“What’s happening?” My voice breaks, rough as if I’ve yelled. “What’s hitting the side?” It’s an incessant barrage, hard thumps that shake the roof. Dirt falls down, the hole growing bigger.
“Kaden.” Reid turns to the door, shoving a blade into the handle like another lock. “Apparently, he saw you go down and now he’s attacking the cottage to get to you. We’re lucky he hasn’t used his magic. The cottage would crumble.”
“He’s awfully fond of those claws,” Mal mutters. There are three large red marks on his back, blood seeping through his tunic. “And fangs.”
Reid shows me his forearm. Two large puncture wounds are seeping from behind his cuff. At my worried expression, he snorts. “This is nothing. You should see the time he stabbed me during lessons.”
“Pretty sure you were screwing around and missed your target,” Mal corrects. “Getting stabbed was completely your fault.”
“No one asked you, Mal.”
Baris shoves the cup to my mouth and makes me drink. “We should be figuring out a way to get out of here without the king killing us. He sees his mate is hurt and is trying to help. But he’ll only hinder us.”
“Or kill us,” Reid quips. “He thinks we’re keeping her away.”
Focusing on the bond in my chest, it still feels far away. It’s there, a tether between our souls, but Kaden isn’t here. It’s his beast.
“He’s not using his magic because he can’t,” I explain, standing. My legs tremble and Baris holds me. “Only Kaden has access to his magic, now that it’s tied to me. The beast is trying to get in not to help—he wants my blood.”
“Probably,” Baris agrees. “Your blood is potent. Full of magic. The beast craves it.” Those steely eyes glare at me. “Under no circumstances are you to do that. He will kill you.”
Understood.
The walls shake as Kaden throws himself to enter. More reeds fall and a few pots clamber to the ground. We hold our breath as the shelter groans and wails under the pressure.
“How do we get out?”
“We don’t,” Baris grunts. “I designed this for one entrance and exit. For security.”
“Well, now it’s a death trap, Baris.” Reid runs a hand through his hair. “I’m open to ideas.”
Licking my lips, I look down at my fingers. When I encountered Kaden in the forest, I could control him. It’s as if two beings are inside one body. When Kaden is in control, my magic doesn’t work on my Heartbond. When the beast rules, I can hear the call of his blood, the thumping of his heart in my ears.
Right now, it’s ravenous, seeking me out.
“I can handle him.”
The idea of hurting the only male I love twists my insides until I can’t breathe. But it’s not really him. And as I see the setting sun, I realize we’re out of time.
I have to use my magic against him and get back to the barrier. It’s the only way to save him.
Mal shakes his head. “You’re insane. He’ll kill you.”
“And last time I checked, you can’t hear his blood.” Reid shoves another blade into the door handle and they clash with every hit. “It wouldn’t work.”
“I can hear him, right now.” I allow the magic to rise, my fingers staining with the hissing of the power. It rolls like an angry wave, ready to consume. “I can hold him back. We have to get back to the barrier.”
“Maximillia,” my father warns, “you cannot go back there. It doesn’t work.”
It didn’t work. Brute force wasn’t the answer.
But something niggles at me, from my dream. The woman in black said I wasn’t special. Not enough to breach the shield, to access the flowers.
But she said something that stuck out. I wasn’t of the inspired. Inspired… like a muse.
“I have a plan,” I tell them all. “Just trust me.”
Reid sighs, looking to the swaying roof. “Why not? If you die, maybe Fee will let me take over the throne.”
