“Once the crown is mine, no one will be able to stop us,” she said. “Even now, I’m eroding the foundations of the other throne. Soon, both kingdoms will fall into our hands like sheep.”
Claudio’s jaw tightened, and he nodded once, a grim determination etched into his features. Then the wind shifted. His head tilted, and my stomach turned to ice as his nostrils flared.
“Speaking of sheep, one of yours has grown too curious for her own good.”
Arabesque whirled. For a heartbeat, I prayed the pines might swallow me whole. Then those poison-green eyes locked onto mine. For a moment, the world stopped. The faint rustle of leaves and the distant chirp of birds all faded into nothingness. All that remained was her gaze, cold and unyielding, and the slow, cruel curve of her lips.
I was doomed.
“Darling Serafina.” Arabesque’s smile showed too many teeth. “Enjoying yourself, I trust?”
My legs refused to obey, and I imagined roots spearing through my worn soles, anchoring me to the ground. I was trapped, caught in a snare of my own curiosity and bad luck.
Arabesque’s expression shifted, her rage igniting like a firestorm, and I knew, Iknew, this would be worse than anything she’d done before.
She raised her hands, her fingers curling as though grasping an invisible thread, and the air turned as thick and cloying as congealed blood. My vision frayed at the edges, colors leaching away until only the green of her eyes remained. Ithurt, this theft, in a place deeper than marrow. Like someone had hooked fingers under my sternum and begun unstitching my soul.
“Curiosity is not wise for you to cultivate, Serafina,” Arabesque crooned. “It will only ever end in tears for you.”
My knees turned to liquid. My magic surged toward the glass vial she held, ragged ribbons of vivid silver tarnishing as it mingled with her Dark power. I tried to scream, to beg, but my lungs had turned to lead. All I could manage was a whispered, “Please.”
“How much can you take before she breaks?” Claudio asked.
“Oh, I’ve mapped her limitsexquisitely.” Arabesque’s voice came from everywhere and nowhere. “Down to the last drop.”
The cold seeped into me, a prickling sensation that started at my fingertips and spread over my skin. I gasped, the sound strangled and weak, as her power pressed down on me.
“You’re nothing, Serafina,” Arabesque hissed, her voice echoing in my ears like a death knell. “Nothing but a vessel for my use. Do you understand?”
I couldn’t answer. My tongue felt heavy, my thoughts sluggish as the siphoning continued. My fingers spasmed against needle fall as something inside me tore free with a sound like wet paper ripping. Above me, the clouds merged into one all-consuming white, and only then did she stop.
“You serve me so well, stepdaughter, and you will serve me well in another way soon enough.”
I wanted to scream, but my lips wouldn’t move. All I could do was lie there in a crumpled heap.
“Claudio?” Her tone turned casual, as if she were calling for a servant to fetch her tea. “Teach her the meaning of pain.”
His eyes were cold, and his feral grin had teeth too white, too sharp. As his eyes burned bright with wolf-light, he crouched downbeside me, his movements smooth and unhurried, like a cat playing with its prey. The scent of him, musky and wild, filled my nostrils, making my stomach churn.
“Well, well,” he purred in a low taunt. “Look at this little dove with broken wings.”
I flinched as he reached out, his fingers brushing against my cheek. Light as it was, his touch made my skin crawl.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, his grin widening. “I’ll make it quick. Playing with weak prey doesn’t amuse me.”
My breath came in short, panicked gasps, and I braced myself mentally. I couldn’t even curl my body into a protective ball. I tried to lift my head, but failed. Even blinking took effort, my eyelids dragging across my burning eyes.
Don’t scream, I told myself.It only makes them hurt you more.
The rogue’s calloused fingers tilted my chin upward.
“Look at those pretty eyes,” he marveled. “Like a cornered doe. Makes a man hungry.”
“Teach her without soiling her,” Arabesque commanded. “She needs to be pure for what’s ahead.”
“Seems it’s your lucky day, little dove.” He grinned as his hand fisted in my hair, wrenching me upright. “Stay awake and count.”
One. The back of his hand cracked against my bottom lip, a percussivesmackthat reverberated through my skull. Bile rose in my throat as the pine trees spun.
