My fingers twitched.
My vision darkened.
A distant grunt came from above me, muffled, as if hearing through water.
Shade’s face swam in my mind, lips tilted up in a half smile. Then Eleanor’s face replaced his, the way I had last seen her, head tipped back in delighted laughter.
I had to survive. For Eleanor. For Shade.
For me.
With a burst of energy I didn’t think possible, I stretched my arm out, my shoulder straining painfully until I reached the lamp. It burned hot the moment it touched my skin.
The grip on my throat released, and I gasped in a sharp breath. The heavy weight lifted, taking the painful intrusion with it. I curled onto my side, coughing, my body struggling with the sudden onslaught of oxygen.
Everything was a haze of pain and spinning white.
When the coughing finally subsided, I blinked rapidly, clearing my vision enough to see what was happening.
His back to me, Shade’s entire body vibrated. He was shadow and smoke, flickering between translucent and shimmering hardness. His woodsy, floral scent took a bitter edge, saturating the room in cloying thickness. The adrenaline filling my body ebbed, leaving me hollow and faint, but I still tried to drag myself to him.
A whimper sounded. Not from me but the king. He was on his knees at Shade’s feet, entirely bound in ropes of shimmering smoke, eyes wide and pained, with his mouth agape.
“How. Dare. You.” I had never heard that deep tone from Shade before. It vibrated through the room like a storm, sending gray smoke into the air. “You. Will. Not. Touch.Her.” Power pulsed with each word he spoke, landing on my skin in a cool sizzle. “She is mine.To protect. To worship.Mine.” Shade leaned close, staring directly into the eyes of a terrified King Terym. “The chains on my wrists may stop me from taking your life, but do not mistake them for a cage. I can, and will, hurt you.”
Then the tendrils curling around the king’s body sharpened, bindings of sleek black tightening until his eyes bulged, his body shaking as if raw power was being forced into it. The scream that fell from his lips was a terrifying screech, and it stirred something dark within me.
A satisfaction.
I wanted him to hurt. To feel the agony I did. My entire still body throbbed with it, the part of me he had violated in excruciating pain.
The king screamed, but I made no move to end his suffering. Not when I had suffered. When Istillsuffered. My body and mind were numb, the air thick and heavy. On and on, I stared at the vicious man who caused so much pain.
When the screams took a hysterical edge, it pierced through the weight on my mind, shooting me straight into the past.
A gurgling grunt. Surprised black eyes. Hands clasped a throat, red liquid spilling between fingers. Pounding fists. The crack of my ribs. A malicious grin. Grinding against me as I struggled. Sharp pain. The chafing at my back.
My body shook with every traumatic event flashing before me in an endless loop of pain.
Stop, stop, stop.
The screaming continued, so I covered my ears, rocking back and forth with closed eyes.
A torso slashed. Blood seeping into carpet. Glistening hazel eyes drained of life. Ruthless rutting.
Again and again.
Stop, stop, stop.
Ice-cold blue eyes staring down at me.
“Stop!”
The screaming stopped. I continued to rock, squeezing my eyes tightly. Then warm hands encircled mine, and I opened my eyes to meet molten silver through wet lashes.
“My Solis.”
Those anguished words were the last thing I heard before I sank into unconsciousness.
