And look how that ended,” she croaked. “You spending a thousand years inside a volcano. Me dead. Undead, whatever. Hidden in the stars.”
He closed his eyes, a pained expression creeping at the edges of his face though he tried to mask it. “I’m not letting that happen. Not ever again.” His eyes opened, smoldering rich copper. “We’re both stronger now and better equipped to take them on.”
He was right. She felt stronger than ever, more powerful. She’d proven to herself she could control that power. And while she’d never wanted to go to war, it was beating down their door whether they answered or not.
She refused to be used as a weapon. More importantly, she wanted to protect her friends, keep everyone she loved safe. That meant choosing a side, Kally had her there. No more denying it. No more running from it.
But just because she was a goddess of death didn’t mean she couldn’t fight for the living.
With her phoenix soulmate at her side.
She tried to for a tiny smile. “The two of us against the two of them, huh?”
He shook his head. “No. We’ll take a stand here at the academy. With a shitload of help from our friends.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks with both thumbs, the moisture evaporating as soon as it met his heated skin. “But first, we need to find Tink.”
Twenty-Nine
Rayna didn’t think it was possibly to love him any more, but the fact he was just as determined as her to find Tink made her heart swell.
She crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him and sending him down to the floor. He grunted, but held her close, a smile creeping across his lips. She straddled his hips. Knees resting either side of him. Then kissed him, more desperate to feel him inside her than ever before.
It was a hunger in the pit of her stomach, demanding more of him. All of him.
He groaned as she kissed him harder. Deeper. Then nipped his bottom lip and sucked on the sting she’d caused. She grabbed his wrists and jerked them above his head, tightening her knees at his hips. Holding him.
“Easy, love.”
But she didn’t want easy.
She sat up and pulled the white tee they’d given her in quarantine over her head. Next came the sweatpants. She hated leaving him, but she had to stand to get the stupid things off, so she shucked her underwear and sports bra at the same time.
“You’re severely overdressed,” she whined at him, earning a crooked grin.
With efficient moves, he undressed, leaving all his gorgeous bronze skin fully on display. He grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted her, settling her down on the narrow bed. His lips trailed her throat, across her clavicle, and down to her breast.
He lightly grazed his teeth against her nipple, then covered it with his wickedly hot mouth. Rayna’s back bowed and she lost herself in the delicious heat surrounding her. His hands roamed over her, one moving to her breast and the other dipping between her legs.
He had her crying out in minutes, drowning in the pleasure pulsing through her body.
When she could finally breathe properly again, she tugged on his shoulders, urging him beneath her. With his eyes fully copper and a grin plastered across his face, he complied, shifting them around until she straddled him again.
Rayna licked and teased his nipples, earning deeper groans than the ones he’d torn from her. Then she trailed kisses down his hard abs until she paused at his even harder cock. She kissed the tip, then took him into her mouth, careful with her teeth.
“Gods, Rayna.” Guttural sounds rumbled from his chest while his hands cupped her head. Gentle. Stroking her hair.
When she knew he couldn’t take much more, she traveled back up his body and spread her legs over his hips. She didn’t think his skin had ever been hotter, not without the flames literally coiling from him.
He guided her mouth down to meet his in a scorching kiss, one that had her veins igniting with need. The hunger inside her grew. Gnawing at her. Seeking more. When she whimpered against his mouth, Asher reached down and gripped her hips. He lined them up, then filled her. Every last inch of him inside her.
And still it wasn’t enough.
The hunger was still there. Even as he teased her nipples and rocked into her, hitting the perfect spot inside her. Waves rushed over her, tingles and heat spreading out. He angled her hips to maximize her pleasure, swarm h
er body with utter bliss.
But something was still missing.
A sob broke free, and she wished she could pull it back in. Gods, he was doing everything right. What the hell was wrong with her?
“It’s okay, love.”
She sobbed anew at the gentle tone of his voice. The complete understanding.
“You’re ready,” he growled, his cock driving deeper into her. “It’s time.”
She had no clue what he meant. She was more than fucking ready, but her body wasn’t obeying. It kept screaming that it wanted more. As if he wasn’t giving her enough.
With a soft hand on the back of her neck, he pulled her down. One kiss to her lips, then he guided her mouth to his neck, the hard cords straining between pulsing veins. They thumped, his heartbeat loud in her ears. Like she could hear the blood flowing inside him.
“Bite, love. You can do it.”
She recoiled from him, but an intense thrill went through her. “What?”
He brushed the hair from her face, his eyes soft and unbelievably gorgeous. “Bite me. Feed. It’s been long enough and you need proper blood.”
As if on cue, her stomach clenched. Not with a sickening wave as she’d expect. But hunger. The need clawing its way up her throat. Her teeth ached, like they were getting ready to sink into his flesh.
“It’s okay. I promise.” He applied gentle pressure on the back of her neck and angled his to the side. Giving her more access. “Do it.”
She couldn’t resist.
His skin gave way with a faint pop under her teeth and blood filled her mouth. The coppery acidity reminded her of the academy coffee and she instantly knew. He’d secretly been feeding her blood since they’d arrived.
The Red Spice the barista had offered.
She’d wanted to gag at the thought. But his blood was the best thing she’d ever tasted. Better than coffee. Better than melted chocolate. Even better? It sated the ever-gnawing hunger. With only a few sips, she finally felt sated for the first time she could ever remember.
Her orgasm ripped through her with her final swallow and Asher groaned and followed her into bliss.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rayna lay in the circle of Asher’s arms, staring at the twin marks on his neck. Her body was warmer than ever, her veins humming with phoenix blood.
“You weren’t ready,” he said, toying with the red strands of her hair. “I know you’re going to yell at me for lying, but—”
“I’m not gonna yell at you.”
He frowned at her. “You’re not?”
She shook her head. “This isn’t something you just spring on someone. Drinking blood? Yeah, I would’ve freaked out on you. Actually, I can’t believe I just—did that. I mean, I hate blood. It’s always made me feel queasy.”
His fingers drifted over her sweaty forehead, brushing stray strands of hair from her skin. “Likely because some part of you was craving it.”
“Nope. No way. Even the sight of it grossed me out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m—”
She stopped, trying to remember and analyze how she’d felt each time she’d caught a whiff of the stuff. A knot had always formed in her stomach. Her mouth filled with saliva. That was disgust.
Right?
Asher smiled as if he knew she’d misinterpreted her own damn feelings. “Remember the pastry from your trials?”
“Oh, gods yes.” She practically swooned at the memory. Sweet and fruity. It had sated her like nothing bef—
“No,” she whispered. “They didn’t put blood in that. Did they?”
At his tiny nod, she sat up and clutched her stomach, suddenly nauseated for real this time. “What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
He laughed and sat up with her, resting his back on the headboard with his glorious chest on full display. She almost got distracted watching his muscles rise and fall, dreaming about another rise.
Focus, Knox. The man is telling you you’re part vampire, for fuck’s sake.
“You’re a Ker,” he said, as if that would magically explain everything. At her frown, he thankfully continued. “The Keres were death spirits.”
She grumbled, wiping at her mouth because she was convinced there were still traces of blood on her lips. “I know that already.”
“Well, specifically, they were spirits of violent death.” He leaned forward and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, stopping at the corner. “They’d fly over the battlefields, rip the souls out of those who’d fallen, then feed on their blood.”
She grimaced. “They’d drink dead people blood?”
Asher shrugged, waving his thumb in front of her face. A tempting spot of red on his finger. “They needed it to survive. Same way you need the blood of the living to survive. Namely, mine.”
She watched his finger. “And why is that?” When she couldn’t resist any longer, she grabbed his hand and popped his finger into her mouth, sucking the blood from his skin.
Asher’s eyes went full liquid copper and his voice lowered. “Your soul is bound to mine. As a phoenix, I have power over life. By extension, so do you. Your body would reject the blood of the dead now, though honestly, I hope you never feed on anyone else but me.”
She let his finger slip from her mouth, then crawled closer to him, until their mouths were a breath apart. “Like I’d want anyone else when I have you.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Nyx said.
Rayna jumped as her mother appeared beside the bed, rushing to cover herself and Asher. “What the—haven’t you ever heard of personal space?”
Nyx lifted the hood from her head, the triple moon symbol on her forehead catching the moonlight streaming in from the window. “Apologies, but I’m rather pressed for time.”
Rayna braced herself. She’d managed to block out the whole star threat for a few blissful hours, but seeing Nyx brought her anxiety flooding back. “I’ve learned control. You can ask—”
“Yes, yes.” Nyx waved a hand through the air. “I’m aware of your evaluation.”
“And?” Asher asked, voice low and grumbly.
Nyx smiled, a tiny curve to her night-sky lips. “I’m proud of you, my dear daughter. You’ve exceeded my expectations, and I couldn’t be happier to call you my heir.”
Rayna was so shocked she didn’t say a word.
“You found another way to master your powers, just as I’d hoped,” Nyx continued. “As your current self and not the goddess you once were. Many choices and responsibilities lie at your feet, dear daughter. Choose wisely.”
In a blink, she was gone, her cryptic words hanging in the air along with the tiny silver specks.
Thirty
Rayna was giddy with love and happiness as she traipsed across the hall the next morning. Things were nowhere close to perfect. Hell, mostly they were the opposite of perfect. But she’d had a glorious night with Asher, sans threat of being shoved back into a star, and her heart felt full, so she allowed herself to be happy.
If only for a few moments.
She entered her room, her lips still tingling and swollen from the kiss Asher had given her. Pressed up against his door. His thigh rubbing the perfect spot between her legs.
Now that she’d removed the no-sexy-times rule—demolished it, actually, thanks to her drinking his freaking blood—they could barely keep their hands off of each other. She was exhausted and had a definite twinge between her legs, but she’d never been so sated in her life.
The hunger had eased. No longer gnawing in the bottom of her stomach.
The cold she could never escape had finally gone as well, his blood warming her from the inside out.
It was amazing.
She walked over to the chest of drawers for a change of clothes. While she’d love nothing more than to stay in bed with Asher all day—naked—they needed to find Tink. It might be a long shot, but she was still adamant the Wisp was alive.
They just needed to find her.
> Which meant fresh clothes and maybe a shower. Rayna smelled of Asher, sex, and blood. While she didn’t mind, it might cause some awkward situations if they ran into students and professors while they hunted for Tink.
She yanked open the top drawer and stopped.
The tiny wooden box with the silver R on the top.
She’d totally forgotten about it, but there is still sat. Perched on a little black pillow between her PJs. It called to her. Not literally, thank the gods. She’d had enough of inanimate objects whispering her name over and over.
But she found her hand reaching for it before she even gave it a thought. When she lifted the lid, a silver ring winked up at her. She squinted at it. Something about the ring caused something to resonate through her veins.
She wanted to slip it on her finger, compelled to wear it. Never take it off.
But why?
It was just a piece of jewelry. A little chunk of silver.
Even so, she couldn’t deny its thrall. It was icy cold to the touch as she held it up to the light. A black gemstone sat in the center, so dark it was like staring into a void. She swore she’d seen it before—
Erebos.
The memory the old Wisp had shown her the night she opened the star box. He’d worn a ring just like it.
It slipped from her suddenly shaking fingers, clanging to the floor as she noticed a card beneath the pillow. With trembling hands, she lifted it from the drawer. Black, of course. Chills raced down her spine as suspicion tore through her.
She flipped the card over to find sprawling red script, the color of wet blood against a night sky.
We’ll soon be reunited again, my darling Rayna.
Father and daughter.
Darkness and Death.
Books by JA Wren
Labyrinth Academy:
TRIALS
WARS
FINALS (coming 2020)
LABYRINTH ACADEMY: Finals
Rayna Knox has finally chosen a side in the coming wars.
