When I didn’t move, her hand gently cupped my face, forcing me to look at her.
“So lost, so angry. Let me help you.”
Maybe it wasn’t that she couldn’t see it. Her eyes told me she did. She saw my bloodthirst. She saw my craving for violence and destruction.
She simply wasn’t scared. She accepted it with a grace I refused to give myself.
Atlas squirmed under me.
“Make her let me go.”
Cedar didn’t even look her way.
“I think we should probably let her go,” she murmured. “No matter how badly I love seeing you overtake her with your new strength.”
But I couldn’t. No matter how good her honey-coated words and soft caresses felt. The anger was too much, and I needed to let it out. I needed to sink my fangs into something.
I needed to storm back into the castle and take Aurelia away from her soon-to-be husband. And I wouldn’t stop until everyone’s heads were rolling at my feet. Especially his for daring to touch what was mine.
Cedar’s gaze softened.
“Sorry about this, love.”
Magic burst and sank deep into my skin. I tried to fight it, but when I removed my hands from Atlas to pull at my skin, my body felt lethargic. Panic rose in me so sharply, it made my head spin.
My now slow, almost nonexistent, heartbeat flipped in my chest.
“What are you doing?” My mouth struggled to force the words out, making them sound garbled, but she only shushed me and ran her hand down my hair.
“Just let go. I got you.”
I had no choice but to fall into her awaiting arms.
“I know where she’ll be…”
Cedar shushed me again.
“Just close your eyes. We will talk when you wake.”
The world started to fall away. I panicked, desperately trying to grasp at the edges of my consciousness and force it back to me.
The last time I felt this way, I was dying. But this time I wasn’t alone, so I tried to hold on to her gaze. It was warm, unmoving. It relaxed me.
“Since when can your magic knock us out?” Atlas asked with a hoarse voice.
Cedar gave me a smile, her hand running down my face as my eyes closed.
“What? You think I spend all my time in that hideous castle of yours twiddling my thumbs?”
The shocked gasp threatened to pull a smile from me, but I was already too far gone.
For the first time since my change, I fell into a deep sleep.
“Hm, this is unexpected. But you look good, I guess.”
My head twisted to the side to meet Max. He looked older, but not much. Like a preteen more than a child.
We were back in his cage, and he was still chained to the wall.
