Breathless Magic by Rachel Higginson Page B

than a little bit unstable. I was a hot mess.
    “I’m fine,” I told Kiran instead.
    He shook his head, indicating he didn’t believe me. “You
look… brighter,” he murmured and then captured my mouth with his.
    My hands dropped to my side, useless and weak. He devoured
me in that moment, while the battle raged and screamed around us. Kiran took my
mouth hungrily, claiming me… possessing me in the heat of so much destruction
and uncertainty. And I was helpless to stop him. I let him consume me, drinking
in the fiery electrons that sizzled and snapped with the current of my high
voltage electricity. I was a live wire, and Kiran was the only conductor that
could ground me.
    He took the excess Magic through the kiss, drawing it into
his body with every stuttering breath, every hot connection of our tongues,
every sweet press of our lips. He balanced me out and made the Magic manageable
again. We shared the   crushing power
then, equalized it between us.
    He pulled back and I could see exactly what he meant by
“brighter.” His turquoise eyes glittered in the hazy room, his already tanned
skin glowed golden and perfect. His Magic shimmered in a glaze of navy blue
aura all around his body and his lips were bright red from our recent kiss.
    God, I wanted this man.
    “What is this?” Kiran asked me in a rasping voice.
    “The Oracle,” I smiled sweetly at him.
    “You prophesied?” he demanded, some of the awe and wonder
replaced with concern.
    “I did.”
    Kiran glanced around the room, assessed what was left of the
battle and when his eyes came back to mine they were decidedly mischievous.
“I’m going to get you alone by tonight.”
    “And why’s that?” My smile wobbled and my stomach tumbled
upside down.
    “I have a question about the future,” he told me with a playful
frown. “I’m very uncertain about something and I’ll need your expert opinion.”
    “Is that so?” I laughed.
    “Very.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head and
then grabbed my hand so he could lead me from the room.
    It was time to escape.
    “Titus?” I asked once we neared the door.
    Kiran looked around the room but we were the last ones left
and not every enemy remaining here was defeated. He pushed me into the hall and
locked the double brass doors behind us with Magic. The men on the other side
started banging on it immediately, but they were effectively locked in for now.
    “We’ll have to grab him,” Kiran decided. Sebastian and
Avalon disappeared around the corner. “Let your brother know.”
    I was just about to send Avalon the message when the
corridor flooded with more of Terletov’s men, including the man himself. They
all held handguns with bullets that I knew from experience would knock even us
out. We wouldn’t stay permanently unconscious like other Immortals but we would
be out long enough for them to have a serious advantage.
    And I couldn’t risk that with the babies.
    Kiran felt the same way, I could sense the frustrated
resolve in his Magic. We both put our hands in the air with the universal sign
of surrender and kept our backs to the doors behind us.
    “Were you just leaving?” Terletov asked purposefully
ignorant, his Russian accent thick and heavy over his consonants. His breath
came out in short pants and he swiped at spittle along his bottom lip. He did
not look well. His face was flushed at the same time it seemed to tighten
across his face. He seemed more skeletal than man in this light and I pictured
him as a distorted version of the Grim Reaper with a scythe and hood.
    “We were,” Kiran answered politely.
    “But won’t you stay awhile,” Terletov pressed. He stepped to
the side and waved his hands for us to walk.
    Without another prompt we moved forward. Kiran and I stayed
close together, letting our shoulders bump and knock with every step. I was
glad he was with me. We would get out of this mess easily as long as we had
each other.
    Terletov’s men stayed on either side