Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,141

the carnelian. I turned, facing Knox, who frowned at the outfit.

I spun away from him, and his arms slid around my stomach. “I’ll see you out there,” he whispered, and I exhaled slowly as he placed a kiss against my bare shoulder. “You smell like heaven and hell. Born an angel, created to bring hell to men with the sin your pretty lips promise. Wear your hair down. It drives men wild with the thought of fisting it as they ride your sweet curves hard.”

I swallowed, spinning to tell him I’d wear it up for our wedding, but he wasn’t there. I peered around, finding only the ravens flapping their wings while they watched me. My heart raced as they left their perches, slamming against my naked torso. Power rushed through me, and I gritted my teeth until it turned to a gentle tremor of pleasure. I gasped, watching them as they moved through my flesh, settling on my shoulders. Power sizzled through the cave, and I rolled my eyes. Knox had a backup plan if I took Bel up on his offer of planting a son into my womb.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Similarly dressed witches escorted me to the altar before the statue of Bel. Frowning at the sensation of magic and the powerful scent of sandalwood that wafted against my senses, I turned, finding Knox watching me with a knowing smile. He sat right outside the stone circle, his gaze sliding hungrily down my scantily dressed body. I rolled my eyes at his naked desire, turning toward the bonfires that blazed throughout the valley around the circle in which I stood.

“Light the candles, and we will signal for the music to begin. It’s best to start now and proceed with the ceremony as we progress into the day. It may be hours before Bel comes to select a witch for the night.”

“As you wish,” Soraya murmured.

Pounding began as drums started, echoing a heady beat throughout the valley. People gathered around us on the stone columns that flowed in a spiral around the structure. I could feel their stares, the weight of their hopes to increase their libido for tonight.

Beltane was basically one big orgy where everyone went at it, hoping to create life. Not even the animals were spared from the breeding ritual. Thankfully, I’d been oblivious to everything since they had extinguished all light last night to focus on the light for today. I’d smelled the sex in the air when I’d emerged from the cave, even on the witches, who were walking beside me.

I used a mortar and pestle to grind the herbs into dust for paste. The witches danced around me, drugged by the magic in the air that Beltane released. I could feel the pull to move, sway my body, and lure any male worthy of mating to me. I could hear Ember within me, humming along with the drums, her tone happy as if she hadn’t just called Knox onto the battlefield and rubbed his nose in his shit. Not that it hadn’t impressed me, quite the opposite in fact. But hey, she’d held her own against him.

Once I ground the ingredients down and added the oil, I moved to the male who clouded my mind as he watched me closely. I paused at the cusp of the circle, placing the bowl on the ground before I pulled my skirt up to my knees, kneeling before Knox, staring at him. I waited for him to grasp the meaning of what I was giving him.

“My King, the May Queen, would like to choose you as her consort for tonight,” Siobhan explained carefully. “It is her personal scent. It will prevent her from losing you through the procession of tonight. It ensures her that if something else takes control, that it would allow only you into her bed tonight.”

Knox’s eyes narrowed to slits, peering down at me. He moved to where I sat with my palms up, my pose nonthreatening. My attention sharpened by the way his body tensed as he lowered. “What is expected of me to accept it?” he asked.

“She would place her scent onto your wrists. It would give her the ability to scent you from another when the celebration begins or when Bel arrives. Since Aria shares her form with another, this would ensure her creature only comes to you if she takes control. You’ll also keep Aria grounded to this plane should Bel wish to take her to his own. You, My King,