Page 55 of The Stygian Crown

Chapter Thirteen

Kara woke to a gloved hand wrapped around her mouth. Her heart stuttered into awareness, and she swung her eyes around the room, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. People in head-to-toe black encircled the bed, leaning over her and Logan, and someone across the room chanted in a low voice. The tip of a knife poked into her throat,

Kara’s eyes swung to Logan. He was still asleep, his arms cradled beneath the pillow and face turned towards her. A stranger with a knife poised over Logan’s back put a finger to their lips.

Kara’s chest tightened. Why wasn’t Logan waking? His senses were usually otherworldly.

The man at the end of the bed jerked his head, motioning for her to get up. Adrenaline throttled her sleep addled brain. Whoever they were, if they wanted her dead, they’d have killed her already. She took the gamble.

Kara bit into the gloved hand over her mouth, and the man let out a string of curses. She snapped her hand toward the dagger at her throat as she kicked Logan, trying to wake him.

Logan’s shoulders twitched, his head raising off the pillow before sinking back down.

“Logan!” Kara screamed as she grappled with the man for his knife, trying to keep it away from her flesh.

But no sound came from her throat. She tried screaming again, her throat ripping with the effort, and she was met with silence. Logan’s shoulders began to shake.

“I thought you said he was out!” a masked female said.

“He should be!”

“Give him more!” the female said.

One of Logan’s eyes slid open, revealing a pupil ringed with red.

“Plan B!”

The dagger plunged into Logan’s shoulder. He roared as he sprang off the bed. Another stab, this time catching him in the arm.

Kara faltered, distracted, and the man she tussled with caught her arms and twisted them behind her back.

A cluster of attackers circled Logan, closing in on him. Kara’s stomach plummeted as dark red lines ran down his naked body.

Logan snapped out a kick, and one of the assailants screamed as his shin crumpled beneath him. Another one was thrown into the dresser, and the wood cracked beneath their back. Logan was staggering through his motions like a bear woken early from hibernation, so unlike his usual lithe and deadly movements.

Kara’s eyes darted to the robed figure in the corner, still chanting under his breath. She reared her head back, snapping her skull against the face of the man caging her arms, then rushed the mage.

The mage reached a hand into a pouch on his belt, raised his palm to his lips, and blew. A puff of purple powder clouded the air, covering her face. It crawled up her nostrils and choked her throat. She had the awful sensation of dust in her eyes, but her eyelids refused to close when she tried to squinch them shut.

Then her limbs froze, her arm still outstretched toward him. Her legs refused to move. Her mouth froze in a gasp. Her body began to tilt forward, a statue pushed off balance. Her outstretched arm took the brunt of the fall as she crashed to the ground. Her eyes slowly swept around their sockets, crazed, looking for Logan.

Kara watched, paralyzed, as more flashing daggers sunk into his flesh. Logan’s blood spattered her face with a wet slap. His attackers swarmed him, hanging onto his limbs as he thrashed and tried to shake them off. He fought them with everything he had, but he was suffering the mage’s spell and vastly outnumbered. He sank to the floor, chest covered in blood, and twisted his head towards her. She’d only seen Logan looked scared a handful of times. After her fight with Cervus, when she was dying and he’d used the sanguinata to save her. When he’d discovered the demon drip’s dark mark crawling across her stomach. And now. Pain and fear lit his eyes as he bled out, losing strength.

Kara railed against her body, willing herself to move, to ignore the paralytic. Then the mage knelt over her, blocking her view of Logan. Pale green eyes shined over his mask.Salizar.She was going to make him wish he’d never been born.

Salizar touched the back of her head, and darkness embraced her.

* * *

When Kara came to,she was being dragged. Rough arms hooked beneath her armpits, and her legs slid behind her on the floor. She tried to blink, and her eyes slid shut slowly. The powder was wearing off. The hum of magic that buzzed across her skin was suffocating yet familiar. A harsh rattle accompanied her breath.

They dragged her down a long white hall in the palace that ended at a black door. Her captors slid the door open, revealing a lavish chamber. Ariana sat in front of her vanity, a monstrous piece of carved alabaster with a hulking mirror propped atop it.

Kara’s eyes widened, her heartbeat speeding up. She tried to call out, to warn her, but the muting spell was still in effect.

The princess turned as the door shut behind Kara and her captors. Four men escorted her—the princess didn’t stand a chance. Where were her guards? The Vespertines?

Ariana’s expression didn’t change as she took in the scene. Kara’s mind screeched.

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