Free Courting Mortality (Brothers of Fate Book 1) by Allyson Lindt Page B

at least while he was monologuing, he wasn’t doing anything else. “What are you talking about?”
    “He always ignored the part about ruling our father’s kingdom. Dad can’t stay in charge forever. Eli always glosses over the bit that says the first son to discover his happiness will rule the kingdom, with his partner by his side. He ignores it, because he’s already decided he’s destined to lose his true love, if he ever finds her.”
    Loki tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her hard. He pressed close, every inch of his hard frame rubbing against her. His tongue forced its way into her mouth, as he held her captive. Her skin threatened to crawl away from both his touch and the power in it.
    He broke away and stepped back. “Meh. Not sure what the big deal is about you.” His gaze raked over her. “But Eli’s not as bright as he thinks he is, so to each his own. The thing is, he thinks confessing his love to you is going to kill you. That whole, ‘She’ll draw her last mortal breath’ thing. It doesn’t mean death. It means your immortality. I’m not guessing this. Not the way he did. I know. It’s happened before.
    “But this works in my favor—his belief of your impending doom. As long as you don’t believe he loves you, and he won’t admit it to himself, you’ll just die when I kill you. BAM!”
    The shouted word made her jump. Tears of fear pricked her eyelids. He was insane. A mad god held her captive in her own living room. Her heart threatened to hammer out of her chest. “If he doesn’t believe it, you don’t have to kill me.”
    Loki smirked and winked at her. “Nice try. Thing is, even if he won’t admit it, it’s true. He almost burst a blood vessel just watching me flirt with you, and sweetheart, you’re not close to worth my time. Watching you die…that’s going to devastate him. It’ll be centuries before he even looks at another woman the way he looks at you. And that’s plenty of time to make sure he’s not the heir.”
    She licked her lips. It was the only thing she could do, besides talk. “But he doesn’t love me. I promise.” It hurt to say, but she was certain. “And I’m never going to see him again.”
    “You’re right again about that second point.” He rested a palm on her bare chest, directly over her hammering heart. “But this time, he won’t be able to bring you back. I know how to stop that from happening.”
     
    *
     
    Eli sank back against his door, frustration pumping through him. He needed to keep his thoughts busy. He needed to not think about Marley. And he needed to find Loki. He could fly, but he didn’t have his brother’s ability to teleport. So he’d spent the last several hours calling everyone he knew—every place Loki might be—trying to track the fucker down.
    Nothing.
    He had to find him. Had to make sure Marley was safe. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he looked at it in an instant. The text from a blocked number made his heart sink and every inch of him ache in frustration and fury.
    You should have stayed away.
    No. Bile rose in his throat. It wasn’t real. The message was a joke.
    His toes twitched in his shoes. Except he couldn’t take that chance. He burst through the front door, flying toward Marley’s apartment for the second time that day. He reached her apartment within ten minutes, the longest of his existence. His heart sank when she didn’t answer his knocks. He tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
    He rushed into the apartment, and froze just a few steps in. Marley sat in an easy chair, bathrobe spilling open, empty prescription and vodka bottles on the table in front of her. No.
    He closed the distance between them without another thought, and pressed his fingers to her throat for a pulse.
    Her skin was cold. She wasn’t breathing. She didn’t have a heartbeat. He closed his eyes, and repeated the gesture that was all too familiar after the last week. Hands at the back of her neck to hold her head