Page 87 of Merciless Is My Crown

And blood magic had worked against them.

“So all my years of research”—the breath she blew out was filled with decades of frustrations—“are nothing but a dead end, I’m afraid.”

I opened my mouth to tell Bella her research wasn’t a dead end, to make her tell me everything she knew about blood magic and how to fight the Mystara, but the rustling sound echoed again, this time from the far corner where the shadows were so deep, I swore they could hide the entire Solarys army.

“Damned mice. They love to chew on the vellum. Even though I have a protection spell woven around the books, it doesn’t keep the vermin out completely. I think the little beasts enjoy taunting me.” Bella flashed me a crooked smile and lifted the torch, the light spreading outwards in a rippling circle until the outer edge kissed the bookshelves.

33

ANARIA

Light bright enough to blind exploded from that darkness, slamming into me and driving the breath from my lungs as I crashed to the floor, my cheek shredding, knees screaming, a twisted smear of fiery pain searing across my side.

Momentum sent me rolling, the library becoming a messy tangle of light and dark, and I kept going until I ended up against a bookshelf, scanning the now-empty library.

A blazing torch abandoned on the floor. Books on the table. The strong smell of smoke. No sign of Bella.

I might be…on fire.

I slapped at my burning side then pressed my palm to my sopping shirt. My fingers came away wet and shiny. Black. I blinked, not comprehending what I was seeing.

Blood.

A grunt and a hiss then Bella stood over me, blue magic sparking at her fingers as she faced off with a cloaked figure lunging out of the shadows. “You know how this ends. In a cell with the rest of them, Solomon.”

Solomon.

I stared at my blood-slicked fingers, the warmth soaking my side, trying to force my muddy brain to think…Solomon.

I clawed at my arms, at the bands, slick fingers slipping on the smooth fabric, on the bands that were wedged so tightly around my flesh. Finally—fucking finally—I wrenched one loose as silver flashed across the room.

Solomon’s knife, thrown with deft precision, straight at Bella’s throat.

My magic whipped his blade away, and by the time he yanked another from his boot my star-flecked shadows crushed Solomon to his knees, pinning him in place.

“Get behind the bookshelves,” I screamed to Bella, pointing, fear clawing up my throat as Solomon loosed a guttural roar, struggling to free himself. “Get as far away from me as you can.”

Turning her into a monster…no, that was not happening.

She raced for the darkness, her torch lying forgotten on the floor, smoke curling from the charred wood floor as the flames licked hotter.

“You made a mistake coming after me,” I growled, gathering my power.

“Oh, I don’t think so. You might have magic, half blood”—he lifted a hand and every muscle in my body stopped working as if I was made out of putty—“but I heard you talking.”

My magic evaporated, shadows fading away as he climbed to his feet.

“You don’t know how to control your power like I do.” I could only watch in horror as he stalked closer, his knife poised to slit my throat. “After I kill you, I will free my friends, and when we are done with you lot, it will be like you never even existed.”

I was too under his control to answer.

Doomed to die a silent, pointless death down here in the bowels of some strange fortress in a foreign land.

Solomon stepped closer, throwing back his hood. Anticipation grew in his cruel face as his eyes raked over me, completely at his mercy. This was a male who enjoyed inflicting pain. My eyes stayed open and staring when he dragged the tip of his knife down one cheek, then the other, the tang of copper tinting the air. Warm rivulets of blood tracked down my jaw, my throat, soaking the neckline of my shirt.

Trapped, I couldn’t do anything more than bleed.

“After Vireena took the throne, my sole job,” Solomon went on, his soft tone promising a long, painful death, “was to carve every traitor’s tongue out of their screaming mouths. It’s been a while since I’ve practiced. Let’s see if I still have the touch.”

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