Page 76 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Draven let out a disapproving sound, and I blinked through my tears just as his brown leather boots filled my vision. Then he nudged me over until I was lying on my back, my arm clutched against my chest as I stared up at him. The dark brown leather whip hovered in the air, coiled around my blood ribbons.

“Impressive.” He toyed with the end of a ribbon beforegrabbing them and balling them up in his fist. “Not the best choice for a weapon though. A whip is much better.”

I bit back another scream, trembles racking my body as his whip lunged forward and its bloodred, pointed tip stopped less than an inch away from my eye.

“Tell me where she is,” Draven purred.

“No.” I clenched my jaw, pushing back the pain, and then met the prince’s stare again. “Eat shit and die.”

Something like respect flashed across his face before his eyes darted to the door. “You just had to scream, didn’t you?” I let out a relieved breath as he summoned the whip away from my face.

The doors slammed open, revealing Alaric, Kieran, and Nyx—Adrienne and Emil behind them. The last two had been babysitting me the past week, and I could tell by their expressions that they were annoyed at me.

That was fair. I was annoyed at myself too.

They’d both had things they’d wanted to take care of and had told me to stay in Samara’s room. I’d promised to do so, and I’d meant it at the time . . . but then I had remembered some books I wanted to reference in the library and had figured it wouldn’t hurt to sneak out for an hour.

Alaric’s eyes were flat and hard, and the rangers were looking at the prince like they were imagining ripping out his spine, but Kieran . . . he looked disappointed.

I laughed, wincing as the movement jostled my wrist. “You and the dark prince, eh? Didn’t know you had it in you, pretty boy.”

Kieran paled as all eyes fell on him.

“It’s”—he swallowed hard—“complicated.”

“Everything about you lot is complicated,” Adrienne growled. “I still think we should kill him.”

“Think you can?” Draven looked at her curiously, not the least bit concerned about being significantly outnumbered.

“Drav,” Kieran said tiredly. To my surprise, the prince backed off. Emil and Alaric helped me to my feet while Adrienne and Nyx continued to glare at the prince.

We all watched warily as Draven paced back and forth, his whip gliding down to coil on his hip again. My ribbons were still bunched up in his hand, the ends of them dragging on the floor.

“FUCK!” Draven picked up a chair and slammed it onto the ground. It shattered into several pieces, and he threw what remained in his hand at the table before spinning around to face us. “Tell me where she is.Now.”

The rangers stepped forward, swords in hand. There was so much tension in the room, I could feel my bloodlust rising.

Alaric was a rigid wall at my back, but Kieran moved until he was standing in front of Draven and cupped the prince’s cheek with his hand. “Tell us why, Drav. I love you . . . but I can’t trust you.”

“Well, shit,” I muttered. “I just thought they were fuckin’.”

“My mother wants Samara,” Draven admitted reluctantly. “She’s run out of patience. I received a letter from her this morning telling me to bring the Heir to her.”

“Why?” Kieran stiffened.

“I’ve been buying time, telling her Samara was considering the proposal.” Draven stepped away from Kieran and resumed pacing while running a hand roughly through his hair. “She’ll know Samara has left and she’ll send her guards after her. And Erendriel—” Draven cut himself off as pain flashed across his face. He spoke the next few words carefully, like he was testing how much he could say. “The wraiths will be after her too. You have to tell me where she went, Kier.”

“We’ll go and get her,” Nyx said.

Draven shook his head. “The woods will be crawling with wraiths soon, if they’re not already. You’ll be cut down before you ever reach her. It has to be me.”

“Why do you stand a chance?” Emil asked.

The prince smiled. “I’m more than just a pretty face.”

“My ribbons,” I spat and held out my uninjured hand.

Draven glanced at me and then down at my ribbons still in his hand. Then he loosened his fingers, and my ribbons shot towards me before I pushed them back with a thought. Kieran yelled as one ribbon wrapped around the prince’s neck and the other wrapped around the whip that instantly lunged up to defend the prince before wrapping it around a chair.

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