Page 74 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Mordecai’s eyes darkened with warning. He wouldn’t divulge such an answer to her, but Tauria was intrigued more than ever. He called himself a slave to Marvellas and didn’t hide his resentment.

The high lord moved so suddenly she lunged back, her chair screeching across the floor, but it wasn’t her he was reaching for.

Tauria’s scream was muffled by her hand as she watched Mordecai grab the human and sink his teeth into his neck. The human made a few choking sounds, their blown eyes fixed on the ceiling.

“Stop!” Tauria yelled, attempting to spare the innocent life, but it was too late.

Mordecai pulled back with a groan, letting the body fall limp. The human’s head turned her way, the terror of his final moments screaming at her through his glass eyes.

“You said yourself you didn’t have to kill to feed!” she cried.

Mordecai plucked a cloth from the table, wiping the corners of his mouth before dropping it with careless disrespect onto the body. He stalked to her with a certain wildness in his eyes. A high from the amount of blood he’d consumed.

When he was close enough, Tauria seethed at him so powerfully she knew he could feel it. Regardless, his fingers grazed her chin, and he looked at her with a passionate desire.

To her complete abhorrence, Mordecai leaned down as if to kiss her, and Tauria’s impulse took over. The resounding hard slap of her palm connecting with his face pounded the beat in her chest. Despite her throbbing hand, his face barely moved an inch from the impact.

A few beats of silence followed. As deadly as those before war.

Mordecai gripped her throat with the quickness and precision of a serpent strike. It brought their faces so close she would have retched at the scent of blood in his breath, were she not struggling to inhale her own. He was so fast, so much more powerful, with fresh human blood in his system.

His entire army would be. In even numbers on a battlefield, even with more magick on their side the fae didn’t stand a chance. They’d always known this, but being in the clutches of that reality struck the daunting odds in her with renewed hopelessness.

“I’m looking forward to the day you lose your memories and indulge with me,” he said cruelly.

Mordecai let her go just as her consciousness threatened to fall into darkness. She fell without the capacity to catch herself, hitting the black marble floor hard.

She couldn’t hear him leave with the pounding of her pulse in her ears, but her blurry vision watched his footsteps in relief.

Tauria peeled herself off the ground on shaky elbows before hands assisted her to stand. She didn’t know the dark fae guard and was surprised he hadn’t just observed her suffering.

“Can I escort you somewhere?” he asked.

Tauria wondered if Mordecai would reprimand the guard’s kindness toward her, but she was glad to see it. Not all dark fae were cold and cruel. Tauria couldn’t let their malicious high lord and a one-sided history make her resent an entire species.

“Thank you, but I’ll find my way.”

With a smile of gratitude to him, Tauria breathed steadily as she left the dining hall. She didn’t know where she was going, having not been told where she would be sleeping for the night.

Tauria caught herself against the wall with the wave of nausea that roiled in her stomach, because what if Mordecai planned for her to sleep withhim?

She wouldn’t let that happen.

“There you are!”

Edith finding her was a relief. The dark fae wore a cloak, and she looked around conspiratorially before flashing a bundle of books tucked under her arm.

Tauria’s eyes lit up. She’d actually acquired them.

Edith giggled, hooking Tauria’s arm and guiding her along the halls with memorized ease.

They came to the servants’ quarters, where Tauria assumed Edith was staying. The dark fae pulled them into a small, humble room with a lit fireplace and twin cots.

“I’m not sure if they’ll have what you’re looking for, but this was all I could find,” she said, holding out the books.

Tauria beamed. “This is perfect. You’re amazing.”

Edith smiled, sitting on one of the cots.

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