Page 98 of Court of Lies and Deceit

I’m so dazed that it takes me another few seconds to remember who he is and where we are. And Oleander uses those seconds well.

Puffs of sand rise up around my body as he drops to his knees over me, straddling my chest. I gasp in a breath, finally realizing that I’ve lost the connection to my magic, and scramble to summon it again.

Two strong hands close around my throat.

Panic rips through my chest.

Yanking my arms up, I try to ram my elbows into the crook of his to break his grip. He snarls. Then black shadows shoot out. I try to gasp as they wrap around my wrists, but only strangled gurgling noises make it out of my throat as he continues squeezing while his shadows force my arms away.

I yank furiously and kick my legs with everything I have as the shadows pin my hands to the ground on either side of my head. But it’s futile. My arms are now trapped and my legs can’t reach him.

Oleander continues squeezing.

The panic inside me clangs like giant bells.

I’m going to die. Oh Goddess, I’m going to die.

Fear washes through me like cold water.

Then it’s broken up by a sudden roaring feeling of fury.

My mind is spinning so much that it takes me a moment to realize that it isn’t mine. The fury is Draven’s. I can feel it through the mate bond. It’s faint, like all emotions that trickle through the bond, but it still helps. That burst of sudden fury cuts through the panic for a second.

I need to do something. Something. Now. Right now!

Calling up a bone white flame of fear, I let it burn before me.

Oleander tightens his grip on my throat.

A whimper escapes my lips.

Black spots start flickering across my vision.

I try to move the flame of fear to his chest.

It balks.

Panic streaks through my entire body like bolts of lightning. I kick my legs, slamming my heels into the sand and yank at the shadows around my wrists. My lungs scream with the need for oxygen.

The fear and panic and frustration and the utter certainty that I am going to die explode like a storm inside me.

I scream in my mind.

I scream so loudly with my entire soul that I taste blood and iron.

And then Ishove.

That bone white spark of fear slams into Oleander’s chest with enough force to send a shockwave through me.

He gasps, jerking back and losing his grip on my throat.

Air floods my lungs as I drag in a deep breath.

Pleasure floods my entire soul. It’s unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It’s like a warm hug. Like floating in a sparkling ocean. Like resting on a fluffy white cloud. It fills my entire soul.

Stunned, I pour an unstoppable flood of magic into that bone white flame of fear in my opponent’s chest.

He screams.

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