Kiss of the Betrayer (A Bringer and the Bane Novel) by Boone Brux

suspicion.
    “Speak.”
    Rell swallowed hard and forced herself to hold his gaze. “I know you helped the Bringer escape.”
    He cocked his head to the side. “Not a proposal.” The velvety purr of his voice licked at her, reawakening her sensual need. “Is it to be blackmail then?”
    “No.” She shook her head slowly. “I care not that you helped him.” Her mind scrambled for a common thread to bind them. “I would have helped him myself if it would have foiled Sha-hera’s plans.”
    His face relaxed back to its inscrutable beauty. “I’m listening.”
    “The Bringer woman still lives.”
    Icarus went still. “Impossible.”
    “Not impossible. My sister has seen her.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know. She appeared dead when you—” She searched for a better description, something less accusatory about the time Icarus had carried Rhys Blackwell and his woman out of harm’s reach. “When I last saw her with the male Bringer.”
    Icarus paced along the edge of the pool as if contemplating her words. “You’re sure of this?”
    “Yes.” Rell dared a few steps toward him. “And there’s another.” He stopped pacing and looked at her. “Another full-blood. A man.”
    “Besides Rhys Blackwell?”
    She nodded. The silence in the cavern stretched, growing louder as they stared at each other across the green, bubbling water.
    “Why do you tell me this?”
    Why was she telling him this? What did she truly know about his reasons for helping the Bringer? Too late to retreat, she decided to follow her hunch. She relaxed her stance and locked her hands behind her back in hopes of appearing confident.
    “You want the throne and I wish to help you.”
    His bark of laughter ricocheted off the walls, causing Rell to jump.
    “You are most direct.”
    She shrugged, maintaining her air of confidence. “I am observant.”
    His smile faded. “Maybe too observant.”
    “Perhaps.” The threat was not lost on her. She shrugged again. “But not in this matter.” With slow, measured steps she sauntered toward him. “I can help you.”
    His eyes followed her. “At what cost?”
    She stopped a few feet from him. “There’s no cost when what we want is the same.” She took a step closer. “You seem to need a full-blood and I want to rid myself of one.”
    “Why?”
    Anger erupted, rolling through her before she could contain it. She stepped away, fisting her hands. “Because this is his fault.” She held out her arms, indicating her demon form. “He betrayed my family and stole my future.”
    “A woman scorned.” Icarus tilted his head, assessing her. “I think you loved him, yes?”
    She lifted her chin and lowered her arms, not wanting to admit how Luc’s actions had betrayed her trust. “I was naïve.”
    “And now?”
    “Now…I will have my revenge.”
    An expression Rell couldn’t identify passed across Icarus’s face. Sympathy? Understanding? Compassion? These attributes were as foreign to the Prince of the Shadow World as wings on pigs.
    She tensed as he glided toward her. His knuckles gently grazed her upper arm, admiringly, as if savoring the feel.
    “You’re different.” He grasped her arm and drew her toward him. “Not cold like the others.”
    Shivers of pleasure rippled across Rell’s skin. The iron velvet of Icarus’s body molded with hers and she was helpless to do more than stare into his eyes, watching as gold swirled to silver and back to gold. His gaze caressed her face, searching for something. He ran the back of his hand along her cheek like a blind man trying to identify a familiar object.
    “Touching you stirs…” He paused.
    “Stirs what?” she prodded, needing so much to hear his declaration of desire—his longing meant only for her.
    “Memories where I have none.” His words caressed her.
    She furrowed her brow, confused by his words. He lowered his hand back to her arm, his eyes refocusing to their penetrating stare.
    “We will work well together, I