The kiss was not a gentle thing; it was a landslide. Valan’s hand moved from her cheek to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in the silver silk of her hair as he pulled her flush against him. Serena felt the world outside the golden circle of the firelight vanish. The throbbing ache in her shoulder, the chilling memory of the demons, the damp cold of the lowland fields, it all dissolved in the heat of his mouth. Against her better judgment, against every internal warning she had ever cultivated, she leaned into him. Her arms wound around his neck, her fingers digging into the dark fabric of his tunic as she sought to anchor herself to the only solid thing in a world of shifting shadows.
Then, the silence of the night was shattered.
A frantic flapping of heavy wings tore through t
