Page 113 of Ecliptic

I held my chin firm, knowing what he was about to ask of me.

“Are you ready to bleed?” he asked, his eyes darting to my pounding pulse.

“For the ruler of Hara’dune? Of course,” I replied, keeping my voice steady despite the tornado of nerves raging within me. I couldn’t push him too hard. Not yet.

He nodded off to the side, and an attendant ran to the center of the dial. His pale skin and red hair caught the sunlight as he placed a dried potted plant between us. The elve bowed to the king and retreated without a word.

Aedris grabbed my wrist slowly, allowing me time to withdraw, but I didn’t budge. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Tales of your blood have certainly spread,” he announced as he retrieved a knife from his robes. The pounding vein in my neck raced with my heartbeat.

He placed the tip of his blade on my pointer finger. I sucked in a sharp breath as he applied more pressure, and a bloom of blood sprouted on my finger,

Before I could drop the blood on the dried plant, Aedris plopped my finger into his mouth and sucked. Hard.

Disgust roiled through me as his tongue stroked the pad of my finger.

The ring of his unnaturally bright eyes shrank, and his pupils widened. He didn’t stop me as I pulled my finger from his lips, fighting the urge to wipe his saliva on my dress.

“You certainly taste of the stars. Sweet and mouthwatering. But is it enough for me to lend you my army?”

“Take more, and let’s find out,” I said in a sultry murmur, gesturing to the dead bush between us.

“Very well then,” he replied, reaching out for me once again.

Giving him my hand after he’d consumed a drop of my blood without consent was an act of the utmost control. I plastered on a grin and gave him my hand, wishing I could blast him with my Light.

Aedris’ pupils continued to shrink as whatever effect my blood had on him worked its way through his system. I really hoped it didn’t have ecstasy-inducing properties, but I feared that wasn’t the case. Even Erovos knew that if he tasted me, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And something told me Aedris didn’t have nearly the self-control as an ancient spirit.

He held my wrist tight as he dragged the blade across my palm, a line of crimson seeping to the surface.

It hurt like hell, but I kept my face impassive as he tilted my hand and allowed my blood to drop onto the dead weeds between us.

And just as I knew it would, buds of green and white began pushing through the soil, fighting and searching for the light of life. As if watching a time-lapse, the sprouts grew until a small, thriving cactus plant emerged from the dead soil.

Though I was familiar, Aedris and the crowd were not, and they gasped when they realized what was happening. My eyesshot to Rowen for the first time since I’d been up on the dial, and his gaze flashed with worry as he watched Aedris’ face. My stare shot back to Aedris, his expression turning from astounded wonder to pure, unadulterated desire.

It was at that moment I knew I was in danger.

“Keira,” Rowen roared, but before I could react, the king grabbed me from behind my knee and hiked my leg up onto his hip. The folds of my dress fell down either side of my thigh as he pressed me closer to his chest. My hands landed on the tops of his shoulders as I fought to reclaim my balance.

Suddenly, I felt the sharp tip of his blade on the inside of my thigh, right at my femoral artery.

Fear choked up my throat. One slip, and I could bleed out in minutes. Aedris seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“What is to keep me from draining you right here?” he asked with crazed eyes. Rowen, Dyani, and Maddock charged toward me, but the guards leaped into action with their curved blades.

My heart seized in terror. Though they were exceptional fighters, they were unarmed against the desert elves. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.

I raised my hand and motioned for them to stop. Maddock and Dyani hesitated, looking to Rowen. My soul flame heeded my command and froze within the guard’s hold, but I could tell by the raging fire in his eyes and the heaving of his chest that it was taking all of his strength not to fight his way to me.

My pulse rang in my ears as Aedris’ grip tightened on my leg, the blade pressing deeper into my skin.

“It’s a whole world in need, not just the city you’ve recently come to rule. Draining me for your own gain would certainly help the elves of Hara’dune,” I said as he pressed harder, drawing a nick of blood that seeped down my thigh. “But my blood is not a long-term solution.” I tried to remain as calm aspossible, considering my leg was wrapped around a man who threatened to exsanguinate me.

“I will have saved my people,” he said, nodding to the crowd, my leg still hitched at his hip. “With the help of your body.”

Despite the mayhem, my eyes remained calm and fixed on Aedris. “You will have given them a false hope, turned to ash as swiftly as a burning bush.”

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