Benn was a monster. He embodied the darkness that the horde king had spoken about last night. And with a sinking feeling in my gut, I realized that Tess was vulnerable to him again. Their relationship had always been volatile, even when Benn’s wife was still alive. It swung from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
And now, I knew which way her feelings were swinging again. The disappointment and hurt made my jaw tight and my heart thunder in my chest. It made my cheeks heat and my blood rush.
Right before we were swallowed up by the darkness of the Dead Mountain, I looked behind me, looking west as Tess’ words rang in my ears. Only they felt so incrediblywrong. Like the sensation I’d felt when I saw the horde king lying motionless on the earth after his capture.
A chill raced up my spine, thinking about the Dakkari male’s calls for hisVorakkar.
Rowin.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, my gut told me.
I needed to make itright.
I knew what I needed to do.
Chapter Thirteen
Arms aching in protest and with my shoulder throbbing, I continued the sawing motion against the stone pillar of the table. The cuffs grated across the stone. Blood ran from my wrists where not only the Dakkari steel cut into them, but also the goldenVorakkarcuffs underneath them.
Blackened Dakkari steel was nearly impossible to break. But the stone of the mountain was not. The Ghertun had carved up their kingdom from it after all, hadn’t they? And already, I could feel the deep notch I’d made in the pillar with the tip of my thumb.
If I could break free from the pillar, I might be able to take that smugvekkiriby surprise the next time he entered the room. I would use his life to bargain for my release from the cuffs…and then I would slaughter him with my sword regardless.
Only, it was slow work. And the repeated motion was only aggravating my shoulder wound, delaying the healing process, which was risky for infection. Even still, I worked at the pillar every moment I was not sleeping.
The latch on the door lifted from the outside and I stilled immediately. A moment later, the door opened, allowing in a shaft of golden light from the blaze of a singular torch.
I heard the door close and then I scented her. The female’s tantalizing, almost comforting scent, and again, I fought the urge to inhale too deeply. Just in case the witch wound herself into me and made a place there.
She’d been true to her word. She’d returned this night and it wasn’t the first time that I wondered what she risked in being here.
Tonight, there was something changed about her. It took me a long moment to realize what but when I did, my gaze narrowed. Her expression was hardened, and yet, there was a tiredness about her. As if she was a moment away from crumbling to the floor in exhaustion.
A familiar water basin trembled in her arms as she approached. But her small eyes darted over me, as if seeking a new injury that she could tend to. Only my wrists bled this night but I wouldn’t bring them to her attention. She couldn’t know. Her loyalties were still with the human male, were they not?
She seemed relieved to see me relatively unharmed, though her gaze zeroed in on my shoulder, frowning. It probably hadn’t healed as much as she’d expected.
As she sank down to the floor next to me, my gaze caught on the hem of her dress, the same one she’d been wearing yesterday. My jaw tightened when I saw the edge was smudged with a familiar-colored dirt.
She’d been outside in the fog. Was that why she was tired? And yet, I’d watched her control it, hadn’t I? It didn’t affect her the same way it affected the rest of us.
Though a part of me wanted to demand how she controlled it, I bit my tongue. I needed her trust. I’d started to build it the night before. I’d put aside my resentment, my bitterness towards her. For now.
This human female—Mina was her given name—was useful to me. And I intended to use her. This treacherous little witch—with her haunting voice and her soft, sad eyes—I would use her up until there was nothing left of her.
Only then would I be satisfied.
“Have you been eating,kalles? Sleeping?”
Her brittle gaze rose to meet mine. The bruise underneath her eye was still as prominent as it was yesterday, though her cut lip looked less swollen.
I told myself that if I acted like I cared about her well-being, she would soften towards me all the more. So why could I not look away from those mesmerizing eyes?
Is she bewitching me again?came the thought.Just like she did in the fog?
“Good news,” she told me softly. “Our huntresses returned. They brought down a large beast and we all ate very well tonight.”
She shifted, pulling a familiar bundle from her dress pocket, only this time, I saw the cloth was stained with grease.
