“Altair is never going to accept you.” Draven laughs, words fumbling in a way that has my heart racing. He never stutters a word, hasn’t once tripped over a syllable since I’ve known him. “Did your father even tell you the value of that wand? The sheer power? I doubt he’d trust you with all that. You could bow to nobody. Why be loyal to some asshole who never even wanted you?”
“I’m his son,” Kasper whispers so softly it’s like a confession at an altar, like something so sinful the gods would not bear to hear of it.
“Hisbastardson, you mean.” Draven grins at the tremble in Kasper’s jaw. Why is he goading this prick?
Kasper growls, “And you are just the rebel king’s son. Prince of nothing.”
“Still worth ten thousand of you,” Draven mocks, and Kasper’s jaw clenches.
I shoot him a warning look.
But he only smirks, looking over his shoulder at Kasper. “Even though Altair hates me … killing the son of his harshest rival and greatest potential ally seems like a good way to unite the druids against him. I bet you weren’t even supposed to injure me, but you got jumpy, sloppy, didn’t you, Kasper?” He parcels Kasper with that heated glare, and the tension in the room strings taut. “In fact, if Altair wants Rune to force me into compliance as well as her mother … then I’d need to be alive for that. I’d bet that Kasper here isn’t allowed to kill me. This is a bluff.”
Draven snarls and I glimpse the ring on his finger glowing. When my eyes snap back, Kasper knows something’s wrong and the panic is written all over his face. Draven’s right, Kasper’s probably not supposed to kill him, but I can see something myprince doesn’t, the wild look of a man who will do anything to survive who is now backed into a corner.WAIT.Draven strikes out with his hidden sword, just as Kasper startles hard, hand jolting, slitting Draven’s throat, blood spilling all over the floor.
“NO!” I scream.
The box spins out across the floor as Kasper’s fingertips are sliced from his hand, cauterized by Draven’s sword, and I lunge forward, catching Draven as he collapses. Kasper screeches in pain, clutching his hand. He dives for the wand, scooping it up along with his fingertips, shoving it all back into the box.
HELP!The scream rents from my mind like a beacon and the door flies open.
“Rune, what’s going on—” Felix stumbles in, Ember and Scorpius behind him.
“Get the guards!” I shout at Ember who freezes up, terrified.
No sooner does Scorpius glance between Draven and the blood running along Kasper’s arm than he rushes forward, tackling him, the cards forgotten.
Felix summons the Fool, for fearlessness, and his spine straightens as he joins Scorpius in trying to detain Kasper.
Everything’s a blur. All I see is Draven’s blood. Too much blood.
I drag Draven toward my tarot cards as he clutches his neck, gasping.
“It’s going to be okay, Draven.” Raw panic coats my voice and I force it back, needing for him to stay as calm as possible. “You’re not leaving me right after a proposal, right?”
His eyes finally focus, brows lifting ever so slightly, and I can hear his voice in my mind, though it sounds quiet, exhausted.You’re not … making jokes right now … are you?
Whatever keeps you with me.
With shaking hands, I summon the World and then the Empress. Fuck. I’ve never healed more than a split lip, and his throat’s open nearly ear to ear.
Breathe, Rune. He needs you.It’s not my voice that comes to me in this dark hour, but my father’s. My heart rate slows enough to think and I flick the Four of Swords to the forefront, remembering that it aids healing. I’ve never used three at once before, but I’d rather drain every ounce of energy I have than let him die.
The cards begin to work to heal him, but it’s slow, and I don’t know if it’ll save him.
Across the room, Kasper punches Felix hard enough to lay him out on the ground, finally snapping Ember out of her frozen trance and she crouches over him, protecting him, tears running down her face. Kasper uses his High Priestess card, always dodging Scorpius’s blows, one step constantly ahead.
I keep channeling into my cards, desperate as Draven’s skin slowly begins to stitch back together. His eyes blink heavily, and I growl at him, “Draven, don’t you dare die on me.”
Rune … I … I love…
“Thenstay.” I don’t care if he doesn’t think he has a choice, if the magic isn’t enough. I’ve seen what a strong will can do, and I demand all of it in this moment. His eyes water, his air scarce, but he fights to hold on.
Kasper strikes Scorpius with his knife, leaving a jagged slash across his face, nearly taking out an eye. A hidden blade shoots out of Scorpius’s cuff, but Kasper deflects it, headbutting him, the two slamming into a bookshelf and toppling it over the door. Kasper raises the knife …
And Ember leaps forward from where she was helping Felix get to his feet, grabbing Kasper’s arm to stop the killing blow. He shoves back, not even looking at who has him, and throwsher up against the wall with visceral strength. His knife comes arching down.
Felix shoves her out of harm’s way. The knife plunges into his sternum instead of hers. A gasp bursts out of me. Felix chokes, grasping the blade handle as Kasper takes a step back, hands shaking.
