“I see you have not spent your exile being idle. Good. I’d hate to have been disappointed by you yet again.” Jasper sneered.
“The only one disappointed is me. You have grown weak in your old age, Father. I am no longer the little boy you can torture and abuse for your pleasure.” Savine felt Jasper’s mental claws scraped against his mental defenses. There was no way in the Abyss Savine would falter under his father’s mental prodding.
“We will see about torture soon enough. I believe we can bring back some of your former favorite ways to play.”
Savine bellowed as a riotous amount of thorns wrapped itself out of his hand and toward his father. The thorns caught hold of Jasper’s shoulders and wrapped tightly around his skin, cutting through his leathers. Savine panted as he looked at the captured king. Never had he ever dared to use his essence against his father, always afraid it would bow to his father’s will and be used against him. And yet, the thorns tightened and held Jasper in place.
Savine approached his father, his hands gripping his sword. Raikin must have been watching what transpired, because he was by his side immediately. Jay was close behind, his leathers a splattering of red blood.
“Think about what you have to lose if you finish him. It is not worth it,” Raikin advised.
Savine nodded. He would not give up his power and future to this man. Yet, he would be damned to the Abyss before he let his abuser free without getting some revenge.
In one swift motion, Savine lifted his sword and chopped through the antlered crown on his father’s head, marking him as King of Latiah. His father bellowed in pain as the antlers fell to the ground. His eyes burned with hate and malice.
“I am not weak. I am not that child you once abused. You hold no power over me. I want so badly to end your disgusting life. Yet, I’ll be damned if I give up my kingdom and my future by killing you, Jasper,” Savine’s voice was a false calm. He wanted to shout and curse, but he would not give his father the satisfaction of hearing his rage.
At that, he picked up his father’s antlers and mounted Jari. Raikin followed as the few living warriors gathered near the injured king. They did not attack. Rather, they bent their knee to Savine and let him pass. Savine whispered to the trees to return to their resting spots and rode through the woods. With sounds of cracking wood and shifting roots, the trees returned to their resting place.
The forest went back to its quiet, misty calm. The woods near them were so thick that his bound and bleeding father was out of sight when Savine finally turned to look behind him.
Chapter forty-four
Avery
The wet roof of the cave dripped down on Avery’s shoulder. Her flinch was less from the shock of the cold and more from the anxious energy that coursed through her blood. Avery felt trapped, but her options were limited. Either she killed Weston, or all three of her companions would die.
“Take the deal, Avery!” Weston said. His voice sounded coarse, like his throat was restricting his words.
“We have a deal.” The words stuck in her throat as she said them. Her anxious mind raced at what she just agreed to do. “Now untie me so we can shake on it,” Avery said.
“Not so quickly, witchy woman. We have a deal, but if I untie you, all of us will be at the mercy of that lovely green magic of yours. First, we will put a stopper on that. Then we can release you. Your current bindings are suppressing your magic, as I am sure you are aware,” Rylo said with the same smugness before he called over the ebony skinned fae. Her skin gleamed silver on her cheeks, and it shone brighter as she approached Rylo.
“Selene, bring me the vial of skull shade,” Rylo said. Selene did not speak as she walked to a bag in the corner. She pulled out a small vial with an inscription written in a flowy text that Avery couldn’t read. Selene’s brows were creased, but the scowl on her face and serious eyes erased the tiny sense of uncertainty in herexpression.
“Now, Avery, will you make this easy for us or difficult? I would prefer we not have to have another scene like we had back in the forest,” Rylo jeered at her as he toyed with the bottle in his hand.
Avery agreed to take the herb without fighting. Rylo tilted the vial into her mouth, and Avery drank it down. The bitter taste burned her tongue and throat, but she kept the vile flavored concoction down.
Rylo left her on the ground and went to speak with Weston. She couldn’t make out all that he was saying, but she saw Weston was pale. His face looked pained, yet he didn't shout or make a scene.
As Avery sat on the cool floor of the cave, she felt the draining effects of the vial that she consumed. The bit of magic that she had slowed to a tiny seep before drying up completely.
Another fae male named Elio removed her restraints. There was nothing there of the magic she’d learned to call forth. Her body was as normal as the Avery Hollis she’d been back in Montana. Except that tiny bit of stretched, tightened skin that had itched since Savine rode away from her during the battle. That bit of residual deep magic. Try as she might, it didn’t respond to her attempts to call it forth.
Rylo took her hand in his. The heat of it made her jerk.
“The oath then. I, Rylo Finnian, swear that neither myself nor my warriors will physically or magically harm you, Avery Holl or your companions Rue Barrow and Susan Meadows,” Rylo said. Avery paused as he said her friends’ last names. She didn’t even know what they were. How had he known?
Like the other fae oaths she experienced, Rylo’s essence crept into her. Unlike the other times, Avery wanted to recoil from that part of him entering her body. Repulsion threatened to push itself out of her. Finally, Rylo let go of his grip on her hand.
“I’m famished! All this traveling can work up an appetite. Little witch, would you care to join me for a bite to eat before the execution?”
What in the actual hell? This man was insane.
All eyes seemed to be on her. “I’m not hungry. Weston, are you ready, or would you like to eat first?” Avery asked. There was no way in hell she could get food down, even if she hadn’t eaten in the last forty-eight hours. If anyone wanted to wait for this horrible execution, it should be Weston.
Weston nodded his head. “Let me have time to pray to Althea. I want to prepare to join my ancestors in Arcadia today.”
