“You forget yourself,” he spits.
Then Dominik rips at the energy around him, prying the translucent grip from his throat. Kassandra cries out, grabbing her head. She collapses to the ground just as Dominik lands on two feet.
Briar yanks me up and away.
“Wait—”
“This is between the High Fae,” she whispers. “We are forbidden to interfere.”
As Dominik strides to his crumpled sibling, he swallows up all the energy in the room. The air fills with the sound of chimes, wind ripping at the curtains. Dishware rattles across the table before crashing against the tile.
The heir flips Kassandra onto her stomach, her cheek against the floor. Tears and snot slide down her face, fear sparking in her eyes.
Abuse is a well-known play to me, one I was forced as a child to watch my parents enact. No, I refuse now, as an adult, even if the actors are High Fae this time.
“Wait!” Wrestling from Briar’s grip, I lunge forward. The heirwhips his head around like a snake about to strike. “Please, let me…get the dessert.”
Dominik blinks. “I have dessert in my hands right now.”
My stomach sours. “Well, I could—”
My head jerks to the side, my body dropping. I didn’t see the smack coming; it was done with an unseen hand. Blinking, cheek stinging, I stare at the silver-haired fae sprawled across the floor from me. A tear drips off her nose.
“Please,” she whispers. “Dom—”
Kassandra screams as both arms jerk behind her back, Dominik bending over her.
“You will master root magic like every other fae female and leave the Illusions to me.”
Another screech of pain as he contorts her arms, the sockets popping. Kassandra’s arms can’t take it anymore. I can’t take it anymore, refusing to watch. I crawl to her.
Another blinding slap, my head smacking against the floor. Stars burst behind my eyes.
Briar grabs my shoulders, hauling me up. Kassandra closes her eyes and my heart sinks. She has given up.
My genius reaches for the plane in a last attempt to stop this scene, but the plane is stretched too thin and tight by fae geniuses.
“Remember your place tomorrow,” he says.
Then the Heir of Illusion snaps my mistress’s arms in half, the bones breaking.
Kassandra wails. Dominik drops her to the ground, wiping his hands on his robe. She whimpers, sliding into unconsciousness. It’s a mercy.
Before we can reach her, he is in front of us.
“No Healers,” he says.
I gasp. “My lord—”
“You will be next if you do not be quiet!”
I clamp shut. Dominik smooths down his hair, adjusts his tunic.
“She heals quickly on her own, but dismiss the Day Crestsanyway. Lock the door, as usual,” he says. “If you try to speak of what you have seen tonight, you will have to face the consequences of the blood oath.”
It takes everything in me, and Briar gripping my shoulders, not to lunge for his face and scratch out his eyes. Dominik steps beyond us, toward the front hall. Without looking back, he tosses something over his shoulder.
Two coins ping against the tile, rolling toward us.
