CHAPTER 53

The taste of blood,rich and exquisite, coated Rune's tongue. He swallowed instinctively and groaned. Every part of him hurt. He opened his eyes, recognizing his bed. But it felt wrong. He drew his power from his reserves below him, always aware of it. His power wasn't below him here. It was above him.

Far above him.

"I have you."

Rune turned toward Faye's voice. Memories rushed back followed by alarm. He fell into the Darkness.

Lips were on his before he could speak. A hand gripped his throat, claws digging in, stinging as they drew blood. Legs straddled him, wet heat sliding against his hardening cock. Rune groaned as he closed his eyes. Her scent enveloped him. His night breeze through plumb blossoms intoxicating his senses.

Rune pulled back. The points of Faye's iridescent wings arching behind her, framing her face. She smiled at him, desire clear in her eyes.

Rune thinned his lips, she would look at the Ra'Voshnik this way. Not him. "I fell into the Darkness." Was he dead? Alarm filled him as he realized his mind was quiet. Where was the Ra'Voshnik?

"I have you." This winged Faye repeated his words. She pulled him close by his throat and affectionately brushed the side of her face against his. This wasn't Faye.

"How?" Rune stroked her hand, slipping a finger between her palm and his throat, coaxing her into loosening her grip.

"You live because you are mine. I caught you." Faye's winged double tightened her hold, pulling him into a kiss. "I have you," she said at his lips.

Rune broke the kiss and eased her claws out of his throat. The winged-double straightened her back, her shoulders tensing.

Was she like him and this creature was paired to her, slumbering dormant?

He glanced over his surroundings, recognizing the hollow in the Darkness where he first met Faye. She possessed wings then too.

"Tell me what you are." Rune brought her dainty claws to his lips, pressing a kiss to them.

"Want you," the winged Faye growled, rising to her knees.

"No," Rune said gently, shifting her hips as he held her against his thigh. "Where is Faye?"

She glared at him. Her lightning-streaked midnight eyes glittered with malicious intent, as her wings tightened to her body. "She sleeps," the winged double answered, looking over her shoulder.

Rune followed her gaze, shocked to see Faye curled on her side, sleeping. Beside her was the Ra'Voshnik. He was certain when he woke he'd been alone.

"I saw you falling." She leaned forward, kissing him gently. "You belong to me." Another kiss. "I have you. My beautiful hunter."

Darkness, being with her felt so right. It would be so easy to lose himself in the soft feel of her lips. To think of nothing else but the feel of her in his arms. He pulled her closer, and her wings dragged along his forearm.

This wasn't Faye.

"Where is your body?" Rune asked between her light kisses.

"Resting," she answered. Aggravation coated her voice. She seized his throat, glowering at him, before saying, "Above."

She kissed him harder, demanding more, and Rune pulled away. She rose and he pinned her waist down. Darkness, she was harder to corral than the Ra'Voshnik. "I cannot use Faye's body while she sleeps."

"We are the same," she insisted.

Rune's jaw went slack as she fisted his cock, stroking him.

He drew a ragged breath trapping her wrists in one hand, holding them away from him. "You are different," Rune said, lifting his chin at Faye's sleeping body.

The winged double turned. "She is the vessel."

Her attention returned to Rune, holding his gaze. "I am the power. You woke me. You're mine."

"I am," Rune agreed, pressing his lips to her fingertips. "How did I wake you?"Give me a hint as to what you are.

"I slept," Faye's double absently touched his lips. "Waiting." Her hand traced down his throat to his collarbone. "I felt you." She brushed the back of her fingers over his chest. "Always crashing near my shores."

She spoke in more riddles than Morbid. He needed to coax more information from her. "I do not understand your meaning."

"I am trapped in the Darkness until you make us whole. But I felt you. Crashing near my shores. For centuries."

Crashing? She felt his backlash when he failed to unravel The Crumbling. "How can you feel me for centuries? Faye is only twenty-five." Sadi mentioned previous lives, was this part of her constant?

"I am eternal, sewn into the Darkness itself."

Hope dug into his chest. It wasn't ideal, but it would be a type of immortality. Rune's breath left him. Was he truly gifted with his dark queen? He was left with more questions than answers.

"Where are we?" Rune asked.

"In the portion of the Darkness that is mine. My power grew until I woke up. I watched you in my shores. Your blood sings for me." She leaned forward, kissing Rune.

Her lips moved over his, but Rune remained still. She pulled back with a scowl. "Why do you hold back? You want me."

Trying to reason with her was like trying to explain patience to the Ra'Voshnik. "I want you whole. What are you? Where is your altar? Tell me anything."

The winged Faye made a noise that could have been a growl. "Invoke the blood, join the vessel and the power. You talk too much."

She ran her claw along the length of her collarbone. His fangs lengthened as he breathed in the scent of her dark exquisite blood. It flowed over her breasts, trailing onto her legs and between them.

Rune clenched his jaw, beating down the urge to fuck her while he licked her blood off her body. She collected some of it on her finger. Rune stared transfixed as she brought it to his mouth. He groaned, parting his lips for her.

She pressed her finger into his mouth, his lips closing around it. Darkness saved him, he sucked, licking off the blood. The winged double pulled her hand back, laying down as she spread her legs wide for him.

Rune closed his eyes as urges and instincts he'd thought were the Ra'Voshnik's raged in his mind. He wanted to pin her and stroke into her wet heat as he licked the blood from her body. With great effort he pulled it back, settling himself.

Panting from his efforts he gazed at her. "I cannot use your vessel while she sleeps."

"Then wake her." The winged Faye rolled onto her side and drew her foot back. She struck in a motion so fast it blurred, kicking him in the chest.

Rune slammed back into his physical body with enough force to jar his teeth. He and Faye were now in his bed, in his room.

He shut his eyes and grimaced against the screaming and sizzle of magic hitting the shields outside his room.

Stop!Rune growled over a broad mental sending that anyone within the vicinity would hear.

"Rune!" Sadi's panicked scream sounded from the other side of the door.

He turned his attention to Faye. She slept curled on her side, just as he'd seen her in that place in the Darkness. He brushed her hair away from her face. Her eyelids fluttered. With a sigh she rolled over to face him and curled into his arm.

He winced as he pulled his sheet up to cover her. Rune stood, his body in fine disagreement. He called a pair of pants, and his magic didn't answer. Faye's rite sapped him of every ounce of power he held.

Rune retrieved a robe from his closet. Each step shot searing pain through his chest and back. He sucked a breath and pulled the robe on before slowly making his way to the door. Rune pressed his hand to the wall, opened the door, and stood dumbstruck.

Tears ran down Sadi's face. The smell of burnt flesh assaulted his senses next. He glanced down at her hands. "What did you—"

"I saw you fall into the Darkness." Sadi leaped toward him, hugging him tightly. Rune hissed in pain, the only thing saving him from being taken to the ground was his hold on the doorframe.

Rune lightly wrapped an arm around her. Her tears fell on his shoulder. In all the centuries he'd known her he'd never seen her cry.

"Are you injured?" Sadi released him, stepping back as she wiped her tears away.

"How did you burn your hands?" Rune turned his back to Sadi, pulling his hair over his shoulder so she could inspect him for damage. She ran her hand down the length of his spine.

Sadi assessed the court each time they returned from battle. Where he'd been was no different.

"She was fighting with your shields like a newborn kitten," Morbid answered. "I told her she needed to worry if the shields suddenly dropped. If they are regenerating, they must be pulling power from a source that lives."

"Where are the others?" Rune asked.

"They're still recovering." She tapped his shoulder indicating for him to turn around so she could finish her inspection.

"I am well." Rune met her gaze, nodding at her.

Sadi narrowed her eyes at him before continuing her task. "You were missing for more than an hour. I couldn't reach you. I couldn't feel you." Sadi's gaze flitted over his body. Assessing, tallying, then her gaze rose back to his chest. She pressed two fingers to his sternum.

Pain wracked Rune and he growled.

"How did you fracture your rib cage in so many places?" Sadi rubbed her eyes, beginning to look more like herself. She raised her hand over his chest. "I don't have the strength to heal you completely," she said as heat seeped through his chest, into his back.

"Come now. The Shadow Prince needs to rest and recuperate." Morbid took his daughter by the elbow, leading her away before she could finish, and said over his shoulder, "We'll be in the north wing."

We have much to discuss. Rune sent the thought to Morbid as he closed his bedroom door.

He glanced down at the sleeping woman in his bed. His queen.

Would she want to wake in his bed? Perhaps he should join her in the adjoining room, and she could decide for herself in the morning.

Rune gathered her in his arms, collecting his sheet with her. With a hiss he lifted her and carried her to her bed. She grumbled in her sleep, clinging to him. Her nails biting into his back. Every step was agony, but he was too drained to use his power.

He cursed in High Tongue and lowered her onto her ivory sheets. Faye closed her arms around his neck holding him tighter. With a sigh Rune took her hand in an attempt to untangle himself from her. Her nails dug into his back again, sharper.

Claws Rune realized.

"Come now, vsenia." The High Tongue term of endearments slipped from his lips before Rune realized. He pried a hand free, and Faye twisted in his arms.So stubborn, even in your sleep.He held her hand away as she fought to keep him in her embrace.

She made an exasperated sound and wings burst from her back, shredding the mattress and blankets under her. Faye pulled at her wrist and her wings flared, cutting forward, encircling them both.

Rune exhaled as she relaxed in his arms, apparently happy to have him captive. He surveyed the damage she'd done and glanced at the woman curled up to him. "Must you ruin all my things?"

Rune bared his teeth adjusting his hold on the sleeping minx. Her wings loosened when he allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck once more.

Wrapping his sheet around her nude form as best he could. Faye stirred as he settled him into his dark sheets. She draped a wing over him and she curled closer. Rune tensed as she rested her head on his chest. She paid him no mind, using him for her comfort and slung her leg over his thigh.

It was strange to be alone with his thoughts. Stranger still to have the queen he wished for his entire life sleeping beside him. He'd been unkind to her. There was much he needed to mend between them.

The Ra'Voshnik, even silenced, disturbed his thoughts. Faye wanted the creature. Preferred her Voshki to him. Rune closed his eyes. They had a great deal to speak on. He and the Ra'Voshnik could not be separated.

Jealousy was an unfamiliar emotion for him, and Rune found he hated it. Immortals often invited others to their beds.Typically after being together for centuries,Rune thought bitterly. His lips thinned as he ran his fingers through Faye's hair, staring up at the ceiling.

What would he do if Faye wasn't willing to have them both? She could only desire the Ra'Voshnik. But she'd kissed him after she'd been with the creature.

Rune's thoughts circled back on each other in his mind. Nothing could be done until he spoke with her. He pulled his fingers through her hair a last time letting it slip through his hold. He closed his eyes and surrendered to the exhaustion racking his body, falling into a deep sleep beside his fated queen.