Dark Flame (Immortals 4)

“Drina and Marie didn’t quite care for each other,” he says, visibly relieved with my change of heart. “I mostly came calling on my own.”

I look at him, imagining all of the beautiful single women who must’ve just swooned the second he walked in the room with no partner beside him—and again, just like before, I feel nothing.

Everyone has a past. Even, it seems, me. The only thing that really matters is that he loves me. Has always loved me. Spent the last four hundred years searching for me. And I think I finally get just how big a deal that really is.

“Let’s stay here forever,” I whisper, pulling him to me and covering his face with my kiss. “We’ll just take up residence in this amazing place, and when we get tired of it—if we get tired of it—we’ll just manifest somewhere else to live.”

“We can do that at home, you know.” He looks at me, gaze tender and deep, hand buried in my hair, smoothing the strands. “We can live anywhere we want—have anything we want—go anywhere we want—just as soon as we graduate high school and move away from Sabine.” He laughs.

And even though I smile and laugh along with him, I know better.

I can’t really have this at home.

Not after the spell that I wove.

And until I can find a way to break it, this is the one and only place I can be like this, feel like this. The magick will dissolve the second I make my way back through the portal.

“But in the meantime, there’s really no reason to hurry back—is there?” He grins, tipping my chin ’til my lips meet his.

He presses against me, his body covering mine, the almost feel of his hands on my skin filling me with tingle and heat. The two of us surrendering to the moment, surrendering to the limits we’ve no choice but to accept. My lips at his ear as I murmur, “No reason I can think of. No reason at all.”

ten

“Ever—Ever, wake up! We have to be getting back soon.”

I roll onto my back and stretch, extending my arms up high over my head, while arching my back and flexing my toes, moving slowly, leisurely, infused with such languid warmth I’m tempted to just roll over again.

“Seriously.” Damen laughs, his lips at my ear, nipping the lobe in that way that makes me giggle. “We’ve already discussed this, we both agreed we’d return eventually.”

I lift one droopy lid, then the other, met by an overload of silk, gilt, and the ruffles from Damen’s shirt tickling the tip of my nose—I’m still in Versailles?

“How long did I sleep?” I stifle a yawn but not very successfully, seeing Damen hovering over me, an amused look on his face.

“There’s no time in Summerland.” He smiles. “And trust me, I’ll try not to take it personally that you nodded off.”

I stiffen, wide awake now and gaping. “Wait—you mean I fell asleep while you—while we—” I shake my head, cheeks heating to a thousand degrees. Hardly believing I actually fell asleep—while we were kissing.

He nods, luckily looking more amused than mad. But still I hide my face with my hands, horrified by even the thought of it.

“That is so embarrassing. Seriously, I’m so—” I shake my head and cringe. Needing no further testimony to how exhausted I’ve been after everything that’s happened in the past week.

He rises from the bed, helping me to stand when he says, “Don’t be. Don’t be sorry or embarrassed. You know, in a way it was kind of nice. I don’t recall that ever happening before and you don’t really get to experience many firsts after the first—oh, hundred or so years.” He laughs, pulling me to him as his arms wrap tightly around my waist. “Feeling better?”

I nod. That’s the first decent sleep I’ve had since—well, since you know who started invading my dreams. And even though I’ve no idea how long I was out, I feel so much better now, like I’m ready to head back to the earth pla

ne and face all of my demons—or at least one in particular.

“Shall we?” He lifts his brow.

About to close his eyes and make the veil when I say, “But—what about this place? What’ll happen to it once we leave?”

He shrugs. “Well, I was going to let it go since we can always manifest it again. You know that, right?” He gives me a strange look.

And even though I know it’s easy enough for him to re-create it exactly as is, somehow I want it to stay. I want to know that it’s solid and lasting. A place I can return to on a whim, and not just some hazy figment of a really great day.

He smiles, bowing deeply as he answers my thoughts. “And so it is.” He takes my hand. “Versailles stays.”

“And this?” I grin, fluffing the frills on his cream-colored shirt, causing him to laugh in a way I don’t hear nearly enough anymore.