My trembling hand reaches his cheek, resting softly against his face. “It’s just me.”
His eyes flicker, like a candle trying to lose its flame. He closes his eyes, snapping his gaze away from me as his jaw tightens.
“It’s me. Serene,” I whisper, closing in the distance between us. “You are okay. I’m right here.”
A deep grunt escapes his lips as if he is in pain, trying to fight the very thing that is keeping him from returning to me.
“Wake up.” My nose brushes against his, feeling a warm drop tickle down my neck and without a care I move forward, knowing the dagger could go deeper. “I need you to wake up.”
His eyes meet mine, and I watch the fire inside them burn out.
“Serene?” The anger vanishes, and he drops the dagger, letting the blade hit against the steel flooring. His eyes glance to the tiny puncture wound against my neck and his eyes water, a weakness I have never seen before in him. “I did this?”
“No.” I grab both of his cheeks gently. “It wasn’t you.”
He shakes his head, his hair falling around his cheeks. “That’s where you are wrong.” He grabs my hands, holding them tightly against his face. “That is me.”
Chapter 18
“The blue fame of the Darklands vanished the year the first battle took place in Azure. It held the darkest magic in Edrelas. The last Queen that ruled the Darklands was consumed by the flame and her son now bears the marking of the cruelest curse for living. No monster should have been created.” - Book of Azure
“YOU NEED TO STAY AS far away from me as possible!” Koen’s voice cracks.
He springs from the ground with an almost feral urgency. “I should have never brought you into this.”
“What are you even talking about?” My eyes flicker around his face. Men walk past us, their brows narrowing in as they watch him.
As they watchus.
His hand snatches the dagger with a fierce grip, and he thrusts it into the holder at his waist. With trembling hands, he drags them over his face before taking a step away from me, a wild fire blazing in his eyes as he takes one more look at me before heading out towards the pit.
“Koen!” I holler, running after him.
He halts, holding up his hand. “I’m serious, Serene, you are right about bringing Florian into this. I was wrong last night,I can’t protect you. We need him with us.”
My chest tightens as lines form between my brows. “What has happened? Just last night everything was fine. What aren’t you telling me?”
“I thought I had control of it.” He intensely rubs his fingers over his chin before pulling his loose strands up into a bun. “I need to get to the archives, and yes you will come with me for the answers you seek, but until then, stayas far away from me as you can.”
He shifts, turning his body away from me, and grabs some food off of the wooden table. Then, he vanishes through the door to head to the pit in a blink of an eye.
I pause mid step before letting my foot hit the chillness of the ground. My heart tightens, wondering what this feeling is that is turning my stomach into knots. I wanted him dead.
Iwanthim dead.
However, in that moment I felt something I haven’t felt before with him… and I’m terrified to even dare explore that feeling. But within those eyes, I had a glimpse inside the storm brewing within him,fighting himself,pleading out to be free. He had no control. But even in the midst of losing control of himself…he couldn’t kill me.I shutter, sucking in a breath as my hand grips my chest. Through my nose, I exhale, and close my eyes. Flashes of the darkness I saw within him in that moment replay through my mind.
I always feared he might carry a darkness inside him, a wicked part hiding deep within, and this might just have shown me what I have been feeling is right.
But I've never been scared of the dark.
MY HEEL TAPS AGAINST THE cobblestone floor as I gaze out to the midnight-black bridge that will take me to the pit. Once I arrive, all the eyes of the ninety-nine men will be fixed upon me. And Idread it. My lips tug between my teeth, contemplating just staying in the dormitory all day and withering away. But Kaine warned me, they will pick off the weak and I already have a target on my back for being a woman. I don’t need any more attention on me.
“Fine.” My leg bounces as I stare up at the cracked ceiling of the tunnel. “Just fine.I’ll go out there.” I’m unsure who I am really talking to, but the words just frustratingly leave my lips.
I hesitantly take a step out, peering at the cloudy skies as soft thunder roars in the distance. Well, at least it isn’t a sunny day today, so my skin can heal from being baked in it yesterday. No dragons today, but their prints are still visible in the gravel. My heart ticks, feeling that same rage as I felt when I saw them chained up.
That Queen is wicked.
