‘Stop that!’

  ‘You talk a big game about freeing others’ desires, and yet you’re the least free of us all,’ Keira edged him on, her ears ringing, her skin prickling with electricity chasing down her limbs and in the room, around and between them. ‘You’re a dog on a leash. A mere genie in a bottle.’

  ‘I’m warning you, Keira, stop,’ he growled, once again standing in front of her, their faces inches apart.

  ‘Or what?’ She leaned forward until she could feel his warm breath on her skin, brushing her lips against his as she spoke. ‘You’ll finally take me? I’d love to see you try.’

  His mouth crashed into hers, hard and bruising. Like the tide, his tongue pushed through, conquering every inch of her mouth, clashing with her own. Her arms wrapped around his back, and he pulled her body closer until their fronts collided, bundling up her skirt until she felt the hardening shape of him press against the fabric blocking her centre.

  A bolt shot through her, turning her legs to mush.

  A bell rang at the back of her mind, warning her that perhaps she would come to regret this; that she was acting too rashly again, but it was drowned out in a wave of pleasure as he reached under her skirt and slipped his fingers between her legs.

  Moaning, Keira arched her back and grasped the nearby bookshelves, her breaths struggling between his movements.

  Already, she could feel the rise of delicious pressure building, persuading her to let go. To lose control. But she needed to keep her wits about her. She needed to control the situation.

  ‘Wait,’ she breathed, mustering the will and strength to pull his hand away and grasp the back of his head, forcing him back by his hair. Raptly, she set her lips to the nook of his neck, tracing the base of it with her tongue.

  He groaned and pressed against her hands, now fumbling to unbutton his trousers, then startled as she reached down and wrapped her fingers around him. The feel of his hardened, silky-smooth form left her equally breathless as his eyes locked with hers, full of fire.

  Another warning she chose to ignore.

  Instead, she pushed down his trousers and pressed their bodies closer, her hips barely resting on the edge of the desk, her legs wrapped around his waist.

  A moment of unspoken words, shared with just a glance.

  Her eyebrow, raised in challenge.

  And then…

  Keira cried out and arched her back as he slid into her, the stinging pain burning like cold fire as she adjusted to the feel of him inside her. As they broke whatever was left of her hymen.

  Tentatively, Elijah waited before he pulled out again, his gaze hard upon her, almost accusatory. His jaw clenched as if he was struggling.

  It was then she realised that he was pacing himself so that it wouldn’t hurt her as much, and that it was as much control as he could master. It nearly undid her.

  ‘More,’ she whispered, and he obliged. Once more, he slid in, slow and steady.

  Her breath hitched, but she did not wince. Did not give him any other sign that it hurt, until finally, the pain gave way to a different kind that left her pining for more.

  Sensing the change in her body, the slackening of her muscles, Elijah lifted her off the desk and lowered her to the carpet.

  ‘Does it hurt still?’ he asked while taking off his shirt, his voice clipped.

  ‘No.’

  ‘This wasn’t how I wanted our first time to happen,’ he mumbled, his muscles shaking from restraint under her grip. There was a knot in her chest at his words, but there was no use having regrets now.

  ‘Yet, it is happening,’ she whispered. They might as well make the most of it.

  No sooner had the words escaped her before he thrust into her anew, more forcefully, filling her world with stars. His muscles rippled as he sank into her, bending one of her legs for better access.

  Wide-eyed, Keira gasped and arched against him, moaning through the waves of pleasure following the way he moved. She knew then that he had been holding back. That nothing they had done before this would come close to what they could do.

  ‘Elijah,’ she breathed, grappling for the floor, the desk, his hair. Tears of ecstasy gathered in the corners of her eyes at every luscious movement he made. Phantom claws sprouted from her nails, and she raked them down his back, eliciting a string of curses from the djinn.

  ‘You drive me mad; do you know that?’ Elijah groaned and buried his face in the nook of her neck. ‘Absolutely insane.’

  He rolled his hips, eliciting gasps that travelled all the way to her navel.

  She was so close.

  She had to do it now, as he rested his forehead on her shoulder, before she lost herself to him and forgot entirely.

  ‘Is it true?’ she breathed, panting through the rise and falls in her body, tensing her muscles so that he could not move without an answer. ‘Is it true we can’t get out of here?’

  ‘Your wish might’ve,’ he said between strained breaths, his muscles trembling with frustration, with the need to plunge deeper and take his yearning out on her. She shuddered at the very thought of it and how much she wanted it. Insatiable, the both of them. ‘A master’s wish trumps any magic.’

  The moment she let him, he pounded into her again. Hard. So hard – so meticulously – that she could only hold onto him as he chased her higher, higher, and higher until—she fell over.

  Not just over the edge, but the end of the world. Into a sea of pleasure, screaming his name.

  Stars lingered under the roof until the ripples of pleasure phased out and he rolled over to lie beside her.

  Both shivered in silence, panting against one another until his head came to rest against her shoulder and her body tensed.

  It didn’t go unnoticed.

  Instantly, he looked up and searched her face, examining it for any trace of displeasure or pain, confusion and concern marring his every feature. ‘Are you okay?’

  She let the silence fall before she spoke, her voice low and damning. ‘I guess men really will tell you anything you want as long as they believe they’ll get to “wet their stick”, be they human or not.’ Shifting away from him, she sat up and pulled her skirt down to cover herself.

  ‘Keira—’ he started, perplexity clear in his voice, triggering her pent-up anger.

  ‘You broke your promise.’

  ‘Keira!’

  ‘No,’ she snapped, twirling on him before he could change her mind. ‘I wish for you to get us out of here. I wish for you to get us out of here, to help me get August’s body back, and then for you to disappear with the rest of your “family” for all I care.’

  He winced and shook his head. ‘Keira, don’t⁠—’

  ‘I wish it!’

  She looked around the space, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  With unease rising, Keira began to wonder if he’d simply left her, when a click sounded from the hallway, and the door sprang open. Elijah stood on the other side, fully clothed, his face cloaked in shadow. He did not meet her eye as she marched past, nor did she attempt to meet his.

  21

  POSSESSION

  No sooner had they left the library before Elijah moved into another room, a chamber of dark lavender-blue walls and golden interior. As her eyes settled on a large four-poster bed with bluebell satin covers, incredulity rose within her. Was he planning another go? More astonishingly, her core fluttered at the thought. But Elijah seemed to ignore the bed completely, determinedly passing without looking at it, heading for the richly carved dresser instead.

  ‘That door over there leads to an inverted tower,’ Elijah said gruffly as he pulled out a drawer and roamed through the clothes within. This had clearly been his chamber. ‘It’ll take you outside. You should leave, get somewhere safe, and I’ll handle my siblings.’

  Keira looked to the door and dismissed it with a single scrunch of her nose. ‘I’m coming with you,’ she said, turning back to him as he pulled out a couple daggers, inspecting their shiny copper blade. To her, at least, it looked like they had been perfectly preserved amongst the folds of his clothes.

  ‘I won’t have you anywhere near him,’ Elijah growled, shutting the drawer.

  ‘And I won’t take orders and leave August alone with the likes of you,’ Keira retorted, crossing her arms.

  They stared at each other, neither backing down. Her heartbeat was in her chest, one part begging for him to give her a reason to fight him, the other hoping he’d say a few magical words that would make everything right. That would make the ache in her heart go away.

  Something flashed in his eyes, as if he was thinking along the same lines. His lips parted to speak, and she braced herself, pressing her arms further into her chest.

  ‘Fine,’ the djinn shook his head at last, and her heart sank watching him head for the door. ‘But you stay behind me. And when I tell you to run, you bloody run.’

  She could adhere to that, Keira thought, her conscience stinging at the bite in his voice. At least for now.

  Moving as fast as they could without making a sound, they snuck down the abandoned overgrown corridors in silence, heading for the ballroom. Now and then, Elijah would pause in open doorways, taking in what was left of the room, his features haunted as if watching the ghosts of his past move before him. Maybe he was. More than once, Keira wondered whether one of those ghosts was Helena, her gut wrenching at the thought, the stickiness between her legs itching further, making her shift uncomfortably from one leg to the other. She didn’t think he had noticed before he turned back at her, tugging at his shirt.

  ‘You can dry yourself off with this if you want,’ he offered, and her cheeks heated.

  Still, she refused, dabbing her legs in demonstration with her own skirt instead, the coarse fabric brushing against skin still sore and tightening the knot in her stomach.

  Shame. Every ounce of goodness from him made her feel more shame. But she doubled down and ignored it, unwilling to inspect it further.

  ‘Alright then.’ Elijah shrugged and continued onwards, guiding her around a maze of fallen plaster, missing pieces of floor, and mould. ‘Careful where you step; the ground can be treacherous.’

  She stared at him, remembering all the times when he had used that same voice to guide her towards her point of pleasure and release. Bitterly, she stuffed her appreciation of the past down and pushed past him, ignoring his warning, feet stomping through dried roots and flattened plants. ‘You could say that again.’

  ‘Keira…’ The imploring tone of his voice held her back. ‘You shouldn’t have used your wish like that.’

  ‘Whyever not?’ She scoffed. ‘Did it complicate your grand plans to restore your brother’s empire?’

  ‘I didn’t tell you who I was, because for once in my life, I wanted to see if someone could love me for me – not my powers. I helped my brother, yes, but only because I wanted to reunite my family.’ He came up to her, face open and honest. ‘Can you blame me? I’d been alone for years. Most of them spent in a lamp. I was so desperate for company that I made it my duty a long time ago to make things right. I betrayed him, Keira⁠—’

  ‘With Helena, I know. I know what you felt for her, what you did.’

  ‘Exactly. And I was to be the dutiful brother and make up for it. To make it up to them all. I even promised him. But you’ll make a traitor out of me again. I do not regret it.’

  She stilled, turning to face him.

  ‘You shouldn’t have used your wish, because I would have done it even if you had not wished for it. Get us out, I mean.’ He covered the distance between them and put her hand upon his heart. ‘I sold you my loyalty with my body long before tonight.’

  ‘You’re a whore,’ she purred venomously, before pushing away from him, anger spilling into her voice. ‘And you’ve made a harlot out of me. I will not be your poor little consolation—’ Her breath hitched as he yanked her arm and spun her around, pushing her against the wall, his face livid.

  ‘You may be as upset with me as you’d like,’ he snarled. ‘But I’ll never hear you call yourself by those words ever again. Not for following your desires. Not for stepping into your own sensuality and allowing yourself the pleasures of your sex. The pleasures you deserve!’ The last words rang between them in the silence that ensued, both their chests heaving.

  His eyes dropped to her parted lips, to her neck and swollen breasts. Her heart drummed in her chest, traitorously yearning with the rest of her body for his gaze to turn into touches, touches that would slip under her skirt. For him to slip in underneath it.

  Tears prickled behind her eyes as the last hours came crashing down upon her along with frustration and regret. Why couldn’t she just hate him? Why did she need him so much?

  ‘You weren’t supposed to betray me,’ she uttered as the first tears fell.

  She’d trusted him. Trusted another man, been intimate with him, only to find that he had lied and gone behind her back just like August. And now she had given him her virginity as a way to prove a point. ‘Why did you lead him here?’

  Elijah cupped her face with his hands and dried her tears. ‘It was never my intention to stay. I was going to take him – take them all – away from here. But I couldn’t just leave you after that first night when you’d been so brave with me.’ She sucked in a breath, recollecting their first lesson in the heat of his gaze. ‘And when I came back to say goodbye, you needed me.’

  After that, he had stayed. For her. Had gone to Faerie, for her.

  Anger gave way to ebbs of guilt.

  She knew her words had hit Elijah hard. She also knew she had provoked him to break his promise, although she had not explicitly asked him to. And yet she could not get past the anger and hurt that threatened to swallow her alive.

  Elijah let go of her face and handed her one of the copper daggers, wrapping her fingers around its handle. ‘If anyone tries to attack you, you use this.’

  ‘You’d want me to hurt your family?’

  ‘If they hurt you, they’re not my family,’ he said, gaze ablaze. Her eyes burned at that, and he pulled her closer to him again, kissing her forehead. ‘I’ll fix this,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll fix all of it.’

  A familiar cry ripped through the air, making them jump apart and stare down the hallway.

  Colour drained from Elijah’s face. ‘Was that…’

  ‘I think so,’ breathed Keira. They looked at one another. Her mouth opened, wishing to say something – anything – but her words remained absent, her heart still scorched and afraid to open. Elijah read her expression and dipped his head in understanding, taking her hand instead as they rushed in the direction of the sound.

  Four people stood in the ballroom now along with the emperor, all of them emotionlessly staring at the hunched figure in the middle, trembling on the floor.

  Isolde.

  Her fiery red hair hung in messy curls down her face, the paint of the Woodland Witches washed down her cheeks with her tears. Gaping wounds ran down her brown arms, caked in blood. Still, her eyes betrayed no fear, no hurt, as she stared up at the emperor in challenge and loathing.

  ‘Where’s my body?’ snarled the Tyrant Emperor.

  ‘It’s gone,’ Isolde hissed in return, baring her teeth.

  ‘Where is it?’ the emperor roared and slashed the air. A large cut appeared on Isolde’s cheek, blood trickling over her skin like it did from the wounds on her arms.

  ‘Stop!’ Keira cried out, running into the room before she could halt herself.

  ‘No!’ Elijah shouted behind her.

  Ahead, all six heads turned in their direction, alarm spreading in Isolde’s widening eyes. ‘Keira, run!’

  No sooner had she spoken than the emperor clenched his fist and, as if he had cursed her, Isolde’s body twisted with a sickening crunch and she screamed, her mouth gaping towards the roof.

  Keira froze in her spot, feeling the eyes of the other four vices devour her with peaked interest.

  One of them was clearly the youngest, his eyes green and narrowed with something bitter. However out of place, she felt a familiar twinge of jealousy rise like bile in her throat, and her head exploded with images of August and Gianna, of watching the men of the town ride out for the hunt, and of Elijah and Helena together.

  Desperate to look away, her eyes caught on another male vice instead, his skin even darker than Isolde’s, looking mighty bored. His appearance settled the burning envy within her and replaced it with a sense of heedlessness. It fuelled the ire she felt looking at the other two, neither of whom looked back at her. One was a silver fox of a man with eyes that shone with hunger at the sight of Isolde collapsed on the floor before him, and the other – the fourth of the siblings – was a woman, her beauty wild like a raging storm flashing its lightning over treacherous seas. The wicked smile on her lips never reached her eyes, which were wrought in rage, and as they fastened on the person behind Keira, even her smile receded.

  ‘Elnatan,’ she hissed.

  Down on the floor, Isolde made a faint jerk and a swollen eyelid cracked open. Not dead, Keira thought.

  Finally, the emperor squared his shoulders as his brother came towards them, stepping before Keira. ‘I thought I ordered you to stay put?’

  ‘Your heir found more persuasive ways of convincing me to do otherwise,’ Elijah drawled. ‘Good thing too. I’d imagine you’d like to know where your body is before you beat our sister into a pulp.’

  Keira stiffened behind him.

  ‘She could tell me herself if she desires to live; instead, she insists it is gone.’

  ‘It is,’ Elijah said. ‘The rebels made away with it once it was left abandoned. Whether it was dumped at the bottom of the sea, burned, or dragged after a carriage, it is gone.’

  ‘Then she will pay for it with her own!’ The emperor roared, raising his fist.

  ‘Or you can take mine,’ Elijah said simply, tilting his head. Everyone stilled, even the emperor – everyone except Keira.

  ‘No!’ She grasped his hand and pulled him around to face her, hissing below her breath. ‘What are you doing?’