Hello, human.
The voice was raspy and old and felt like it was covered in slime.
Her survival instinct went into overdrive. Every necessary memory or thought about self-defense, her role here, or Tarian’s plans pulled so far into her that they were lost to the void, even from her. Underneath her shield lay items he would already know, like her toy status, her human nature, and her hatred of him and fae. He’d expect that. On the surface of her mind were rambling thoughts that jumbled together, the picture of Eldric’s interpretation of a drooling human.
It was not wise for Tarianthiel to bring you here.
She didn’t respond, allowing her very real fear to color the crust of her mind and hiding her courage to face it way down deep. So deep she wondered if she’d be able to call it up again. It wasn’t just the hideousness of the creature who had sighted in on her, or its power, but its unnaturalness. Its imbalance, as the fae might say—its twisted, seething, magical-decomposing nature. She could feel, almostsee, the vile magic that poured from him and drifted into the atmosphere around him, searching as though for a host. As though for someone else to infect. When this creature was in the room, more than any other, it felt like dark slime threatened to dig into her pores and twist the fabric of her being.
Power pulsed from inside of her. Pulsed and grew, like a white-hot ball of light. It pushed at her confines, wanting to break free. Wanting to douse this whole room in scalding, cleansing magic.
It was then she noticed what was in the king’s hand, mostly hidden within the billowing robes. The diamond chalice.
It pulsed again, calling to her. Begging her to save it from the filthy touch of one so obviously corroded.
Can we leave?she asked Tarian as silently as she could. This time, there were no strange body movements, save for her pulse fluttering under her skin like a trapped animal.
He is too young to know what great sport your kind proves to be,the king continued, and his eyes gleamed. A tear of blood dripped from the corner of one.You scream and scream and are always so hopeful of being saved. But no one ever comes to your rescue. My favorite is when the hope runs out…right before the mind breaks.
No,Tarian said, his voice strained.We’re here for the duration. It’s okay, I never dance. I never chat. I chase anyoneaway who ventures near. They know this about me. The only trouble we might have is from the royalty, as you’ve seen.
As she was seeing right now, yeah.
Tarian jolted as though struck. His head jerked, just a fraction, like he was stopping himself from looking over at her.
Ignore me,she said as the king’s words made her defiance rise up. She might scream, but she would not break. For that thing up there on the dais, she wouldneverbreak. She’d stay alive long enough to kill him, even if she went down with him.
That white-hot beat pulsed inside her again and again, like a drumbeat begging her to act. To stand up and use what the gods had given her. To null the king’s magic while siphoning it, feeding it to Tarian, and taking the king down as a team.
…as a team…
The king’s disgusting voice sounded in her head.You’ve avoided my chambers twice now.When the time is right, there will not be a third.
(And that will mean your death, you leather-faced varmint. It’ll be the start of the fire.)
A Billy Joel song started to play on the surface of her brain, and for a fraction of a second, the king cocked his head in confusion. Then he was looking out over his court as he finally sat down.
The chalice is a team sport,she told Tarian, sighing in relief to be out of the king’s gaze.Both parties working together. A unit. Not you using me, or me nulling and acting alone, but two halves of a whole. I need you to magically get things done, and you need me to carry it out. A partnership.
Yes, I know that. You are making it very hard to ignore you, though. I can see your strain. What happened? Can I touch you?
Daisy leaned back, watching the king, making sure he didn’t look her way again.
Tarian pulled her against him, wrapping his arm around her defiantly. It was welcomed and comforting and a terrible idea. They didn’t want to provoke that bastard just yet.
It hadn’t clicked for me. We are a team, yes, but wehaveto be for the chalice’s magic to be most effective. We were always meant to be. I need to be on board with your decisions. You need to earn my trust. Given I can null you and kill you when you’re not looking, you need to trust me, as well.She looked over at him, drinking him in, feeling her heart move deep within her.We formed this bond before we knew everything the chalice could do. Before I knewIwas the chalice. We were always meant to do this together, Tarian. We were always meant to find each other, both hardened by our lives, unused to giving up, willing to do anything to protect that which we hold most dear. This makes us the most unlucky fuckers I’ve ever heard of, because this is really fucking awful, and I have a distinct feeling it is going to get a whole lot worse.
23
Daisy
The restof the royal family soon entered, but they didn’t get to use the dais. That, alone, held the king, which was very telling about how the family operated. The king called the shots, had a big fucking ego, and didn’t give up much control. He was the head of his operation. Cut off the head and the rest would fall.
So many thoughts dumped into her mind that she had a hard time choosing one to notice. That was the problem with learning to split conversations and focus on multiple threads of people’s thoughts at once—it opened her up to more avenues of information gathering and things got jumbled. She’d need to sit down and sort it all out later.
The queen was first to walk in, coming from the right and draped in another of the billowing dresses so many of the infected females wore. She didn’t have as much magical rot etching her face, with her cheekbones lined, her eyes circled, and her pinched face outlined. Her throne, significantly smaller than her mate’s, sat at the side of the dais on the right. The daughtercame in next, her gaze never drifting as far as Tarian. Daisy couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.
“Bad,” Tarian murmured, his words only for her ears. “It means she is incredibly angry and plotting her revenge. I’ve traveled this road a great many times.”
