“Let go of me,” Yvette battled to keep her voice even.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Victor whispered in her ear tenderly, his words running down her back like ice. “I just got you back.”
“She’s dying,” Yvette pleaded, trying to ignore the immense panic that somehow he hadn’t heeded her command, the fact that she was basically defenseless against him. Her only weapon now was to hope her words held some natural sway, that he cared enough to listen. “We can still help her. You’re not this person. You don’t have to be this person.”
Victor ignored her, instead he dug something from his pocket, a golden trinket. It was a spiral the size of his palm, the metal intricately detailed.
“Victor,” she tried to pry his hand from her hair, but he jerked her closer. “What is that?”
He ran his finger over the trinket, and it began to uncoil in his hand, a small golden snake. “It’s an Assassin’s Adder,” Victorsaid, allowing the snake to slither to the ground. “I paid rather a fortune for it to clean up your mess.”
Yvette shook her head. “You don’t have to-”
She stilled as he finally turned his attention entirely to her. That beautiful face that had been the essence of her dreams for so long.
“No, pet.” His words sliced through her. “If it were up to me, she would be very much alive. But you went against me. You brought her here. You insisted on putting her in my way again. You, darling, are the orchestrator of this predicament, and now she’ll die because of you.”
Keira
It took every lesson Ignatius had taught her, every instinct that had been drilled into her by the Arcanum, not to panic as she felt her magic seeping from her like the blood flowing freely down the flagstone steps. Keira forced her mind to focus, to use the last crucial seconds before it drifted beyond her reach entirely. It was a clawing, scraping struggle as she channeled whatever was left of her dwindling power. She just had to close the wound, stop the bleeding.
The effort exhausted her, but she was rewarded with an unhindered breath. Still, the pain only grew as the last of her magic ebbed, succumbing to the poison. She tried to assess whether her spell had been successful, but her mind was growing addled and heavy, her senses confused. The rest of the Blades were coming. They would find her, and then she could fix this. There was still time. There had to be.
At first, she thought the glinting object at the corner of her vision was a trick of the light, or a sign that her mental presence was waning. Keira turned her head to see a snake slithering purposefully toward her leg. It was three feet long, with gleaming golden scales and eyes of sparkling black onyx. It certainly wasn’t natural, some sort of construct or monstrosity crafted by magic. Whatever it was, she sensed Victor had left it to finish the job.
Her arms shook as Keira lifted herself to skitter away as best she could, cursing her own weakness. Her motions were awkward and futile. The serpent simply changed course, ever intent on her. A flickering tongue emitted from its mouth as it glided through the pool of her blood, staining the underbelly of its metallic hide.
Keira looked frantically around the hall. The room was massive with nowhere to hide, at least nowhere she could slide to before her muscles gave out beneath her. She reached for the dagger she kept sheathed on her thigh. Her fingers tingled with numbness as she gripped the blade, but she simply held it tighter. This was her only chance.
Chest heaving, Keira lifted the dagger. The snake was almost within reach, its lifeless stone eyes fixed on her. With a furious cry, Keira stabbed down, striking the snake’s head. A forceful shock ran up her arm as the blade glanced off its scales without so much as leaving a mark.
The snake reared, hissing before it struck. It happened so quickly, Keira could not even follow the movement as it lunged. She knew the strike had landed only by the burning pain that radiated over her hand, through her wrist. The dagger clattered to the floor as the snake reeled back once more, as if to survey its handiwork. It was likely nearly as tall as her, as thick as one of her legs, though she had sworn it had been smaller… Keira stilled as finally she saw it. Somehow, it was growing. Her mind reeled through the possibilities. It had to be feeding on some sort of energy to fuel such rapid transmutation. The sources capable of offering such power were limited. Her skin chilled as she realized… her blood. It must be absorbing it through its scales. The more she bled, the larger it would become.
Keira scrambled away, panic filling her as instinct urged her to run. Her blood smeared against the tile in a clear path. Her spell had failed. She hadn’t managed to stop the bleeding. Theserpent watched her dispassionately, flicking its forked tongue before it began after her again. She spun, finding her feet with stilted, unbalanced steps. If she could reach the doors to the dining hall, then-
In one second, it struck into the muscle of her thigh. In the next, she could feel its elongated body wrapping around her. The weight of it sent her sprawling, cheek knocking into the flagstone. Pain lit up her leg as it twined its cool metallic body tighter until Keira was sure her bones would snap. She screamed against the pain, against the rage building inside her. It couldn’t end here. Not like this.
“Keira!” A voice shouted, the pounding of footsteps echoing through the hall.
“Caspian?” Keira choked, tears budding in her eyes.
She knew it wasn’t him. Yet some foolish part of her wanted him to have sensed her need and come for her.
“What in the realms is that!” Lilith’s unmistakable voice sounded.
“Get it off of her!” Rhea called.
Moments later, Keira felt someone try to loosen the coils.
“I can’t,” Gareth panted.
The serpent tightened its grip possessively. Pain flashed brilliant white in Keira’s vision as she felt the crack of her femur through her whole body. Her scream filled the hall.
“Kill it!” Florian shouted.
“Magic!” Keira sobbed. It was a theory, but one she was about to stake her life on. Her mundane dagger had done nothing, likely due to an enchantment on its hide. It was a common precaution in the making of constructs to ward them against nonmagical damage.
“Step back!” Rhea commanded.
