“Fuck you.” It appeared I could speak and breathe, though I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t grab a blade and stab her either, unfortunately.
Vexxion!
Again, I couldn’t tell if he heard my cry. Since he didn’t respond, I’d have to handle this tenuous situation on my own.
“All that time, and you didn’t know I was sent to the fortress to kill you,” she said.
If I could keep her talking, someone might find us and intervene. Actually, who was I kidding? The fae here were more apt to laugh while she tortured me than help. Nullens would turn and scurry in the opposite direction. I’d made no friends here, but I’d avoided everyone on purpose. It hurt to watch friends die.
“You weren’t the only one sent to kill me,” I said.
“You’re speaking of Farnoll.” A frown knit her brow. “He was the first man my father wanted me to marry but I said no. Did you kill him too?”
“I’ve killed many, but Farnoll wasn’t among them.”
A shadow of fear crossed her face. “The controller did it.”
“He likes me alive.”
“Then he’s about to be disappointed.”
“You lit the fire that almost killed me,” I spat out.
“Yes, though you escaped the bindings and the room. Did you enjoy being tied? The fortress commander agreed to put us in the same residence after that. If someone hadn’t laid wards around your room, I would’ve finished what I started.” Her voice broke. “Maybe then, Selitta would still be alive.”
Ah, so shehadcared for her sister; when she denied it, she lied.
“She deserved what she got,” I said. Those who lost control often lost their focus along with it. One slip of her magic, and I could flit or reach Vexxion in my mind.
She exploded, blasting me with power that burned. Oh, how it burned as it seared across the exposed flesh on my face, neck, and hands. When she released her scorching fury, sucking it back inside her gaping maw, I hung against the wall, twitching, my body screaming in pain.
“How does that feel, Fury? That’s what he calls you, right?” she said, striding closer, tipping her head this way and that as she examined my face. “Aw, isn’t this sad? You’re blistering already. Would you like me to ask a healer for some cream along the way?”
Along the way where?
“Let me go.”
“That isn’t an option. I don’t want to, and I never give up my toys quickly.”
Where was a nasty dragon when you needed one?
She laid her hand on my shoulder and flitted, taking us to the top of the peak beyond the aerie.
I shivered as I stood beside her, my boots planted on the cracked, uneven ledge scattered with small rocks, a landscape scarred by time and the elements. Still unable to move, all I could do was breathe and analyze the location, seeking a way out of this trap.
To my left, a stand of scruffy evergreen trees clung to the soil, a boundary between the ledge and whatever lurked beyond. And on my right, steep, jagged cliffs plunged down forever, slicing this world off from the valley far below.
Bitter wind whipped across us with such rage that even the sun’s rays couldn’t seep beneath my leather tunic to reach my bones. Fear twisted my spine. How was I going to get out of this situation?
She sighed and a grimace rose on her face. “As much as I’d love to torture you for a very long time, my father was quite specific about what I could do with you other than brief play.” Lazily pulling a blade from the sheath on her side, she brandished it in my scorched face that throbbed and continued to burn as if it was still exposed to the open flame of her magic. “A little cut here and there, he said. Just enough to draw blood to feed them.”
“To feed fucking what?”
Her smile lifted, and I wondered how anyone back at the fortress had ever thought this woman was pretty. Deceit and malice oozed from her pores.
Her gaze darted to the trees before returning to me. “Soon, you’ll find out. You’ve drawn the attention of a rather peculiar group of people. They’re even more eager to be with you than me.”
My heart hammered against its cage while anxiety clawed across my skin. Heightened senses could save my life. I’d get my chance—somehow—and I’d take it. Then I’d kill Delaine, something I should’ve done the moment I realized she was here at the castle.
