“Don’t touch me,” I growl.
Through the haze of confusion and terror and whatever this feeling of submersion around my mind is, my magic writhes furiously.My magic. I don’t have to hide it anymore. I know how to use it, and I don’t need control over my body to call it up and hurt him when he’s this close. He tilts his head to the side, his smile growing wider as if he’s finally been given everythinghe wants. My magic quickly heeds my call, filling my palms with bright light. I blast it into him, his body flying back and smacking into the wall before he falls down on his knees. My heart beats fast and hard, and I keep my grip on my power as I try once more to move. But it’s as if I am nothing more than a rooted tree. Xander rushes around me, his sword drawn as his eyes briefly meet mine before they move to the king.
“I’m fine,” King Dolian growls, pushing Xander away before coming up to stand. “You willneveruse your magic on me again. In fact, you willonlyuse your magic whenItell you to. Is that understood?”
My mind is drowning again, even as I try to fight against his demand. I picture Nox standing at my side, squeezing my hand tightly. Reminding me that I am not the same woman he found in that tower. I’ve changed—grown into something stronger. Into a version of myself that will never tolerate the abuse doled out by this monstereveragain. “Fuck you.”
I expect it, but it still stings my cheek when he backhands me. My vision blurs as tears form, the taste of blood filling my mouth. I reach for my magic—ready to hit him again, to hit him as many times as it takes to kill him. To call even the shadows up—as I should have done the first time. But there is nothing except a feeling of emptiness where my power should be.No. No. No.
“I see that spending time with thatfilthyprince has changed you, but it’s no matter. I’ll get you back to how you were,” he says calmly, his hand once more wrapping around mine. He kisses the ring on my finger, his eyes pinned to mine as he does. “No, you will be even better than before because now you aretrulymine to command. Can you sense it? The power my words hold over you? Can you feel the way your body responds to them? How you respond tome?”
I can, and I’ve never been more terrified in my life. “You can’t do this,” I beg hoarsely.
“Oh, Darling, I can dowhateverI want. And now,” he pauses, interlacing our fingers despite my inability to move my own. Despite how my stomach revolts and how I’m screaming in my mind to stop, stop,stop. “Now I can makeyoudo whatever I want as well.”
This time, the tears that drip downarein response to the lethal fear that is poisoning my very blood. My uncle drags his thumb up my cheek, collecting the wetness there and then bringing it to his lips, smearing my tears over them as he smiles.
“Come, I have something to show you.” My head wobbles from the cresting of his command within me while my feet move, despite my internal protests. He takes me to the window, and when I peer out, expecting to see the castle garden or perhaps the lake or wildflowers visible from my tower, I’m instead met with a view of the ocean, a large ship bobbing in the water where it’s anchored at the dock. My lips part as I drag in a breath, my eyes flitting over the tan sandy beach and small green shrubs that dot its border before the Spell.
Swallowing, I blink through the lingering tears and ask, “Where are we?”
“I thought we might spend some time together before Iofficiallyintroduce you to the court.” Gripping my chin, his smooth fingers sliding along my cheek, he turns my head to face him. “We are somewhereno onewill know where to look.”
The insinuation pummels me as if it were his fists, and he smiles at the panic that drains the blood from my face.
“Welcome home,my betrothed.”
Epilogue
The wind whips throughmy hair, wild strands pulling on the sensitive part of my scalp and making my teeth grit together from the force of it. I squeeze my legs tighter around the small divot on the back of the dragon, Lan, that my brother and I ride on, that movement making me grimace too.Fuck, how farhadI fallen from the ship? I bring my fingers to my head, checking for blood and thankfully finding that my healing abilities have finally sealed the wound.
“On another one of yourmissions?” Navin shouts from in front of me, the wind just barely carrying his voice past me. His black hair snaps at my face, and I swat it out of the way with an exasperated sigh.
“You could say that.” I feel more than hear his responding chuckle, his shoulders shaking with it.
“With all the secrets you hold, it’s a wonder Lan here can carry your weight.” He trails his hand over his dragon, the dark blue iridescent scales shimmering under the sun as Lan tips hiswings forward a small degree and we glide to a lower altitude. Navin’s shoulders shake again.
“What?” I yell, kicking him in the boot.
“Lan finds you amusing!” Regardless of the fact that the beast we fly on comes from the savage Nila line—dragons of varying shades of blue with leaf-shaped scales—all it takes is a bit of food and all of your attention, and Lan will become as docile as a pup. His coltish energy matches that of his rider, so I suppose it makes sense that they’ve bonded.
“You can tellLanthat he is nothing more than an overgrown rat.” The dragon growls as Navin hunches, the sound reverberating down his massive body as it rattles my bones.
“He didn’t like that,” Navin yells. I smirk, my grip tightening on the leather strap that wraps around the beast’s neck.
Mymission, as my brother had called it, was supposed to be a quick endeavor. I had snuck onto the ship, intent on questioning the male I had been tailing for a few days before slicing a blade across his throat and tossing him into the sea. Yet my interrogation had been ruined by the siren attack, and with none of the males in their right mind to steer the ship, it had veered too close to the jagged rocks lining the seafloor off the coast. With the hull shredded, the ship began to sink as I scrambled towards its deck. Unfortunately, in my desperation to get there, my attention had been diverted and I must have been hit with falling debris as the ship tipped. While I’m grateful to be alive, to now owe a life debt to a siren sets my teeth on edge.
“What did Father want?” I shout to Navin as I banish the thoughts of the ruby-haired siren from my mind.
“Apparently, you were absent from a mandatory teatime with the queen consort’s ladies.”
I groan, his shoulders shaking again as he laughs at my expense. I had completely forgotten about fuckingteawith my mother.
My life as the royal princess of the Fae Kingdom was shrouded in secret. Both by design of the Crown and because of thealternativelifestyle I had chosen for myself.
By day, everyone assumes that Princess Myla Ryuu is nothing but a servant to her status. As is custom for our kingdom, nearly all of my face is shrouded by an opaque veil most of the time, only my onyx eyes left uncovered. With the exception of my mother, father, brother, and a handful of servants, no one knows what I truly look like. To the kingdom, I am but a precious jewel to be guarded until I wed. Only then can my face be revealed. My value is whittled down to nothing more than what I can provide between my legs to whichever suitor my father deemsworthy.
By night, however, I trade in my colorful, tailored gowns and veil and, instead, don my preferred outfit of all black. With weapons sheathed on my thighs and hidden in compartments at my ribs, I am what the sinister shadows of Khargis have come to both revere and fear. While my father does not rule with an iron fist, neither does he provide adequate provisions to those in the kingdom who need it most. He revels in his status, keeping only to the upper crust of society while his lower-level subjects are left to fend for themselves—unless they slight the Crown. Only then do they gain his attention, and it’s not the kind of notice anyone would want, as it usually ends with a trip to the dragon fields. No one returns from there.
