Page 118 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood

Elijah blanches as his weapon drops to the dirt with a thud. “What the fuck? I was going to drop it!”

“My apologies.” The predatory gleam on Agnar’s face tells me he’s not in the slightest bit sorry. “Guess I misjudged your intentions.”

Under any other circumstances, I’d relish seeing Elijah restrained, helpless, and looking scared enough to shit himself. At the moment, though, we’re low on allies. And as unappealing as partnering with my former bully is, with the vast numbers of corrupted swarming the campus, beggars can’t be choosers.

“Okay,” I hold up a hand, “let’s save the pissing match for later, shall we? We don’t have time for this.”

Elijah glares. “Get these off me.”

Agnar’s lips kick up in a lazy grin. “Only if you promise to play nice.”

When Elijah says nothing, roots wind up his neck and squeeze.

The fledgling’s face flushes red, and his eyes bulge. “All right, you fucker,” he wheezes.

Even under duress, the guy can’t help but be a dick.

At the flick of Agnar’s wrist, the roots sink back into the ground. Dirt swirls and covers them as if they never appeared. He cups his hand to his ear. “What was that? I was having trouble hearing you.”

“I’ll play nice.” Elijah grits out the words like they’re painful to say, then rubs his throat and mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot likeCrazy winged cocksucker.

“Look,” I glance around to ensure no one else is sneaking up on us, “everything going on here is bigger than us, so for once, can we put aside our differences? I’d really like to make it out of here alive.”

He glares at me as if he’d like nothing better than to skewer me with a sword but manages to mumble, “okay.” He’s silent for another beat, then sighs. “Whyareyou here?”

“We’re here to find Instructor Thorne.” When Elijah scoffs and raises an eyebrow, I hurry to correct myself. “Also known as Knox Barda, prince of Tirene.”And future king, I don’t add. “He’s been corrupted, and we think he may be here. Or at least somewhere in Aclaris. How are you not corrupted, by the way?”

“The short version?” After glancing around, Elijah lowers his voice. “We had an assembly. Xenon came and talked about an imminent threat. Told us we needed to line up by unit. We followed him and his guards to one of the training rooms.” His throat bobs as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. For maybe the first time ever, I think I’m witnessing Elijah Durand experience an attack of nerves. “The first unit was handed vials of eyril before they went in, and two of the fledglings didn’t come back out of the room.”

Cold dread crawls down my spine. “What do you mean ‘didn’t come back out?’”

He scowls. “What the fuck do you think? Didn’t come out as in, they were killed. I don’t know why. The others returned disoriented. Strange. Students and instructors started to panic, and then it descended into sheer chaos. Soldiers surrounded us, dragging people into the room. These disgusting black blob motherfuckers with freaky as hells tendrils oozed out, which was my cue to get the fuck out of there. I think some people escaped, but Helene’s the only one I?—”

I cut in. “Helene Mortimer?” My jaw drops. “She’s here? She’s okay?”

“The one and only.” Amusement flickers across his face. “We’ve been hiding out. Spying on people and those…creatures. Trying to see what Xenon’s plan is and what we’re up against. We obviously can’t take eyril, so not even having enough power to hurt a mouse sucks.”

Agnar crosses his arms. “Explains that wicked blade. Looks like it could slice through someone’s neck like butter.”

Elijah shrugs one shoulder. “You’d be surprised how handy it’s been.”

I wrinkle my nose. “That’s not disturbing at all.”

“It’s survival, sweetheart,” Elijah deadpans. “It’s not like I kill my classmates and instructors for shits and giggles.”

Given how much Elijah hated me during my time here, that statement is debatable. I lift my eyebrows to convey my doubt. “Yeah, well, speaking of classmates, whereisHelene?”

“Probably still in the library, trying to find information about these things.”

“Drachen.” I toy with the end of my braid. “That’s what they’re called. And they use fear to sort of…enthrall people. Taking eyril after an encounter with a drachen activates the corruption. Although, according to what you said, taking eyril right before works, too, so maybe it’s a matter of timing. Eventually, your eyes become solid black, with no visible pupils, and you become a puppet for thosedisgusting black blob motherfuckers.”

“That’s messed up.” Elijah scrunches his brow. “Do I even want to ask how you seem to know everything about these drachen, as you call them? Though I think my name for them is better.”

That may be one of the only things Elijah and I have ever agreed on.

“Probably not.” I exchange a grim glance with Agnar. “And I wasn’t kidding when I said we need to find Ster…um, Prince Knox. I know a way to cure the corruption, but I can’t do so en masse. We need to find him, cure him, and get him back to Tirene, so that we can regroup and figure out what to do next.”

The look he gives me is dubious.

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