Smolder (Crown of Fae #3) - Sharon Ashwood Page 0,25
Juradoc’s love of drama.
Something far more interesting pushed that thought aside. Leena was approaching. She was veiled from head to foot, but he knew her lithe figure and the graceful sway of her walk.
They had parted with a bargain—if she could heal him, he would do what he could to save her brother. It was what he needed, but not all that he wanted. He hadn’t realized how much he missed a lovely female to touch and hold. Not until he’d kissed her.
But she’d walked away, ending matters after that single embrace. There had been no invitation for more, and Morran was not so mad that he’d failed to notice that clear boundary. Predictably, denial inflamed desire.
Morran’s magic stirred, surprising him. He’d all but forgotten the tug of his power growing alert—and then quickly reined it in before Juradoc noticed it.
In the next moment, he sensed Juradoc sitting forward, hunger in every line of his body. Leena would dance again, and the Shade would steal the energy if he could. That was how the other dancer, Leena’s friend, had been hurt. A jolt of protective instinct nearly sent Morran leaping from his chair.
Careful. Leena had managed the Shade before. She was strong. And yet, Juradoc’s greedy hunger vibrated in the air like a plucked string. And the more the Shade consumed, the stronger he would become.
How could anyone survive that? Her light would be inexorably crushed.
Slowly, the abyss of despair began to rupture once more inside Morran’s mind.
Leena approached the center of the camp, her heart thundering with apprehension. The moon lit the white silk of the pavilion, sharpening its outline against the night. Framed by standing torches, Morran and Juradoc sat side by side in the pavilion’s entrance. In its own way, the scene was every bit as formal as Dorth’s banquet hall.
Before them, a large circle had been raked clear of stones. It was preferable to have her dance here, outside, where there was plenty of space. Above, the stars were a scatter of white points in a clear indigo sky, and a cool, sage-scented wind tugged at her skirts. An illusion of liberty lifted her heart, but it didn’t last.
There was too much to fear. Shades gathered at a distance from the circle's periphery, their dark robes making them all but invisible. A hundred pairs of glowing violet eyes reminded Leena of a distant storm, remote but seething with menace. Instinct clawed at her to back away.
Think of Fionn. Perhaps you can still save him.
Now that she was closer, she saw fae guards among the Shades, cloaked like their masters. And yes, Fionn was there, too, his hood pulled up to match the rest of the crowd. When he refused to meet her eyes, fear heated to anger, carrying her the last few steps.
Leena paused at the edge of the circle, bowing toward Juradoc and Morran. She was veiled, but the general might realize she was not the dancer he expected. Her pulse raced as if she’d been running, but when Juradoc looked her way, he said nothing.
Morran’s expression was as perfectly controlled as a monument of marble. There was nothing of the man who had slipped past her defenses to deliver a scorching kiss. And yet, though distance obscured detail, Leena knew when her gaze found his. From the angle of his head, she guessed he was asking himself a question.
Was it the same one she’d been pondering since they’d last met? Whether, despite her refusal, the connection between them was real? Or, had it been a fleeting attraction, duly indulged and dismissed?
It seemed like a foolish concern now, when she was surrounded by deadly enemies and battling for her brother’s soul. Morran himself was on a precipice.
There was little room for hope—and yet his dark eyes held her gaze.
Her train of thought broke as the general stood, raising his hands to still the crowd’s shuffling.
“We are at a crossroads, a milestone,” he said in a voice that carried over the crowd. “Soon, I will have achieved our ultimate goal. We have taken many realms during our conquest, but it has always been my belief that Faery holds the most promise.”
His words snagged Leena’s attention. She’d never thought of the Shades as having a goal beyond malicious destruction.
“Mine has not always been a popular opinion among the Shades. My ways are not always understood. I have been accused of extravagance with our lives and power.”