Goddess for that. Her relief gave way to fury as she took in his amusement. Those damned lips wrenched into a smile.
“Haven—”
She hurled herself at him, slamming wind and golden fire and snow and anything else she could use to pin him against the wall. Anger seared through her as she neared—
He vanished. Moving so fast that her mortal eyes couldn’t track him. Too late, she whirled to meet him, but he speared through the air like mist.
“You provoked me,” she snarled, leaping toward the flash of darkness to her left.
“Yes.” His breath caressed her neck.
Anticipating his movements, she pounced to the left and pivoted, ready to slam her fist into anything she could connect with—
In one smooth movement, he had her on the ground, her back pressed into the cold stone floor, his massive body flush against hers.
With a burst of pure power, she slammed her palm into his shoulder, the impact ratcheting up her elbow, arm, and into her chest. At the same time, she swung her leg up and over, turning him.
She straddled his waist and stared triumphantly down at him. Her chest heaved violently, her ragged breath coming out in milky bursts.
He grinned, that lupine smile only enraging her as he laughed. Laughed, for rune’s sake. As if this were all a game.
“You provoked me.” She slammed her hands on either side of his head, just above the top edges of his wings. “Forced me to use powerful magick on you.”
“Yes. And I will do it again and again, if I have to.”
“I’m not a toy,” she whispered, leaning down so that her lips were close to his, “to wind up for your entertainment.”
“No.” His focus darted to her mouth. “You are the child of the Gods. Perhaps the most powerful being in existence. I am simply reminding you of that fact.”
“I do remember. Every second of every day. How could I not when everyone looks at me differently?”
“I don’t.”
She was suddenly, almost painfully aware of his body beneath hers. The startling warmth. The powerful muscles that curled and writhed with his every movement. The dark prickle of energy that called to her.
And those lips—lips that had kissed her with their own powerful magick, a magick that had made her body forget its pain. Forget anything but him and that raw ache she felt in his presence.
She could give in to that longing now. Use Stolas to once again forget her pain. Because that’s all it was, right? A way to forget.
But she didn’t want to forget because without the pain she feared she would feel nothing, and that terrified her more than anything.
She pushed off him. “Maybe you should.”
Something flickered in his expression as he uncoiled to his feet, eyes never leaving hers—
His gaze snapped to the temple doors just as they slammed open. Before Haven could process what was happening, he had positioned himself between her and the guest.
A bitter irony considering the violent powers she’d unleashed moments ago.
As Stolas took in Bane and Delphine, the tension fled his wide shoulders, his wings relaxing at his back. The twin Seraphian sentinels—and once his closest friends—were still dressed in the bloodied armor from this morning, and Haven wondered if they’d been tending to their wounded this whole time.
And here was Stolas, their lord and commander, tending to her wounds rather than those of his people.
All because she was weak. Unable to accept who she was or what happened in Effendier.
A fresh round of shame hit, as icy as the cool air rushing in through the open doors.
The Seraphians bowed in unison, first to Stolas and then to her. Their snowy-white hair was pulled back in loose braids that hung between their shoulder blades. Their wings—smaller, less vibrant versions of Stolas’s—were tucked tightly behind them, something she’d noticed all Seraphians did in Stolas and Nasira’s presence.
Bane was the first one to start signing. Just like his sister, his tongue had been removed by Morgryth. The Seraphian sentinel’s fingers deftly maneuvered at chest level to form symbols Haven could only guess at. Stolas did the same, his long fingers performing short, quick signs in response.
Delphine interrupted her brother, the quick, frustrated signs she made conveying her distress. Stolas’s jaw was taut as he schooled his face into an emotionless mask, trying to hide his reaction to the news from Haven.
A sliver of fear wormed its way into her heart.
Countless scenarios arrived unbidden in her mind. Another attack. Another food shipment sunk. Perhaps Morgryth had found a way