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Grasping her chin in my hand, I angled her face higher.
She gasped at the unexpected move.
I’d never put my hands on her before—never this way.
Leaning in until our faces were inches apart, her uneven breath ghosting over my lips, I whispered, “Whatever. I. Want.”
She tried to squirm out of my hold, but her weak attempts told me she didn’t want to escape.
She feared me, yet she desired me.
The revelation did nothing but deepen my curiosity about the woman.
“I find it strange you have this necklace when you insist you didn’t intentionally summon us,” I said, releasing her face and bracing a hand on the wall. I needed to redirect the conversation before I acted impulsively.
“Why is my necklace important to you?”
Telling her the truth wouldn’t put us at any greater risk than we already faced. It might reveal whether she knew more than she admitted. But I wouldn’t reveal everything. She didn’t need to know about Shyrlivi royalty.
“Because that crystal only comes from the infernal plane.”
Her face pinched with confusion; panic flickered beneath it.
“I wonder how your mother came to own such a trinket.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I really don’t.” After a moment of silence, her eyes rounded, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Tell me,” I demanded, driven to know what new thought occupied her mind.
Dropping her hand, she murmured, “You said trinket.”
“Yes. And?”
“I remembered how I used the book. I’d forgotten.”
It took great effort to hold my unruffled expression. She tested the limits of my patience. “You told us.”
“I did?” She looked down, then stared up at me again. “Did I tell you what I used? I can’t remember.”
I’d found it strange she couldn’t recall the words on the summoning page before. Her fading memory of the summoning only deepened my concerns. I watched for any hint of recognition when I said, “Your blood and a trinket. You placed it on the page and recited something you claim not to recall.”
“I can’t,” she insisted, and I believed her. “But I remember now the spell required an important trinket.” She placed her hand on her breastbone over the crystal beneath her shirt.
No wonder it summoned us. Using a crystal mined only for Shyrlivi royalty in a summoning spell…
I shook my head.
Why were infernals a part of her life? There had to be more to her situation, even if our summoning was unrelated. Yet it didn’t explain my brothers’ attraction to her, or why we could smell her and sense her emotions.
“Can you, like, back up?”
My attention dropped to her face, but I didn’t move.
“Seriously?” She crossed her arms and looked away. “You infernals sure are stubborn.”
I smirked. “If I move, then you’ll run. And then I’ll have to chase you.”
She flinched, avoiding my gaze.
