Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,1

to feel his indomitable strength against my softness and feel him pumping into my need with the intensity that was Knox.

I hadn’t had contact with my family in weeks, not since he’d increased his efforts to find and claim me. I’d forced my sisters and my aunt to sever their attempts to reach me, forcing them into the tomb that held too many secrets. What I’d found inside that tomb had changed my direction and altered my course, which was how I had ended up hunted tonight.

Light caught my eye, and I slowed, studying the swaying torches that seemed to come from a village in the distance. The choices for my directions were simple; the darkness behind me, or the light before me? The darkness held Knox and his men, which meant I was going toward the light one way or another to escape him.

I paused momentarily, resting my hands on my knees, flinching from the pain the wounds and scrapes caused. My lungs were burning from hours of running. The inability to draw magic within the forest had nullified my powers, draining my strength as well as my energy. I was certain Knox had drawn me into the woods specifically to null my magic. He had thought to bait and trap me, luring me to a place where magic wasn’t accessible. He forgot I had feet, and my need to escape him was greater than the need I had to ride his glorious dick.

I loved that dick.

I craved that dick.

Unfortunately, I just hated the prick attached to that dick.

If I’d been smarter, I wouldn’t have fallen into his trap. I’d have sensed it before entering the woods, but I’d never expected an entire forest to be a void for magic. Knox knew this place, giving him one hell of an advantage. He pushed me into the corners, watching me stumble through the trees and down the mountains as he prowled within them, enjoying toying with me.

He’d almost caught me a handful of times already. Once, when I was sleeping, his scent alerted me to his nearness. I fought my body’s need as his aroma rushed through me, causing dangerous, dark desires to swell within me. It was as if Knox could sense my body’s predicament, having gone into heat the moment I’d escaped him.

I trembled, swallowing down the memories of him studying me from the shadows as I’d tried to force relief to my swollen sex. Another time, he’d found me moving through a crowded city. I struggled to discover if I was even in the realm I’d aimed to visit.

His eyes met mine through the crowd of people milling about, and I’d stood rooted to the spot, craving the taste of his kiss against my lips. The heat in his stare liquefied until my sex clenched with a carnal need that threatened to allow my creature to grasp control of my mind. That would have been a catastrophe.

The creature that slumbered within me was working against me. She wanted Knox, and it wasn’t just desire; it was a primal need that had me waking up in the middle of the night, screaming for him until I was hoarse.

I would wake on my feet, standing in the midst of nowhere with no memory of how I’d even gotten there. I knew it was my creature, and I knew who she was hunting. Luckily, Knox hadn’t been close any of those times, or I’d be in chains at his feet, looking like something out of Star Wars, but less sexy.

Stepping into the shadows of the village, I shivered. The sensation of black magic slithered over my body, alerting me to the dangers awaiting me here. I’d felt it several times since being on my own in the Nine Realms.

Not once had it been a good omen, since black magic indicated death and foreboding. Silently, I stepped over the salt line, trembling with the power of the warding spell that slipped against my skin, sparking magic to my fingertips.

A blanket of darkness covered the village, but I could still make out the destruction. I walked further toward the center of town. Flags of all shapes and sizes blew in the breeze above the doors of each house I passed.

Frowning, I moved closer and peered at a door, seeing it marked in blood before I noticed droplets dripping onto the earth. Lifting my eyes, I slapped a hand over my lips, stopping the scream before it escaped through them. What I thought