“I love you.” I send the words of my heart down the bond and, with every bit of strength I have, I shove my blade between Eraldon’s ribs and twist.
He snarls and throws me back, my body colliding with a tree. I hear something snap, and my right wing feels as if it’s been ripped in two. When I hit the ground, I scream, the agony in my wing almost blacking out my vision. But my gaze is fixed on the sky, the crescent moon shining through the trees.
“Bring her,” Eraldon seethes.
Dozens of hands grab me and yank me up.
Another scream rips from me as my wing hangs limp at my back. The seekers shove me toward Eraldon then hold me as he pulls the bloody blade from his side.
“Did you think I’d fall for your little trick again?” He shakes his head and strides to me. “Pathetic.” He rears back and throws the blade.
“Maybe I just like making you mad.” I grit my teeth against the pain.
“I’m not mad, my pet.” He grips my chin hard. “Just disappointed.” He glances at my lips, then back to my eyes. “You felt nothing when I kissed you? Youfeelnothing? Is that true?”
“Not entirely true.” I spit in his face. “I feel loathing.”
He snarls and grips my throat, his cold hand squeezing hard. “I could snap your neck and be done with you. Ishould. I should’ve left you to die that day I took you from Solano.” He presses his mouth to my ear as I struggle to breathe. “You’re nothing but a changeling whore’s child with useless witch blood in your veins. You’re no one.” He loosens his hold but doesn’t let go. “I tried to make you something more than what you are.”
“You’re right. I’m a changeling with witch blood and the seeker curse. But I’m stronger than you. I always have been, no matter what form I took.”
“Stronger than me?” He laughs, genuine amusement flickering in his black eyes. “I could snap my fingers and turn the entire horde on you. There would be nothing left, not even that cutting tongue of yours.”
“Stronger than you because I’m whole. Because I don’t hunger for more. Always more. You want the realms at your feet. You want Arin in your palm. You will never be whole, Eraldon. Your evil has ensured it. Even if you enslave every last creature on the face of Arin, you would still seek more.” I have to keep talking, keep buying time for my people to retreat.
“I don’t need to enslave every creature, my pet. Right now, I’ll settle for you.” He lifts his wrist and slices it with his fangs.
“Don’t.” I try to back away, but the seekers hold me steady, the ache in my wing magnified by my struggle.
“Don’t?” He smears his blood across my lips. “I must feed my mate. After all, I need you strong for when I put my children in you. I’ll break you in on top of the day king’s body. How does that sound?”
“Get away from me.” I fight and claw, but I can’t move, can’t think of anything except the pain and fear. He’ll violate me, cloud my mind again, destroy my will. I won’t be able to come back from it. I barely survived the first time.
Solano’s voice tries to reach me, but I block it. I’m afraid I’ll call for help. It would only get him killed. I have to stay strong, to keep him safe in the day realm for as long as I can. I knew my blade wouldn’t be able to end Eraldon’s evil, but I could at least buy the Dayland warriors some time. But that time is almost up. My ploy is finished, just as I am.
Eraldon grins and holds my chin with his other hand. “Open for me, little queen. Drink me in. When I take your body on the cooling corpse of your lover, you’ll know who your true king is.”
Shoving his wrist against my mouth, he forces me to open.
I still fight, refusing to drink.
He releases my chin and reaches behind me to grip my injured wing.
I scream at the staggering torment, and he drops his blood into my open mouth. My knees go weak, my fight fading, and it feels as if the ground is shaking beneath me.
Sagging, I try to spit, to keep from swallowing even a single drop.
Eraldon doesn’t relent, his fingers finding the broken joint of my wing and stabbing into the break.
It hurts so badly I can’t breathe. The ground shakes harder, my will draining away.
“Swallow, my pet.” He digs his fingers in again.
I try one last time to spit him out. I can’t. I’m drowning. With a bored sigh, he releases my wing and grabs my upper arm. With a quick snap, he breaks it, and I scream again, tears already streaming down my cheeks.
“I’ll break all of them if I have to.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “Now drink.”
I falter. My body giving in as I swallow one time.
