I release a dramatic sigh, lying on the hard ground and turning to face the wall. There’s no way I can look at him now. “Whatever. Let me rest a little. You talk too much.”
He chuckles but says no more, giving me the silence I request. I close my eyes and hope the cold ground will quench this fire inside me. I have a lot to think about, and the demon’s body next to me shouldn’t be on the list.
Zaki is so handsome it hurts, and in a way completely different from my mates. He’s all sharp angles and darkness, and maybe because of who I am, and who I accept myself to be, I find that arousing and alluring. Even with the horns. Even with the swishing tail. And it’s so damn easy to talk to him, even when I’ve always been more of an introverted person.
What is this weird connectionI feel? Is it because he’s an incubus? Is it a fake connection, forced by his magic? Or is there something real about this?
Another shiver rattles my body. I hug myself closer. I hear Zaki moving, shuffling to his feet, then he lies down. Right next to me. His warmth comes off his body in waves and I almost moan out loud when he hugs me from behind, pressing his chest to my back. He runs hotter than shifters, but with the cold in this place, it’s like swathing myself in the warmest blanket in the world.
He tightens an arm around my waist. My ass lands on his erection. My body grows stiff.
“Zaki,” I murmur inwarning.
I’ve been through this before. As long as therearefeelings, as long as there’s something other than lust, my men would welcome him. My men would not mind, and they would welcome another person into our family. But I don’t understand what this attraction means. I don’t know if it’s real or just part of his pelvic mojo.
Zaki lies unmoving behind me. “I know,” he whispers back, his warm breath tickling my ear. “And I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. Rest. I’ll keep watch.” And though his voice is strained, he truly doesn’t move.
His hard cock keeps twitching against my backside, but Zaki tries nothing. Soon enough, I doze off, into the realm of naughty, naughty dreams.
CHAPTER14
REN
Anecromancer. I blink, gaping at Apollo inside the cell across from mine. Tristan finishes sharing what he’s learned, and if I could gape at him, I would. I can’t since he’s in the cell next to mine, so I gawk at Apollo and wait for him to say something.
Kayn thinks he can find someone who will bring Cass back to life. No way. He has to be mad.
“Someone like this doesn’t exist. Right?” I ask, looking at Apollo. He has improved in the hours Tristan was away. The gargoyle came back limping and covered in blood and bruises, but he doesn’t seem to care. He healed faster than Apollo, but the dragon shifter is already able to sit as he closes and opens his hands, working out the kinks.
Apollo’s face is like stone. He’s either angry or upset or in pain. I don’t know. He’s just glaring, and he’s been glaring for a while now. His jaw is set so hard I’m afraid he might break a tooth. Or several teeth. At least they’d eventually grow back.
“Fucking Kayn,” he spits, the cut on his lip going angry red for a moment.
“I agree, but is that true?” I say, gripping the bars until my knuckles go white. This can’t be. No way. I can’t accept it. “There’s no way someone like that exists. I never heard of people coming back to life.” And I can’t allow this mad hope to burn brighter inside me.
“Necromancers exist,” Apollo says, matter-of-factly. “They’re rare, and you don’t hear about it because it’s forbidden. The New Council keeps a strict eye on it, and the Old Council did so, too. Can you imagine it? Necromancers could be unstoppable if they so wished. Raise entire armies, unbeatable armies. Bring back heroes or great villains with the power to up-end the world. Fuck. They’re rare, but if there’s someone who can find them, it’s Kayn.”
A beat passes, then another. “So, it’s possible. That’s what you’re saying,” I try, sliding a glance at him.
“Yeah,” he replies, eyes veiled with thought.
“Isn’t that... good?” Why is he so serious? Why is Tristan so quiet? To have Cassandra back is everything I could desire. It’s everything a man could want after they lost their mate. My wolf whines inside me, a permanent sadness to the way we now exist. There’s a hole inside my chest, a gaping hole I thought I’d never be able to fill once more. And the chance exists? “She can come back.”
“Ren...”
“She can come back to life,” I insist, widening my eyes at Apollo. “You two are her mates, you must feel the same emptiness I feel inside. There’s no way I’m the only one.”
“You’re not,” Apollo insists. “But...”
“This isn’t right,” Tristan says. “I don’t want Kayn to touch her. To force her to use her powers.”
“And I don’t want it either, but what if...” My heart races in my chest, possibilities running in my head. “What if we slipped her away? What if we managed to escape as soon as Kayn brought her back? We’ve done crazier things before.” We invaded the Little Palace, the famed, most secret Little Palace. We rescuedmy lost sister. We brought the Collector down. Those are things people never thought possible, and for hundreds of years, they weren’t. Yet, with Cassandra, I feel like I could take on the world. With her and for her.
“It’s not that simple,” Apollo insists, and there’s pain on his face now. More pain than I’ve seen in the past few days. Like I can see through him, into him, for the first time in a long while. Apollo is always the toughest among us. He keeps his feelings inside or shares them only with Cassandra. Seeing the pain in his eyes now grounds me like nothing else. “Nothing is that simple.”
“Why?” I blurt, hope tightening a knot in my throat. “We can have her back!”
“It wouldn’t be her,” he spits, his brow furrowed. “A necromancer brings back the body, not the spirit. It wouldn’t be her, but a slave. A mindless thing, with access to her powers, but without her control and her morals.” His brows climb his forehead,and Apollo leans forward, an almost mad look on his face. “Kayn could make her do anything he wanted. She would look at us and not recognize any of us.” He releases a sigh, a soul-wrenching sigh that makes my soul quiver. “It just wouldn’t be her.”