Page 102 of A Legacy of Storms and Starlight

Zylah couldn’t see what Jesper did, but Holt staggered back a few steps.Shit.Holt was the strongest Fae she knew. And with the vanquicite ring… Jesper had just made himself untouchable.

She should have been afraid, but she was more afraid for her friends than herself. For her brother, who could do nothing but cower beside Jesper like his pet.

Rose had backed up to the cabin, to protect Saphi, Zylah suspected. She knew Saphi could fight, but she also knew the Fae wouldn’t leave her side. Holt resumed his position beside Raif, unfazed by whatever Jesper had done to him a few moments before.

Again and again, Zylah pushed at her abilities: to evanesce, to heal herself, anything. She thought something within her stirred, but when she remained rooted to the spot, she cast it aside as nothing more than a desperate hope. Injuries or not, if she had a weapon, she would gladly join Raif and Holt. Her eyes darted to Arnir’s vanquicite sword, and back to her brother. He was the only one of them who could wield it without any lasting effects, but his hands were still bound. If she could just reach him…

Jesper shoved a hand in his pocket, surveying the piles of ash before him. His eyes didn’t linger on his father for even a moment. “Well, you’re a quiet crowd.”

“I think we’re all wondering why you just killed your father, although I have to say I can think of several reasons to take down my own,” Raif said calmly.

Jesper’s smile widened. “Arnir wasn’t really my father.”

“He raised you like you were his own fucking son,” Rose said quietly, too quietly for human ears to hear.

The prince didn’t flinch. “Aurelia warned me about your mouth.”

Aurelia… Zylah recognised the name… Raif’s mother. Zylah paled as she recalled Rose’s words from a few nights before.I saw our mother.

But Rose wasn’t finished yet. “Our mother has been dead for far longer than you have drawn breath,” she said, this time loud enough for Zack to hear her.

Jesper clicked his tongue, one arm sweeping wide. “Come now, is this hostility any way to welcome a family member?”

“We are not family,” Rose spat, but something in her voice told Zylah the Fae wasn’t so sure.

Jesper held out his hand to examine the vanquicite ring, the other still firmly planted on Zack’s shoulder. “Well, in the loosest sense of the word. Aurelia found me over a century ago. Made me into what I am.”

Zylah shrugged out of Saphi’s hold and took a step forward, but Kopi landed on her shoulder, as if in warning. Zylah didn’t like any of this. Not one bit. She kept pushing and pushing, praying to the gods to give her back her abilities.

Raif had taken up position at Holt’s side, his sword lowered, but Zylah knew that meant nothing. She’d seen how fast he moved. How fast they both could move. And she worried Jesper might be faster.

Jesper circled his father’s corpse, never further than hand’s reach from Zack. “Mother saved me when no one else would. Raised me when the bloodlust took over me for decades. I was meant to take Arnir’s place, but by the time the bloodlust eased, it was his son whose place I took instead.”

“Where is the real prince?” Zylah asked, though she was sure she could guess.

Jesper grinned, and it was the look he’d used on her in his bed chambers, only this time, those two very sharp fangs were on display. “Dead, along with anyone who knew him as a boy.” He admired the ring again. “Arnir’s memory was wiped many times. Compulsion—such a gift. Such a simple task to perform, perhaps the favourite of my acquired abilities.” He looked at Zack before his gaze rested on Zylah once more. She read the unspoken threat and took another step towards her brother, Saphi close behind her.Compulsion.Zylah recalled how it had felt to stand before Jesper in his bed chamber, as if she were frozen to the spot.Bastard.How many women had he used hisgifton?

This was years in the planning. She tried to think back on how old the prince was supposed to be, a few years younger than her, and how many people he would have killed to make them all believe he was the true prince. She could think of dozens at the palace alone.

“But it isn’t him I’ve come for. It’s you.” Jesper pointed a long finger at Zylah, and she could almost feel it drag up her thigh and claw at her shirt. She swallowed back the bile that burned in the back of her throat.

But she wouldn’t show him fear. Zylah kept pushing at her abilities, testing, pushing against the lingering sensation of the vanquicite. And felt something stir.

Raif circled back to the cabin, and Zylah wanted nothing more than to stand beside him, but Saphi still held her back.

“Why?” Raif asked. “Come to finish what you started in Dalstead? Our kind have a particular punishment for your choice of misconduct.”

Misconduct. That was certainly one way of putting it. Zylah knew what kind of punishment she felt was most fitting for Jesper’s crime.

But Jesper’s smile didn’t falter. “Because I owe a debt to Marcus, for keeping our mother safe.”

Raif took a step closer to Jesper. “Marcus can go fuck himself.”

“Ah. He warned me you were protective of her.” Jesper cocked his head to one side, as if he were sizing Raif up.

They needed to leave. All of them. She glanced at Holt, willing her expression to say,gather them all up, take them away from here, please. But he just moved his head almost imperceptibly, as if to say,don’t try anything.

“What does Marcus want with me?” Zylah asked, her attention sliding back to Jesper.

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