was hard not to fantasize about a version of this elf where she whispered, because hearing so much talking after an eon of silence was jarring. Her voice seemed to echo off the marble kitchen.
Follow me, and I’ll show you.
I led her from the kitchen into a stairwell of paneled mahogany. From there, we crossed into a narrow hall. I could hardly see a thing, but I knew this place like I knew my own body. On the upper floor, I led her into my old bedchamber. I crossed the room, ignoring the oppressive, dusty scent.
Pulling aside the curtains, I showed her the view. The frozen city of Cambridge spread out before us. Snow covered the roofs and red bricks of Harvard’s campus, the icy pavement of Cambridge Street. And directly below us, what remained of the draugr horde milled about.
“We’re in Sanders Theatre?”
I nodded.
“Why haven’t the High Elves or the draugr found it?”
I wrote on my piece of paper, I use magic to conceal it. Like the Well of Wyrd, but better. My key is the only way in.
“So you’ve had this place hidden in the center of Cambridge all the time you’ve been imprisoned?”
I nodded.
She crossed her arms. “You must be quite a powerful sorcerer.”
I nodded again.
She pressed her fingers against the glass, staring out at the ruined city. It was nearly five a.m., and while the sun hadn’t yet reached the horizon, the early rays illuminated her profile. In this light, I could see that her skin was bejeweled with tiny silver tattoos, and her eyes shone like polished steel.
Gods, I hadn’t been alone with a woman in at least a thousand years, and now my mate was in my bedchamber. The lust that had been only a flicker before was now kindling to something more. But if I gave in to my desires, I risked losing control and ruining her.
In any case, the spell was broken as soon as she started singing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
I cleared my throat, desperate for her to stop, and she shot me a glance, looking embarrassed.
“Sorry,” she said. “Habit. Anyway, I still don’t understand why you’re interested in me.” She looked back out at the view. “Anyone could have said Finnask to get you in here, so it didn’t need to be me. Why me?”
I cocked my head, considering how to answer. This was dangerous territory. She carried my soul within her, and if she found out who I was, there was a chance she’d kill herself—a sacrifice for her people. She could end both our lives. After seeing her cauterize her own finger, I knew she was capable of that much, at least. I do what I have to do to protect my own people.
My mate did not fuck around. And that meant she could never know the truth about me.
I wrote slowly, You are my prisoner.
She blinked at me in the rising sun, the rosy morning light gilding her skin. A dark part of me—the lich—quite liked the idea of having this beauty as my prisoner. I imagined how it must feel to be soft, warm, and alive. I was desperate to draw her to me and breathe in her scent. Jasmine and chocolate.
She crossed her arms, fury etched across her features. “You think you can keep me here? I’m a trained assassin.”
You can’t kill me. I’m already dead.
“Sure. And that’s going to prevent me from escaping?”
I ran my finger under the line that read, You are my prisoner.
She shook her head, expression darkening. “Bull. Shit.” She punctuated her words by poking at my chest. “I need to talk to my brother.”
I shook my head.
“Skalei.” Her dagger appeared in her hand, and already, she was trying to carve through the window. But even with the magic of her blade, it didn’t break. The window was protected by a thousand runes.
Calm down, I tried to say, but the words died in my throat. So instead, I grabbed her by the arms.
Our brief moment of peace had ended, and I found rage in her eyes. I will do what it takes to defend my people, she’d said, and I believed her.
She slammed her blade into my chest. Once again, pain exploded within me, and the curse stirred. I grabbed the blade and threw it across the room. Then, before she could call it to her, I pressed my hand over her mouth.
She fought, biting me, but I held her tight as I carried her downstairs and locked