A Tangle of Hearts (A Shade of Vampire #44)(55)

Maybe a minute passed.

Then the ground cracked open beneath Phoenix. Thick roots shot up, swirling frantically. They tangled around his body like hungry snakes, crackling as they tightened their hold on him and pulled him into the ground.

The earth swallowed him whole and closed itself up like nothing had happened. He just vanished into the grass. Gone without a trace. A layer of grass spread quietly above.

And then I screamed.

It was as if time had resumed its flow. I regained control over my body and my senses. I screamed from the bottom of my lungs. I screamed after Phoenix, I screamed at the sight of him stabbing himself in the chest, I screamed at his unnatural disappearance.

My shrieks pierced the night.





Aida





[Victoria & Bastien’s daughter]





The floor felt cold beneath me. I woke up, realizing that I’d fallen asleep on the floor in the basement. Field and I had been sitting there all afternoon, our backs against the bed frame, talking.

I rolled over on my back and yawned, then looked to my right. Field slept next to me.

A dim light danced in the darkness, just enough for me to take in his every feature. I was dangerously close to him, his face barely an inch away from mine. It was one of those rare opportunities when I could look at him completely undisturbed.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep. His features were smooth with a few rebellious strands of black hair falling over his face. My mouth turned into a smile. A deep sigh rolled from my chest. His beauty overwhelmed me.

Field opened his eyes to look right into mine.

I froze, staring into two turquoise gems, shadowed by long, black eyelashes.

My words jammed in my throat, my heart thumped against my ribs, and I had no control over my body. The way he looked at me was different, darker and more intense than anything I had ever seen coming from him.

We stayed like that for several moments. I didn’t know what to do, so I just lay there, worried that I’d ruin it somehow. I’d grown so accustomed to being the little half-wolf girl that he barely paid attention to that I didn’t know what to make of him now when he saw me for myself.

His eyes drilled hot holes into my soul, his face so close to mine that I could feel myself burning up from the proximity.

I’d spent so much time fantasizing about a moment like this and yet had no idea how to react to it in real life. This was real life. Field drew his face closer to mine, enough for me to feel his breath brush over my lips, igniting fires deep in my core. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

I parted my lips instinctively. A singular thought nibbled at the back of my mind: What if he comes closer?

His gaze dropped to my mouth. His tongue flicked over his lower lip. Shadows passed over his eyes, like millions of thoughts colliding as his lips came dangerously close to mine. Barely an inch was left between us when his eyes searched and found mine again.

His eyebrows sank into a subtle frown, his teeth sinking into his lip.

My pulse reverberated in my ears, my mind begging him to close the distance.

A sharp scream pierced the silence.

The moment between us dissipated. Vita’s strident wail reverberated from outside. We both shot to our feet, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Another scream echoed into the basement, and my blood froze.





Serena





[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]





I dreamed about Draven that night. We were sitting by the bonfire with dozens of succubi surrounding us asking him to join them in their tents. Destroyers sat atop winged horses, flying overhead, circling above the camp. They couldn’t get in. My subconscious had mixed some facts together, between the swamp witches’ illusion spell and the mansion’s protective shield. All I could think of was getting Draven out of there, unsure of what I feared more: the succubi or the Destroyers.

I opened my eyes, enveloped in blissful warmth and my face mere inches from Draven’s as I lay in his embrace beneath a beige animal fur. It felt so good, so right. Morning light peeked through the tent’s loose seams, coming down in thin white beams.

His hair was tousled over his forehead, and his breathing was even. His frame made me feel tiny in his arms. I took in every feature of his, every edge, and every line that made him who he was. I clasped my hands to my chest, unable to move in the absence of space between us. My body molded against his, my soft figure melting into him like butter in a hot pan.

I turned my palms and flattened them on his broad chest, my fingers splayed across the linen shirt. I could feel the rune marks beneath my fingertips. His wounds were still healing after our difficult meeting with the Daughters of Eritopia.

The world around us was quiet and distant as I listened to his breathing. I could stay there forever. How had he managed to sneak into my soul like this?

“How did you become so important to me?” I whispered, feeling the need to let those words out while he slept.

He didn’t move.

I sighed and gently brushed my fingers against his chin, careful not to wake him up. His skin was as soft as I remembered it. Even asleep, he sent waves of buzzing energy through my entire body and heated up my core.

“I wish I could look straight into your soul and understand what goes on in your head.” My voice was so low it was barely audible. “Wish I knew how you felt…”