The Raven Lord | Book I

XVIII. The Fire

Our ragged breath was the only sound moving through the dimly lit halls. Even our footsteps were too swift to make a sound as Lex guided me through the labyrinth of passages. We stopped only once to check around a corner, where two drunk partygoers sang merry tunes and drank expensive ale. Lex smirked at me then, his eyes glazed with lust. With a short lived kiss to my lips, we were off again.

I hardly registered the mahogany door to the guest wing click open to let us pass, nor did I pay attention as Lex fumbled with the door to my rooms. I had watched him the entire time, my heart thrumming and more alive than it had been in over a decade. 

Lex pushed my door open and led me inside, kicking it shut behind us. The room was blanketed in darkness, yet Lex's mouth found mine. His hands moved in a steady rhythm over my back, my shoulders, my neck, my hair, my thighs- oh gods. How was I ever going to stop this?

Though his touch wandered, he did not advance. And it was then that I noticed he was waiting. Whatever we did next, it was my decision. 

"Lex?" I said quietly.

The Stygian Lord pulled back enough to let me speak, his hands perched gently on my hips. 

"I think we should stop," I breathed. 

Lex groaned softly but nodded his head in agreement, dark curls falling over his forehead. 

"Sorry, I just-"

"No," Lex began softly. "You don't have to explain yourself. It's just... difficult to stop." 

I chuckled breathily at Lex's frustration as he pulled away, stepping a good distance away from me. I raised a brow, my eyes now more adjusted to the darkness. 

"Just to be safe," he gritted out. 

The corners of my mouth turned up in a devilish smirk, mimicking the one he had given me earlier. Aware of every movement I made, I strode to Lex. I placed my hands on his muscled chest then, standing on my toes, I whispered in his ear, "Soon enough." Lex tensed as I moved my mouth a breath away from his. "Goodnight, Lex," I muttered, stepping back before he could pull me in. 

Lex swore viciously under his breath. "You're a very cruel woman." Returning his glare, I plopped down onto my bed. He turned from me then, saying, "I'm using your washroom." 

I lit a candle in time to see the door to my washroom click shut. I couldn't help the grin that split my face as I heard Lex run the tub, and dump a basin of cold water over his head.

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The Scout

The earth shook in the rhythm of a heart beat. 

The scout stood concealed among one of the many ruins on the cliff face of the Ebony Isles, his navy cape tattered and blowing gently in the wind. His breath was bated as he fought to keep his eyes open; he had been scouting the army hidden in the belly of the Isles for days now with no rest. 

The cliffs he sat upon formed a wall and a steep slope downwards into a basin where the army now camped. Army, if you wanted to call it that. The scout's breathing ceased as he beheld a new wave of troops enter the basin from the caverns at either side; they moved not as individuals, but as one, pulsing and hissing like a living thing. 

The scout knew darkness, for it was the darkness that had knit him together in his mother's womb, as all Stygian had been. But this... this was something... other. This was an abomination.