Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(53)

I moved closer, drawn by sympathy or curiosity, I wasn’t sure. Probably both. Because I couldn’t possibly be seeing this right. The Warden of the Underworld was hard as a rock. He was iron. Steel.

But there was a strange expression in his eyes. I was so close now that I could see it clearly.

“You lost someone,” I said. “Someone close.”

His expression turned hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Oh, but he did. He’d lost someone, and the story wasn’t pretty. Because there was guilt there, too. Was it his brother?

“Does this have anything to do with why you always follow the rules?” I asked. “Because back at your place, you said you broke them once. But you never would again. Never, ever again.”

Something flashed on his face, but I couldn’t identify it. Something dark and sad.

“You can tell me, Roarke.”

His hands flashed up to grip my arms, tight but not painful. My heart leapt in my chest, thundering to the beat of the thousand drummers in my mind.

“Don’t pry.” Roarke’s voice was hoarse. “You may not like what you find.”

I shook my head. “You’re a good guy.”

“Not all of me. Not all of my decisions.” He pulled me closer, clearly desperate to shut me up.

But the pain in his gaze made me want to keep talking, keep poking, keep learning.

He tugged me toward him until our bodies almost touched, but I could feel the heat of him across the inches that separated us. I shivered despite the warmth. How could there be so much fear and confusion and desire in so little space?

Unable to help myself, I stood up on my tiptoes, tilting my head up to his. My gaze was riveted on his mouth. It was the most beautiful mouth I’d ever seen, and suddenly, more than anything, I wanted it pressed against my own.

Roarke’s dark gaze raced over my face, hot and fierce. He wanted me back. I knew he did. He had to.

The air vibrated around us.

I stiffened, stepping back from Roarke just as Cass appeared about twenty yards down the road.

She caught sight of us and yelled, “Hey!”

I didn’t meet Roarke’s eyes as I turned and hurried toward her. I could feel his gaze on my back as I walked, but I did my best to ignore it.

“Thanks for coming,” I said when I reached Cass. She was dressed in her usual battle wear. Brown leather jacket, jeans, and her two favorite obsidian daggers strapped to her thighs. Her hair glinted dark red in the dim moonlight.

“No problem. You said we were headed to Richmond Castle in Yorkshire?”

“Yep. I think we may have found our demon.”

“Excellent. Aidan has Aerdeca and Mordaca on the concealment charm. It helps to know it was created with potion magic, but he’s not confident it’s enough.”

“It’s a start.”

“Yep.” Cass held out her hands. “Ready?”

Roarke and I reached for one of her hands. A moment later, the ether sucked us through space and spit us out at the edge of a river.

I stepped back from Cass, feeling so much better than I did when I traveled through Roarke’s Underpath. Transporting was infinitely easier.

“Thanks,” I said.

“About time you got here.” Nix’s voice sounded from behind.

I turned to see her standing on a big rock by the river, a compact bow and arrow strapped over her back. Like me, she normally fought with weapons instead of magic.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” I peered behind Nix to see Aidan approaching from a ways down the river.

“Did you really think we’d let you do this without us?” Nix said. “Now that you know where the demon is, we didn’t want to miss the party.”

“Though he did pick quite the location,” Roarke said from behind me. “There’s a lot of magic here.”

I stepped back from the river and examined our surroundings. We stood on the bank of a wide river. Behind me, a rocky hill rose up to support a massive castle wall. On both sides, the wall terminated at round towers, presumably turning away from the river at that point. Magic swelled from the castle, but not the kind I’d felt at Tintagel. This was something different.

“There’s a town surrounding the castle on the other side of the wall,” Roarke said.

“Why here, exactly?” Cass asked.

“The Ubilaz demon may be after a second charm that will keep him out of the Underworld. King Arthur wears the charm, and he’s been asleep for a thousand years under this castle, waiting to rise and defend England in their hour of need.”

“Cool.” Nix looked back at the castle wall. “That is seriously bad ass.”

I couldn’t help but agree. I didn’t want this fight to get all the way to Arthur’s tomb—but freaking King Arthur! I wouldn’t mind seeing him.

“Okay, we need to get into the castle,” I said.

“I don’t think we should go through the village,” Cass said. “Too many places for unknown threats to hide.”

Memories of the last time we’d tried to cut through a village to reach our destination flashed in my mind. I’d been changed into a Phantom. Or been triggered. Whatever.

“Yeah.” I looked up at the craggy castle wall. “Let’s climb the wall. There are enough handholds.”