Then I realized it was far, far worse than that. He was the one I needed to kill.
He was Galin. The sorcerer. The one who’d imprisoned the Night Elves under the ground. The one I’d sworn to kill. The one I hated with every fiber of my being.
“You’re Galin.” I did my best to keep my voice smooth, though my emotions were trembling through my body.
This man before me was why Mom and Dad had died of the cave sickness, their bodies racked by fevers, skin dappled with sores. This man was why none of us ever saw the sun or the horizon, why we starved under the earth.
I thought of calling Skalei to me, but it was too early. He couldn’t see me as a threat.
The faintest hint of a smile flicked over the High Elf’s face as he took a step closer to the edge of the rocky shore. “I am whatever you desired me to be.”
My body shook with rage, but I tried to keep a level head so I didn’t fuck this up. This was the man who’d brought a thousand years of suffering to my people, the man I’d vowed every day of my life to kill. He looked remorseless, smug. And I needed him to keep his guard down before I slit his throat.
“Why are you here?” I asked again. I tried to keep my voice light and calm to mask the rage. Let him think I was harmless.
“Waiting for you,” he said, his voice melodic.
What the fuck?
Well, I wasn’t going to sit here chatting with him any longer. This was the time. I rushed forward. The water was at my knees now.
But something was holding me back—that question niggled in the back of my mind. Why is Galin here in this dark, wet, subterranean lake?
I didn’t want to kill him till I understood what was happening.
“Are you real?” A little anger tinged my voice, and I marshaled a sense of calm. An assassin was supposed to stay in control, to master her feelings. I took a long, slow breath.
Galin smiled. “Yes. I have always been here for you, Ali. I have been waiting for you for a very long time.”
His eyes swept over me. There was a fierce desire in them. And something else—a different emotion. Hunger.
I stopped walking, the lake water lapping at my ankles.
None of this made sense. I waited, ready to call Skalei at any moment. Icy rivulets dripped down my body, and my muscles shook with fatigue, but I was focused only on him.
“Waiting for me?” I successfully kept my voice light this time, and I even managed what I thought was a genuine smile.
The High Elf was only feet from me. He was extraordinarily beautiful. His golden hair floated around his head like a halo, and his pale eyes twinkled, a sly smile on his lips. He looked relaxed, amused. “None of that is important, Ali. And I don’t mind dying.”
“Skalei,” I whispered.
But just then, something brushed my leg. Something cold, slimy, and covered in translucent suckers. Something that felt toxic. I whirled, slashing it with Skalei.
Then Galin screamed.
Chapter 35
Marroc
I peered into the darkness, straining my eyes, but it was futile. I couldn’t see through the inky blackness. I’d just finished tracing the rune for sun when a small hand touched my shoulder.
“Marroc, are you okay?” Ali’s voice brought a smile to my face.
I turned to her, and she beamed at me, eyes shining. Her silver hair hung in wet waves to her shoulders. As my gaze went lower, my breath caught.
Just like at the pool before, she wore only her white underwear. The sun rune illuminated her transparent bra, nipples straining against it. A long-forgotten desire stirred in my body; I wanted to claim her right there. I wanted to taste her skin, her neck. I wanted to feel her against me.
She hugged herself. “I’m cold,” she whispered. “I lost my clothes in the rapids.”
With one hand around her neck, the other on her hip, I was now pressing her against a boulder. I let my body warm the air, heat pulsing off me. A sly smile curled my lips. So, I hadn’t lost the ability to seduce, even after all that time in prison.
I looked deep into those silver eyes. I was boxing her in, but the look on her face told me she liked it. As I leaned in closer, I could smell her delicious scent, so perfectly