And I was right.
He gripped the back of my head, and for a moment, held on. I didn’t let myself think about that either, or why. I kept drinking, feeling the coldness retreating first from my fingers and then my legs.
Kolis snarled, jerking my head back. “You bit me,” he sputtered, his eyes wide. “You actually bit me.”
The essence thrummed more intensely as he continued to bend my neck back. The hand I had on his shoulder started to vibrate as my veins turned icy.
“I can’t believe you did that.”
I laughed, and the sound was full of shadows and ruin as the essence of death flowed from my palm and slammed into Kolis.
There was a flicker of surprise in his face, and then he flew backward, the veins in his chest and shoulders lit up with eather as he smashed into a pillar. The stone cracked and gave way, both he and the column collapsing into the shadows of the alcove.
I didn’t give myself time to celebrate. Kolis wouldn’t stay down for long, and what I had gained by feeding on him had been spent by using the eather. I had seconds, if that.
I rolled over and dragged myself to my knees. I needed a weapon. Something. Anything. My gaze swung around the space and landed on Attes and the blade still strapped to his chest.
Pushing to my feet, I forced one foot in front of the other as I swiped my hand over my mouth as if to wipe away the sweet taste of his blood. It wasn’t bad, but having the taste of Kolis’s blood in my mouth made me want to vomit as I stumbled across the chamber, each breath coming in short, shallow pants. Dropping to Attes’s side, I reached for the hilt of the dagger and then stopped, my hand hovering just above the gaping wound in his chest. Good gods, I could see the floor beneath the mess of muscle and bone. Eather warmed my palms. The urge to heal him hit hard. My fingers tingled with the need as my eyes darted to his too-pale face and the stark, jagged scar slicing through his brow and the bridge of his nose.
A thunderous roar rattled me to the bones as chunks of stone flew out from the alcove, smashing into the wall. I clenched my jaw as I dragged my gaze from Attes.
I couldn’t.
I can’t.
“I’m sorry,”I whispered, grasping the iron hilt of the dagger and slipping it free as the hair along the nape of my neck rose.
“That was incredibly foolish,so’lis.”
Gritting my teeth, I shifted my weight to one knee but didn’t rise. Conserving my energy, I waited.
I can handle this.
“You didn’t have to make this difficult,” he said, his voice drawing closer. “You didn’t have to choose to make this awful for yourself.”
Choose to make this awful? As if what he’d done wasn’t already terrible? He was out of his mind.
“And now?” His steps slowed. “Now, I’m angry.” The air stirred around me. “And that is not—”
The moment I felt the graze of his fingertips in my hair, I leaned back on the knee supporting me and kicked out with everything I had, hitting him in the shin, just below the kneecap.
Bone cracked, and he went down on the other knee, shouting in pain as I twisted, aiming straight for his face.
Kolis’s hand snapped out, catching my wrist. “I think you broke my leg,” he bit out. “Ouch.”
“Too bad I didn’t break your face,” I grunted.
The tightened corners of his mouth loosened. “What?”
I swung my left arm, catching him in the nose with my fist. Blood spurted as he released me, rearing back.
“Fuck,” he rasped.
“I just broke your nose.” Standing, I swayed as a wave of dizziness washed over me. “Asshole.”
His head snapped up, eyes burning like red coals as he dragged the back of his hand over his mouth. There was an uneven bump in his nose that hadn’t been there before. “You are…”
“A stunning, murderous creature?” I gasped, ignoring how the walls seemed to warp.
