Everand knelt at her side, cupping her face gently between two slimy, slicked palms. “So fragile. So small. Nothing, but a little petal.” He laughed, leaning closer until his tusks were slicing the curve of her jaw. “It would be a shame, wouldn’t it—crushing your pretty little head between my hands? Aziel would suffer,wouldn’t he? I’d heard, from a friend of a friend, that you are the only thing that keeps him alive. He’d sworn to himself that if anything happened to you, his life would be over.”
Her heart pounded against her ribs, nausea biting at her jaws. She could not—would not allow that to happen. If the only thing that kept Aziel alive was her sorry existence, she would remain. She would live. Whether or not it was by being shackled to this monster that, quite literally, held her life in his hands, she would do it.
“Tell me what you want me to do.” She was as pathetically desperate as she sounded, her chin quivering and tears burning in her eyes. “Please. Just… just tell me what I need to do.”
Everand’s body shivered, his skin slowly reforming him into the person she’d come to know. Once the muscles and bones settled, he slowly pulled his hands away from her face, his thumb brushing over the line of blood that was running from her jaw. “You will tell no one of the agreement we are making. If you do, I will kill all of you. I will start with those you love most: your father, your brother, Trio, Desi, Ilona and her little bastards.” Nymiria nodded frantically, a small sob escaping her lips. “And then your precious, precious mate.” He spat the word at her with such venom that her helpless body flinched, eyes snapping shut. “I’ve heard having those piercings ripped out of your cock is no fun at all.”
“A-alright. Alright, Everand, I understand.” She pleaded.
“You’re going to be my wife, Nymiria. And after we’ve wed in front of both of our kingdoms, you will sit beside me on my dais.” He reached into his pocket with his large hands, pulling out a small golden band with a large red stone. “Red and gold have always gone well together, you know? Those colors,” he gripped her hand, taking hold of her finger before harshly stuffing the ring onto it. “Those colors represent real power.”
Nymiria kept her eyes closed, doing her best to regulate her breaths, to remain calm. She knew that Aziel could feel her fear if it was intense enough. He would find her. And with him not knowing what Everand was and what he was capable of, he would walk into this place still believing that he was invincible.
She couldn’t tell him a thing. She couldn’t warn him. She couldn’t doanything—not like this.
Everand’s fingers caressed her hand. With each stroke, her stomach turned more and more until she felt she would truly be sick. There was still a part of her that didn’t want to believe what was happening—a part of her that wanted to think that all of this was just some horrible nightmare and that Everand was still her friend. She didn’t want to believe that there was a chance that he had anything to do with her mother, but seeing as how Inasha Celentas had successfully portrayed Camalia Yaarborough for ten years, there was no way he could not have worked with her.
“Everand.” Nymiria said quietly. When she opened her eyes, the prince was still holding her hand, looking down at that ring on her finger with such pride. “Everand, did you know that my mother was pretending to be Camalia?”
She watched as his smile peeled back to reveal two rows of razor-sharp teeth. “Your mother and I had a great many dealings with one another, Nymiria. I didn’t know what I was until I was eighteen, but she’d been working with Ahrun, the God of Deceit before me, for quite some time. She worked with many gods, or at least tried to. But you know who always refused her? Life, Death, and Fate. Tragic, too. Considering her plans for the world.”
“She wanted medead, Everand.”
“Aye, I am very aware of that. She believed that, with you out of the way, she could perhaps give way to a new Anam—one that would actually be willing to give her the power she needed to rule properly.” He shook his head, lifting himself to his feet.She watched as he moved around the small space, rummaging through containers. “I was intent on killing you to help her, but after she was killed, I decided to devise a plan to do the next best thing,” he turned to her and flashed her that sharp smile once again. “Marriage.”
“What were her plans for the world?” She was starting to feel tired, her words slurring. It was hard to breathe, hard to do anything more than talk and talking seemed to be the only thing keeping her from slipping.
Everand finally seemed to find what he’d been looking for. He walked towards her with two vials in hand. “She wanted Mystics to rule the world.” He shrugged. “Eliminate all humans—all lesser individuals, anyone of impure bloodlines, so that we could rule. She wanted the power that was taken to be given back to us, creating one of the most powerful races in the world. All others, the ones who were unworthy, would have no other choice than to kneel.”
“There are good humans out there. Not all of them deserve to die.”
He gripped her jaw, forcing her mouth open. “You would say that, wouldn’t you? You spent too long with them. Your mother believed that you would be fine, but you just have too much sympathy. Humans will always be our enemy.”
She shook her head, but the range of motion was diluted to subtle jerks, Everand’s grip on her far too strong. “You’re wrong. Oran… Dorid’s son. He’s good.”
“Well,” he chuckled. “In that case, I will consider saving his poor little soul when I finish what your mother started.”
“There are Guardians out there. Some of them are human. We have to consider—”
His grip on her became so rough that her cheeks were pressed into her mouth, unable to move her tongue. “That’s enough. I don’t want to talk about that. I need you to drink these.” Heheld up one vial. “I’d heard you were taking tinctures to keep yourself from getting pregnant. This will reverse it.” He didn’t even give her a moment to prepare before he was pouring the bitter-tasting liquid into her mouth. It felt like a violation. It felt like someone ripping her choices, her freedoms, right out of her grasp. She closed her eyes, refusing to let him see her tears and her fear.
“We’ll start trying for children after the wedding. The sooner, the better.”
Letting out a weak cough, Nymiria jerked away from him. “Why?”
“Well, petal, if you are as feeble-hearted as I believe, I doubt that you would ever leave your own flesh and blood behind.”
As much as she hated it, as much as she would love to claim that he was wrong… he wasn’t. “You’ll rape me?” She whispered.
Everand merely shrugged, twisting the top on the other vial. “I don’t have to if you’re willing. But if you refuse, you’ll leave me no choice.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, lips peeling back into a smug grin of her own. “Rape it is, then.” She let out a dry laugh, shaking her head. “And you aren’t above that? You think that you could watch me kick and scream underneath you? You think that you are heartless enough to break me in that way?”
She saw his hesitation, saw the way his fingers flexed around the vial. And then it was gone, his anger so intense that she could smell it. “You think that I’m not capable?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think that I know you well enough to answer that question for you. I askedyouif you believed you could do it.” She looked down at the glass bottle in his hand. “What is this one for?”
Everand followed her eyes. “Iron. It will nullify your powers for a period of time.”
