Chapter Four

Aliana’s POV

The kiss wasn’t gentle...

It wasn’t sweet...

It was fire and chains, a force that made my body limp and burned through every nerve in my body. I gasped against him, caught between pushing him away and clutching at him like he was the only solid thing left in the world.

Every nerve in my body sparked to life like someone had struck a match against my skin. Heat raced through me, curling low in my belly in a way I had never felt before. A pulse throbbed between my legs that I knew all too well.

I should push him away. It was the right thing to do. Hell, I should want to push him away, but--- I didn’t. Instead, I met his kiss with ease – as eager to explore him as he was me. And when he pulled back, I found myself leaning forward, chasing him without meaning to….

“Perfect,” he murmured, his eyes glowed brighter, and his smile seemed sharper. I felt my cheeks burn, but I wasn’t sure it was only embarrassment. I’d never acted this way before – not even with my boyfriend. But then again, no boyfriend of mine had made my lips tingle the way this man did. Or had my body screaming for something I didn’t understand, some completion to the ache the shadow had awakened...

He smiled at me like he knew every secret my body hadn’t even confessed yet, as if he could see straight through me. My hunger, my confusion... The shiver that still ran down my spine. The smile didn’t mock me.

It promised--- more!

“Is there anything you need, Master?”

I blinked, confused…

“M-Master?!” I echoed, the question jarring in my mind. Master?! What the hell did he mean by that? This was the second time he’d said that, but I was no closer to understanding what it meant. What the pact between us meant…

And for some reason, I couldn’t find the words to ask about it…

“What--- what do you---?” I began asking, but before I could, he stood, unfolding to his full, towering height before me. With a simple swipe of his hand, the hood fell away, revealing his thick black hair---

And horns!

Two long black horns curved up from his forehead and curled backwards, almost like a crown resting atop his head. And if that wasn’t strange enough, he extended a gloved hand toward me, gesturing for me to take it. As if he were some kind of gentleman from a different time period!

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…

What. The. Hell?!

What the hell was this creature? What did he want with me? And why did it make my body feel more alive than ever before? What kind of magic did he hold over me, since my body reacted to him as if he were the master…

Tentatively and a bit reluctantly, I slipped my fingers into his, deciding against my better judgment to trust him. One, because I didn’t want to sit on the wet ground anymore. And secondly, because looking down at me wasn’t the shadowy figure whose voice sent chills down my spine. Instead, I found his voice soothing and gentle, almost melodic at times. His cloak fell perfectly around his impressive build, and besides his horns, he looked---

Well, human!

His grip was strong, but surprisingly gentle for someone his size. He pulled me to my feet as though I weighed nothing, and for a moment, the world felt as if it tilted. I gasped as I crashed into his chest--- it felt warm… I could hear his heartbeat, and once more I felt that familiar electric current flow through my body. Heating my core and moving lower...

“Getting comfortable?” He asked, his voice teasing and completely human. And like the actual human I was, I jumped back, feeling how even my ears turned crimson from embarrassment.

“I didn’t--- I wasn’t--- my intention, so sorry! I---!” I stumbled over my words, as I wondered if the shadows of the forest would swallow me whole. But I was once more rendered speechless when I finally noticed my surroundings…

I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore, I managed to mumble while taking in the extraordinarily breathtakingly beautiful surroundings…

It was a garden unlike any I’d ever seen before. The air shimmered faintly, heavy with the aroma of flowers I couldn’t name. Flowers and blossoms that glowed faintly as if painted with moonlight. Overhead, the night sky was alive as stars glittered like spilled diamonds. The full moon was so vast it seemed close enough to touch, and northern lights rippled across the heavens like ribbons of green and violet – except they seemed brighter, closer, and more impossibly beautiful than they could ever be on Earth...

But the castle--- yeah, that really took the cake!

It rose before me like something out of a dream, impossibly vast and ethereal. Its towers spiraled into the sky, crowned with silver flames that never burned out. Balconies and bridges arched between them, carved of white stone that shimmered faintly blue under the starlight. Gardens spilled down its terraces in cascades of blossoms, and waterfalls glittered like crystal as they fell into pools that reflected the impossible sky.

“Did I die?” I asked, my mouth ready to catch flies. Honestly, it was the only logical explanation I could come up with. How else would you explain the Cinderella castle and a night sky that felt completely magical?

“Mortals always react to Master’s realm that way,” a rough, sardonic voice suddenly said behind me with a thick bite of a New York accent. I spun, my heart lurching, and nearly toppled over when I saw who had spoken.

The raven!

“You---y-you talk?!” I stammered--- and for some reason turned to the horned creature as if he was the more normal one in this situation. “He talks?!”

“’Course I talk,” the raven – Corvus, if memory served me right - snapped, his beak clattering as he spoke. He tilted his head, his glossy feathers catching the starlight, and I swear he was laughing. “All servants of Dikaios talk when we’re in his realm.”

“O-oh,” was all I meekly could get over my lips. Because I wasn’t sure how many more surprises my mind could take before I did the most unflattering lady BS and passed out. That was until I processed his words and my feet were once more knocked out from under me...

Wait---!

“Realm?!”