“Shut up.” I tear my gaze back to Eraldon. That hint of softness is gone, his eyes hard as flint as he watches me approach.
“My pet.” He offers me his hand and leads me past Solano.
That pain beneath my ribs twists and turns into something sharper, as if I’m wounded and bleeding out.
“This is the beginning of a new Arin. With the end of the day king, his realm will follow. We will take it, make it our own. From there, we will fan out across the other realms and bring them our message of liberation.” He squeezes my hand tightly, his grip absolute.
Even now, my traitorous gaze falls back to Solano, to the day king who pleads with me that we are mates, that we are bound, that we are forever.
We aren’t. We can’t be.
“Now, my queen.” Eraldon turns to me, his hand going to the gems at my throat. “I will claim you, mark you, and mate you. Our children will rule this world, and you will forever be known as the true queen of all the realms. And more than that—” He pulls me closer, his lips grazing against my cheek. “You’ll be known asmine.”
A cheer rises from the seekers, their cries of approval like the turning of so many rusted hinges.
“Emma.” Solano strains toward me, and I feel him beating down the door I’ve slammed shut between us. “We are mated. We are mated!”
Eraldon places a gilded dagger in my hand and leads me to the throne. “My beautiful prize.” He runs his hands down my sides and grips my hips, his tongue darting to wet his lips.
My blood seems to freeze as he reaches for my skirt and begins to lift it.
“I’m afraid this won’t be gentle, my pet.” He spins me around and pushes me over the side of the throne, my face toward Solano’s. “But you don’t want it soft, do you? Not you, my proud queen.”
“I am yours. You are mine. We are bound.” Solano doesn’t blink, doesn’t look away from me as Eraldon lifts my skirt higher and grips the bare skin of my hips.
“Closer,” Eraldon barks.
Seekers swarm up and push Solano until he’s right in front of me, close enough to touch. I tighten my grip on the blade.
“Such a pretty picture, day king. A shame you’ll never get another taste of it.” Eraldon laughs low and deep as he leans over me and presses his lips to my neck. “Slit his throat after I claim you, my pet, get another taste of his royal blood. Pay him back for every injury, every harm he wreaked upon you.”
“I would never harm you, Emma. Never take anything from you that wasn’t given. Remember that promise? Remember the peach trees? I swore to you I wouldn’t take your body until I was in love with you. I held true to that oath, hewed so closely to it that it cut me. But I had to. For you. Please, Emma, remember me. I am your true mate. Fated and sealed. My life is yours.”
I can almost catch the sweet scent of peaches and see the sun shining in his hair. The gentle way he touched me, the kisses stolen under the flowering branches. His feral defending my life, his heated embrace, and the way he felt inside me.
“I remember,” I whisper. “I remember.” Tears well as I stare into my soulmate, into the truth. Even now, he seeks me out, still wants me at his side despite my darkness, despite the cursed blood in my veins. He isn’t the monster. I am.
Eraldon grips my hair in his fist, and I close my eyes as he readies himself at my entrance. “Watch closely, my lord, and listen. See how she’ll squeal for me.”
“Leave her!” Solano yells, his body shaking with rage.
Eraldon didn’t ask. Only took. Took me and filled me with nothing but lies and hatred. He’s going to break me, to ruin me with his seed and curse the realms with his dominion.
Solano, his voice strained and nearly broken, still holds onto that connection, that golden rope between us. “I love you, Emma.”
“It wasn’t enough. I’m sorry.” I blink as a tear falls, and then I turn and stab the dagger deeply into Eraldon’s side.
25
Solano
Eraldon roars and tosses Emma against the stone wall as if she’s nothing more than a doll. I hear something crack when she hits the floor. Seekers swarm her as she strikes out with her arms to try and keep them back.
“Emma!” I fight against the ones holding me, my arms burning from the iron and my heart hammering.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers down the bond.
I feel her fear, her loathing. It’s turned inward. But there’s something else as well, a darkness falling.
