Lord of the Abyss - By Nalini Singh Page 0,44

break," she ordered herself, though her chest ached, her heart terribly bruised.

It was better this way, she told herself as she left the kitchen to walk to her room. Now she'd be able to focus on her task without being distracted by the wild emotions that had held her hostage today. Already, the Lord of the Black Castle had reclaimed his name. Soon, he'd reclaim his title.

Then she'd take him home, to the castle of Elden, to the family that awaited him. Her father had to die, and so she would kill him, though the power needed would require a human sacrifice. Whatever fantasies of exile she'd allowed herself, she'd always known the brutal truth: it would be her own throat she'd slit for the death spell. But before she did that, she'd restore the blood rulers of Elden, bring the heart back to the land.

Perhaps then, the daughter of the Blood Sorcerer would go not into the Abyss, but to a peaceful forever good-night. She didn't expect to be sent to the Always, the place where the good went after death. She hoped only for an end to her existence. Or she had...before she met Micah. Before he kissed her, made her feel so very alive.

Pulling the silver dress over her head once she reached her room, she put it carefully in the closet. That dress wasn't made for someone like Liliana. It was better for her to wear the browns she'd always worn. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she went to pick up her coarse old dress, but then remembered it was in the laundry. She had only the beautiful chocolate-colored dress Micah had given her, and she couldn't bear to wrinkle that.

Naked but for her underwear, she checked the door. It had no lock, and there was no chair to put underneath the doorknob, but who would come inside? Bard was likely standing watch outside Jissa's room as he did every night, unbeknownst to the brownie, and the Guardian of the Abyss couldn't wait to be far from Liliana.

"Enough," she snapped, annoyed at her self-pity. "Tomorrow, I'll start to push. And push hard." Micah had to remember his destiny soon, or it would all be for naught.

Micah washed and washed, but still, the evil clung to him, a pernicious stain. He couldn't touch Liliana, couldn't taint her with it. Frustrated and angry, he thrust his hands through his hair, his overriding thought to be clean!

Magic whispered over him, magic of a kind he'd never before tasted. No. That was wrong. He had tasted this magic before. A long, long time ago. It was his magic - but not of the Black Castle. It came from inside him, whispering of a place that was both alive...and dying. His body turned rigid, but before he could follow the ominous thought to its root, it was gone. And he was clean.

"Liliana." Now he could go to her. Except the heavy moon, only days away from being full, told him it was late. She'd be curled up in bed fast asleep.

Maybe she'd be naked.

He bared his teeth in a smile and opened the door.

Having put her in a room no one could reach without going past his own, he made the journey with quick steps. No light showed beneath her door, but he hesitated for less than a second, too hungry to taste her again to worry about waking her from her sleep. After all, she knew full well he wasn't civilized.

The room was drenched in moonlight. Liliana lay on her front, her face turned to the side on the pillow, the sheet pulled up to just below her shoulder blades. Those shoulders were bare, glowing with warmth.

Curling his fingers into his palms, he closed the door very quietly behind himself, and simply watched her. Perhaps he shouldn't be invading her privacy in such a way, but he couldn't bring himself to care, not when it was his storyteller. Stroking his gaze down her body, he wished that sheet would disappear...then smiled, because there was no need to use magic to make that happen.

Walking across the floor, he went to -

He froze, having never seen her back close up. It had been hidden by the steamy water in the bath, the marks not as visible under the crisscrossing lacings of the red dress, but there was no impediment to his vision now. Anger roared through him, a ferocious beast. Who had dared lay hands on her? Who? Enraged, he tugged