Page 138 of A Song of Air
Predator or prey.
Bryson sobbed as she reached for a peach in her shaking, broken hand. There were cheers from above as she brought the nectar to her lips. She sobbed again and tried one last time. Just one. But her magic died. It flickered and went out.
Empty. She was nothing but a broken, empty vessel.
Cheers rained again as Bryson had no choice but to open her mouth...
...and sink her teeth into the fruit.
The bone tore from her back. She swore she blacked out before she felt herself being lifted... lifted.... She was thrown unkindly to the ground. Not mud, but a harder surface. She tried to hold back her tears but failed as the pain engulfed her, pushing her in and out of consciousness.
Her eyes opened, blinking past tears and mud and blood. The queen loomed over her, smiling down.
Bryson could still taste the sweetness of the overripe fruit on her tongue, and it made her want to gag.
The queen bent and took Bryson’s chin in her hand. Her grip was firm. Unkind. Unyielding.
“You are mine now,” she whispered cruelly. “And I am going to take you from him just like he took my daughter from me.”
The Hunt
“Is she able to seeyour cock at all?” Gwyn taunted.
“For her to be able to see it he would need to have one,” Glyn added.
The twins chortled, bending over at the waist as laughter overcame them, shaking their tall, thin bodies.
Cass rolled his eyes and tightened his hold on his spear. Owyn, meanwhile, pointedly ignored the twins and glared in Weylyn’s direction. The force of his anger was as sharp as the blade he whet with the tips of his claws, the scraping over the edge of it meant to mock and intimidate. Weylyn only wanted to roll his eyes in his brother’s direction.
Owyn was out for Weylyn’s blood, and he knew it meant he was to take greater care with him than the others. Gwyn and Glyn were dangerous, but they were only dangerous together. While the two were rarely separated, Owyn was the one who would very obviously strike for Weylyn’s throat. He was violent, ruthless, but he was also dumb. If anyone were a true threat, that was Cassimir.
But Cassimir seemed intent on keeping the peace for the Hunt.
“Control yourselves,” he admonished the twins. “Do not speak about our brother’s mate this way.” He slid off the side of one of his beast’s, placating it with a hand to its snout. “We have much more important things to focus our attention on.”
“Like killing this traitor?” Owyn snapped in Weylyn’s direction. His sharp teeth gnashed and his tail swished side to side in obvious agitation.
