Garith chuckled, covering his fear with weak amusement. “Saying goodbye already, granddaughter?” He nudged me, shifting the blade, but I held my pain inside. “Pathetic.” He ripped the blade from my shoulder and pulled me away from the edge of the bubble, causing me to stumble. “I think this will be a better position. I want to see both of your faces.” Garith swung around the front of me and slammed the knife into my stomach. He hooked his arm around my shoulder and pulled me back, close to the edge of the shield. “Yes, this is perfect. I can see both of your faces.” He chuckled as he leaned in and sniffed me. “I will say…you surprised me, Amy. You changed your scent so fully, I would have only assumed you were an Omega if I had never seen your face before.”
Rowan hit the shield, pulling both of our attentions back to him. I stared at my mate, and something clicked inside of me. I don’t know what it was, but I felt it. “Let her go.”
Garith tsked him. “Now, why would I do that?” He grabbed my face as he twisted the knife. “We already know she is dead. She has been stabbed too many times with the knife. Even if you wanted to save her, you can’t.” Garith’s face was triumphant.
Rowan chuckled darkly. “If she dies…so does everyone here.”
Garith pulled his arm away from me. “I still get what I want.” He shrugged as his hand slid the knife from my stomach. “You will be too shattered to lead, and the brotherhood will ensure my son takes his rightful place as king.”
Rowan opened his mouth to say something, but Nix shoved at the barrier between us. I turned to her, and I froze.Nix?She looked rabid. Her mouth was dripping with drool, and her eyes were…red. Gone was the golden hue I was used to.What’s wrong?
Erubus told us, I just didn’t understand until now. Her eyes met mine, and I saw something new there. Power unlike any I had seen before.Lycan’s can always shift Amy.Her face wasmoving, her snout growing smaller. I watched with confusion as she pushed past me.
I felt my skin ripple as she pushed me back. Rowan growled so loud, everyone turned to him. They thought he was freaking out because Garith had raised the knife to plunge directly into my heart. He watched my mate’s face greedily as he moved closer to the bubble. “I’m doing her a favour. You know that, right? A final gift to my very own granddaughter. To save her from the suffering of a slow and painful death from silver poisoning.”
“If you lay one finger on her, I swear to the Goddess, you won’t be found for years to come.”
Garith seemed to freeze. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I will take you, and chain you somewhere dark, and cold. I will feed you enough to keep you alive, but I will cut your fucking tongue out so you can’t whisper your fucking magic to anyone. There will be no one to save you, not even your fucking whore of a daughter.” Rowan spun, and his hand shot out, catching Verity by the throat.
Her hand trembled around the silver blade, but Rowan squeezed until she dropped it. Her hands scrambled for purchase around his fingers. “Rowan, please.” She begged.
“While everyone is distracted, my love, cast the spell for concealment.” My eyes darted to the side where I could hear my grandmother’s voice. I saw Garith shake his head, as if he heard a fly near his ear. “Hurry before my spell breaks in here. Conceal what Nix is doing, project your hurt body before Nix starts to shift.” Garith shook his head. “Now, Amy!”
“Ib cor nit sha plugh corfa.” The spell settled around my shoulders as I felt the first joint crack.
“Stay silent, little one. They see what you want them to see, but if you make a noise, the spell will shatter.” With a soft kiss, she was gone.
Garith turned to me, and I watched as he checked all around me. “What are you playing at, girl?” His voice was low, but I stayed silent, biting through my flesh and swallowing the blood that filled my mouth.
“Father!” Verity panicked as her face turned bright red. Rowan was allowing the tiniest bit of air into her lungs, allowing her to beg. Keeping the attention from me.
“You can kill her if you want; it won’t save your mate.” Garith sneered. “She means nothing to me. Just another disappointment, and like I said, Amy is already dead.” He chuckled as he looked me over once more before turning back to face Rowan. “I’m actually saving everyone the pain of watching her wither away.” He grinned as Verity paled.
“Father!” She clawed at Rowan’s hands. “You can’t mean that.” He snorted. “I’m your daughter.”
“Of course I mean it!” He went to grab me, but I shifted back, afraid of what he would feel. “She is my granddaughter…if I can kill her, why would you think that your death matters to me?”
“But I follow you.” She cried. “I did everything you asked of me.”
“And yet you failed every fucking test I gave you. Your sisters had more fucking potential, and they weren’t even mine.” Garith shook his head in disgust. Then he turned back to me and waved me closer. “Come here willingly, or I will make it worse for you.” I rolled my eyes but stepped beside him. I watched as he raised the knife to my heart and placed the tip there, turning back to Rowan with a smirk. “If I pushed even a little, she would be at peace.” Rowan growled, but that just made him grin more and press the knife harder into my skin, earning a drip of blood.
“I will kill her.” Rowan looked a little crazed as he watched the blood bloom on my chest.
“Do it. And I will cut the heart of your beloved before this shield fails.” Garith pressed harder into my chest, but Nix wasstretching. Something shifted, my eyes sharpened, my nose tingled with the scent of blood, everything was different.
“Do it.” I whispered to Rowan.
His eyes met mine, and I pressed him to understand. His eye color flickered between stormy gray and the ice blue of Erubus. “Amy…”
Garith turned to me with a grin. “You want to die?”
I shrugged. “You said it yourself. I’m already dead.” I turned my head towards him. “At least this way I get to watch Verity die.” I grinned as he snarled at me.
Garith whirled as Rowan tightened his hand, and Verity started to choke. “Are you really going to fucking push me right now? I have her heart in my fucking hands right now, Rowan.”
Rowan glanced at me, and I nodded. “Do it.”
