Page 38 of Silver & Gold

The music followed them down the corridor but eventually faded. The only sound was Seth and Raider’s footsteps as they walked from hallway to hallway. Raider’s eyes had emptied again.

When Raider stopped, it took Seth a second to realize he was walking alone. He backtracked to Raider, who was staring at a bas-relief carved shallowly into the wall. Seth had never seen this bas-relief before … because he’d never been down this hallway.

Shit. He’d taken a wrong turn in the palatial maze.

Seth glanced from Raider to the bas-relief. Etched in stone, the sun god Roth rolled the sun from the underworld into the sky. He took the form of the sacred scarab then the divine eagle as it grasped the fiery orb and lifted it over fields and rivers before dropping it onto the backs of Hasa’s crocodiles. The crocodiles slithered along the river, bearing the light through the land of the dead and into the death goddess’s nightly keeping.

The carving was beautiful, but Seth didn’t think that was why Raider was staring at it.

“What is it?” Seth asked.

When Raider didn’t respond, Seth reached out and touched his back. Raider moved so damn fast that Seth found himself grabbed by his vest and slammed into that bas-relief before he knew what was happening. Automatically, he shoved Raider back.

Raider lunged for him again before Seth had time to think, before he could clamp down on the instinctive aggression that roared through his body at the attack. Seth launched himself from the wall and caught Raider around the torso. Dropping to one knee, Seth slammed him to the ground, his awareness returning just enough to control the fall and not hurt Raider.

Raider’s leg came up and hooked around Seth’s neck. Yanked off balance, Seth found himself twisted underneath Raider. They grappled fiercely, straining and grabbing. Raider was quicker than Seth, but Seth knew how to wrestle, and he was much heavier. He got Raider pinned, locking down Raider’s legs with his own, trapping his arms. Raider thrashed and bucked against him and, goddamn it, but it made Seth so fucking hard that he clamped his teeth on the crook of Raider’s neck.

Instantly, Raider stopped fighting. He was breathing hard. His muscles were still contracted. But he lay still in Seth’s dominant hold.

It took Seth a long, long moment to get himself to release his bite. When he did, he spoke softly but intently into Raider’s ear. “You’re going to get up. You’re going to stay calm and do everything I say. Do you understand?”

Raider started to twist against Seth’s hold, refusing, so Seth bit him again.

At the sound of footsteps, Seth glanced up but didn’t release his bite. Nasrin stopped a few paces away and regarded them with calm wariness but no surprise. She must have followed them, must have heard, maybe seen, the whole fight.

“I can sedate him,” she offered.

At that, Seth growled so fiercely that he felt the vibration in his teeth. Raider shuddered against him. Seth’s cock, pressed against Raider’s ass, throbbed. It took every bit of his restraint to not grind against him.

Nasrin said, “Or not.”

Seth forced himself to release his bite. He switched his hold to grip Raider’s hair at his nape while he unhooked his legs. He kept that grip as Raider gathered himself up, kept it even as they both got to their feet. The sight of Raider’s cock tenting his teal silk pants had Seth’s dick throbbing. He ignored it as he pulled Raider to him, forcing Raider’s face against his shoulder. Raider’s hands came up to Seth’s chest, but they neither pushed nor grabbed.

Seth whispered in Raider’s ear, “You are going to stay right here with me. You are going to focus on me. You are going to trust me.”

Raider was still breathing hard. His fingers curled around the edges of Seth’s vest.

Still holding Raider against him, Seth ordered Nasrin, “Send someone to our room for our gear and weapons.”

Her gray eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“We’re leaving.”

“You seek to break your agreement with the empress?”

“The agreement doesn’t specify where we sleep. We cannot stay here.”

“You are guests of the empress.”

“Are we?” Seth challenged. “Because if we are, we’ll be allowed to leave. I will return every day to work with Julian in the library and continue preparing, as agreed, but we’ll be sleeping elsewhere.”

Nasrin’s eyes went to Raider. “And him?”

Still with his hand fisted in Raider’s hair, Seth said firmly, “He will not set foot inside this palace again.”

Seth prepared himself to fight her. It would change everything, complicate everything, but so be it. He was getting Raider out of here, one way or another.

But Nasrin nodded briskly and said, “Meet me in the entry hall.”