Valkyrie's Sacrifice (Academy of Immortals 3)

I feel more exposed than ever, walking across the drafty room. My belly is exposed, and my feet are bare. A sliver anklet jangles against my skin. A man in a white robe follow my movements, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Rupert had told me about the priests that had controlled his life. Is that who it is?

That question is pushed aside as I’m directed toward the other side of the table, toward a man I barely recognize. Well, barely a man, at that. Rupert had been a leader in the army as a teenager and, at first, I’d been wary of his youth. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the face and body of a twenty-year-old with the mind of an immortal being. He’d proven to me his capabilities as a man on more than one occasion.

At the moment, it’s not his youth that concerns me. It’s the dark glint in his eye, the calculating assessment. This Rupert is different. He’s not part of a larger team—the Legion of Immortals—that fought side by side under the tight fist of the God of War. He’s a prince; the Dark Prince, and his gaze cuts to the bone.

This is the Rupert that viewed women as objects. Non-emotional playthings with no role other than to fulfil his desires. I’d taken me weeks to coax out the man that’d become my lover.

Something tells me I don’t have weeks to win over this Prince.

The attendant directs me to the empty spot next to Rupert—on his chair—and whispers in my ear, “Remember your job is to please the Prince, nothing more. Oh, and don’t look him in the eye.”

I ease into the seat, brushing against Rupert’s side. He’s never been brawny like Agis or Armin. He’s lankier—thinner—but I know the muscles under his velvet coat and white shirt are lean and hard. I know the hair under his naval is soft and a darker shade of red than on his head. I also know what his cock tastes like, feels like in my mouth.

“What are you thinking so intensely about, female?” he asks, his voice confident and authoritative.

I force my eyes down. “Uh, that it’s a pleasure to be sitting with you right now.”

His fingers graze the side of my face. “Your cheeks are flushed. Are you nervous?”

It’s obvious that he doesn’t recognize me, and without the rings, I have no idea how I’m going to break him from this spell.

“Only that I won’t succeed in giving you want you want,” I swallow and add, “or need.”

Rupert nods to his attendant and a series of things happen at once. Another attendant appears and pours a large glass of dark red wine and another arrives with a plate of food. Both are given to me. Next, across the room, musicians pick up their instruments and begin playing a loud, jovial tune. Many of the men at the table stand then cross the room, where they seek dance partners from the tables where the women sit together. As this happens, I feel gentle fingertips running down the exposed skin on my back. An electric thrill courses down my spine. Despite the fact he doesn’t recognize me, my body still reacts to him the same as it had in the Academy. I wonder if his reacts to mine as well.

He feigns interest in the entertainment, watching the musicians, but his hands roam, revealing where his true attention lies. He strokes the sheer fabric of the flimsy pants I’d been given to wear. His touch is perfection, much more confident than the Rupert I’d known at the Academy—the one that came humiliatingly early the first time I’d kissed him. In this world, this circle of Hell, the Dark Prince is in control of his body—and consequently, mine. A shiver rolls through me as his fingers lazily massage my inner thighs, dipping closer and closer with every rotation.

“You like that,” he says in a murmur. “You like to be touched.”

“Y—yes, Your Highness.” I inhale sharply when the tip of his fingers meet their intended target. Several men glance my way. I should be embarrassed, but desire builds in me. I manage to ask, “Shouldn’t you let me touch you?”

He chuckles. “Let me have my fun.”

I reach for my glass of wine and take a sip, hoping the alcohol will ease the knowledge that we’re very much in public. The truth is that I don’t really care. I’ve missed having Rupert’s hands on me—and there’s something about this place that wipes away inhibitions. One look across the room and I see Elizabeth kissing one of the twins passionately.

>

Guess I’m not the only one that has lost my sense of decorum.

“I saw you when you walked in,” he says, tugging at the strap of my top. His lips seductively kiss the top of my shoulder. My skin ignites. “Well—I think I felt you long before that.”

“Felt me?” I ask, looking at my lap.

“Haven’t you heard? I have the gift of sight. Mostly for the battlefield, but sometimes for other things as well.”

So, he still has premonitions—or at the very least, his superior instinct. One reason Camulus picked each of the Immortals was their unique talents in the human world. They transformed in the supernatural world and grew even stronger at the academy. Rupert’s were developing into a psychic connection…often with me.

“I didn’t know that,” I lie, “tell me what you can sense.”

“I know that you’re not afraid of me.” His fingers graze the side of my breast and my nipple hardens beneath the beaded fabric. He smiles at the reaction. “Most of the females brought to me are terrified. They’ve heard rumors of what it’s like to be in my company. But not you, why aren’t you afraid of me?”

Because I know you, I want to say. Because we’ve worked together, fought together, made love…

I swallow back the truth. “I find your ruthlessness attractive. Your power seductive.” I look across the room at the concubines, where Elizabeth reclines on the couch, the twins both plying her with attention. “I’m not like other females. I’m not afraid of the rumors, or of the truth about who you really are.”

He kisses down my arm, the inside of my elbow and the center of my wrist. He licks my fingertips, pausing at the ring on my finger. “This is exquisite,” he says, studying the purple stone. It warms against my skin, pulsing with life. “Where did you get it.”

“A friend made it for me.”