It was like I’d just told Keeose that we were going to jump off the castle tower. She stared at me, mouth agape. Slowly, she glanced back and forth between the poster of the gods and back to me, her husband that wasn’t making any sense to her.

“You’re joking,” she managed.

“Nope.” I shrugged. “We already found Morunn. Now we just have to figure out some way to find the ancient gods.”

Keeose winced the moment I mentioned them. “And do what?”

“Put them back where they came from.”

“What?” Keeose took a deep breath and pushed off to a standing position, unable to keep still. She started pacing in the small room. I could see her thoughts whirling behind her eyes, probably calculating how she’d even be able to locate the Gods with Hidden Names. She shook her head. “We barely made it through our fight with the Harvest Gods and—”

“But we got through it.”

“I—I suppose—”

“And our magical abilities are only getting stronger.” I snapped my fingers and held out my palm. A flickering light appeared, nothing more than a dancing flame, but I didn’t have the control to do it when I’d first discovered the power. “Here’s what I’m proposing. We find the ancient gods, put them back in the prison they came from, and they won’t bring on an insane world war.”

“You’re crazy.”

“You love me anyway.”

Keeose stopped and put a hand on her hip, giving me the most exasperated look I’d ever seen on her face. “Don’t bring that into it.”

“It’s important.”

“How so?”

I nodded towards all the crap around the room. “You’re teaching me portal magic.”

“Warrick.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You want to take on more magic? That could kill you. No. I’ll rephrase. That will kill you! I don’t even think I can!”

“We’ll figure it out together.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she admitted, her voice small.

I held out my hands and motioned her over. She took mine in hers and I pulled her closer, until her knees brushed against mine. All her life, she’d been nothing more than a devoted servant to someone she didn’t even know. I knew it was hard for her to trust herself.

“Hey,” I murmured, looking up at her gorgeous face. Her dark eyes, the thick, black hair, the soft, pillowy lips, Keeose was gorgeous. I smiled. “You’re the most amazing sorceress I’ve ever met.”

A reluctant smile played on her lips. “I’m the only sorceress you’ve ever met.”

“Okay, how about, you’re amazing at what you do?” I tried instead. “You’re beautiful, you’re wise, and you’re stronger than you think. You’ve taught me so much about this world. And I know if I’ve got you by my side, we can do this. Without you, it’s no dice.”

She gave me a long look and her eyes flickered down to our hands. Her voice was soft. “I wouldn’t be here without you. I wouldn’t be this…happy. Or strong in my magic without you pushing me to. Without you…I would be lost.”

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Gently, she pressed her forehead against mine and I released her hand just to stroke her face, soft like she was.

“I love you,” she whispered, inches away from my lips.

“I love you,” I told her and captured her lips in mine. I’d kissed Keeose plenty of times but that didn’t make it any less exciting. She knotted her fingers in my hair again and deepened the kiss, running her tongue along my bottom lip. I grabbed her waist and pulled her to my lap.

The sleeping gown hid too much. I wrapped my hands up in it and felt her supple body through the fabric. She moaned when I ran my hand down her back, just touching her, feeling where her hips began and her curves dipped.

“All right,” Keeose panted when I leaned down to kiss her neck. “To the ends of this world, I’ll travel with you.”

“You crack too easy under pressure,” I teased her and sucked her neck. Keeose buckled instantly, digging her fingernails in my back, while I languished to taste her skin.

“I love you too much,” she groaned. “What can I say?”

Kissing her neck harder, I sucked and licked her skin, bringing the mewling sounds out of her. It was magic in itself. Watching one of my women come undone was one of my favorite pleasures.

“Your majesty,” Keeose murmured and immediately had my attention. “My king.”

I brought myself back and kissed her on the lips again. She rolled her hips, showing exactly what she wanted, but I wanted to prolong the moment.

“My king,” Keeose rasped. “You have to get up early.”

“Xalap is going to be banging pots and pans outside of our room at dawn,” I agreed.

“Then let me,” she whispered and worked on bringing down my trousers, hiking up her sleeping gown.

That wasn’t quite enough for me. I bunched her gown up further and tugged it off of her, revealing her beautiful body underneath. Her heavy breasts, perfect for my hands, her pale skin, reflecting perfectly off the lantern light, and the wetness between her thighs. I slipped my hand between and she whimpered.

“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured and captured her lips again. Keeose ran her hand along the side of my cock, throbbing and waiting for her, and I grabbed her hips, helping her to adjust on top of me. When I felt that first hint of her, warm and soaked, I bit back a groan myself.

“Gods,” she swore under her breath and rocked me into her, working me deeper and deeper inside her sex. Fucking heaven.

I grabbed hold of her hips and worked her myself, thrusting in and out of her, feeling her clench me and watching her eyes roll back. A moan tore out of her and she grabbed on to my back, matching my rhythm as the two of us fucked together.

“If you’re not pregnant, you’re going to be,” I muttered, biting her shoulder.

“Yes!” She nodded feverishly. “Please, give it to me!”

Keeose met her release before I did. Now, I could tell, the way her shoulders lifted, the way she shuddered, and how quickly she collapsed against me, but I held on to her hips and pounded into her, filling her up with everything I had.

We finished, panting against each other, and Keeose reached to give me a quick kiss. She had a sheen of sweat on her forehead but she smiled. “Thank you.”

“It was such a chore.” I laughed.

She bit her lip. “It’s been a long time since it was just the two of us…”

“I thought you liked to watch?’

A flush crept up her neck. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like to have you to myself sometimes.”

“All right. Next time you want me, tell me. When all this craziness is over, we can sneak out for a weekend.”

She laughed then, an easy laugh, and the two of us stood up and readjusted our clothing like we hadn’t been fucking in the tower. It was a long walk to the bedroom but Keeose held my hand the whole time and squeezed it whenever I caught her eye.

Some of the chambermaids tried to ask if we needed anything but all we needed was a good sleep before tomorrow.

“They’re already asleep,” I murmured to Keeose and pushed open the door. Both of them were until we tried to climb into bed. Byrid cracked open an eye and moved over to me, wrapping herself around me with a purr.

“Warrick,” she murmured softly.

I shifted into the middle of the bed and Auror even rested on my arm, still asleep. It was damn comfortable, especially in the cool stone of the castle. I sighed, content, and closed my eyes, willing sleep to overtake me for a long day tomorrow.

But when I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t the darkness of our bedroom. I hadn’t even accidentally sleepwalked out to the hallway, as crazy as that would be. I was standing in front of a metal door, covered in haunting looking faces and bite and scratch marks, only a foot and a half in front of me.