The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,101

cool, crisp air. The dragons had gotten up about an hour ago to explore and play, and they had yet to return. I had Ashleigh all to myself.

I grinned as I stretched. My princess hadn’t budged the entire night. I’d kept her in place, as promised. This morning, she slept against me, her petite body warmed by my wings. A blue feathered tangled in her hair.

The contentment I’d felt last night? It did not compare to this...this peace. I was exactly where I was supposed to be, with the one I was supposed to be with. The sensation might be an echo from our past love affairs, but I embraced it, reaching out to trace her cheekbones. Her lips parted with a raspy sigh.

Eyes remaining closed, she breathed, “Mmm. Saxon,” before rolling on top of me and fusing her mouth to mine.

The impromptu kiss startled me. I responded, but something niggled at the back of my mind. A sense of familiarity. Yes. That. I’d experienced this kiss a thousand times before—with Leonora.

My blood flash froze.

Ashleigh was not Leonora. They should not kiss the same.

With a curse, I wrenched my face from hers.

She lifted her head and opened her lids, and a curse exploded from me. Her irises were blue.

Leonora had taken over, and I wasn’t prepared for it. I leaped to a stand, dumping the fire witch onto the pallet, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

She grinned as she rose to her feet. “You enjoy my newest form. I’m glad.”

I wanted Ashleigh back. I wanted Ashleigh back now. I could never—would never—be able to trust this other part of her. “Why are you here? Why now?”

All want and need, Leonora glided a hand through my wings. “Don’t you want me here, lover?”

“I don’t,” I said, catching her wrist. While Ashleigh exuded excitement, as if she enjoyed the simple act of living, everything she did new and wonderful, Leonora simpered.

One enchanted me. The other repulsed me.

Maybe we didn’t have to settle for suppressing this part of Ashleigh with a spell. Ashleigh and Leonora were two halves of the same whole, the edges no longer glued together. One could exist without the other. What if we found a way to erase this part of her?

Never again would memories overtake her, or turn her into Leonora. The magic that saved her heart...would she lose it? Would she die without it, Leonora taking another female from me?

I released her and stepped back, moving out of her range.

She narrowed her eyes. “I’m your fated. I’m the one willing to fight time and space for you. The one you return for. Why do you continue to push me away?”

“I do return for you...to end your reign of terror.” As she scowled, I asked, “Are you eager to reignite our war?”

“I have no desire to fight with you again. During our first life, I wanted only to be your wife.” Exaggerating the sway of her hips, she shrank the distance between us. “You decided to exile me from the Avian Mountains and wed a princess instead.”

“A princess you killed.”

She shrugged, as unrepentant as ever. “During our second life, I did everything right. I even created a peaceful home for you, yet you still opted to wed another woman.”

“Because I knew there was something wrong with our relationship. Then I remembered your crimes against me.”

“I only stabbed you because I knew we could start over. If you’ll give me a chance, we can finally get this right.”

“This,” I sneered, “is based on hatred.”

Despite paling, she kept her voice modulated. “I can make you happy, Craven. Ashleigh is the one who makes you miserable.”

“I am Saxon.” The one who wanted Ashleigh. “And you, Leonora, will never make me happy.” Must erase the witch. “Bury the memories of the past. Bring Ashleigh back.”

She hissed, “Perhaps I’m here to stay now.”

The room spun. Not yet, not yet. I wasn’t ready.

I would never be ready. “If that’s true, we have nothing left to say to each other.” I would force her to bury the memories, I decided, palming one of the daggers sheathed in my boots. Boots I’d slept in, wanting to be prepared for any threat against my charges. “We might as well get to the killing part of our courtship.”

“Is that so?” With an icy grin, she reached into the pocket of her dress, then lifted a dagger to her throat. “Why don’t I kill this body now and save you the trouble?”

“No,” I roared, dropping