Page 106 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
Whirling, I spring to my feet. In my haste to leave, the back of my heel smacks into the candlestick holder, knocking it over and releasing an echoing clang that’s so loud it could wake the entire castle above.
I don’t need to look to know that my carelessness has been noted. The moaning and revelry have ceased. I run, sprinting back up the spiral staircase and toward the safety of the hallway above. Feet pound behind me, the sound growing closer and louder.
Breeching the hidden panel, I fling myself into the hall and scream at the top of my lungs. “Help! Someone, please?—”
Pressure splits through the back of my skull, sending fragmented pain splintering out through my eyes. Every part of my body grows heavy. I drop, hitting the cherry wood floor below. Rolling, I look up.
Cassius’s unfamiliar pale face and strange yellow eyes peer down at me. “You’ve done it now, Princess.”
Chapter 33
Harrow
The second Lenore vanishes, the in-between changes. No longer fueled by her mind, it becomes my living hell. I stand within the maze that sits on the castle grounds. The entrance lies before me, and just beyond it, the dark forest awaits. All around me, I catch glimpses of Lenore. Her dark hair and fair skin flash by. Screams echo in the darkness.
One version of Lenore is being lifted above the maze by a blue-winged demon. Navy horns shine in the false moonlight, an evil grin illuminating his face. He buries his claws in her belly, ripping her open and sending her organs tumbling down. Another version of her is being dragged into the dark forest by the trees themselves. They fight for her, branches clawing at her small frame until she’s ripped limb from limb. All around me, Lenore is dying in the most graphic ways imaginable. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’ve existed long enough to knowthe tricks of this place. It isn’t real, but it is meant to drive me insane.
Finding an exit is going to be even more challenging in my hellscape. We were so close to escaping together. I stride through the maze, doing my best to ignore the pleading screams of my sweet Lenore as she’s maimed, murdered, drowned, strangled, and turned inside out. The stench of blood and rot is overpowering.
I’m going to need help. It’s going to take immense energy, and once I do it, I’ll be near depleted. I decide it’s worth the risk and summon Mytha. This is not my domain. Pulling another creature between worlds tears at the very fabric of my being.
She appears in her bird form, squawking with dismay as she takes in her surroundings.
“I know, I’m sorry. Clearly, I’m desperate. I’ve lost Lenore?—”
Mytha’s squawking picks up.
“She’s alive?”
My joy is short-lived as Mytha tells me of Lenore’s captivity under the current ruler of Roseheart. “A queen with exceptionally powerful dark magic.”
Anxiety shoves its way through my relief. “Then there’s no time to waste. Fly ahead, help me find the exit.”
A woman’s laughter sounds from close by. Mytha freezes. Moving to perch on my shoulder, she tucks her head beneath her wing.
“Come to offer me another feathered adornment?” The light, airy voice of the ruler of the in-between slices through my thoughts.
A deep sigh presses between my pursed lips. “Drusinnia.”
She laughs again, the sound far too beautiful for such a monstrous creature. “Have you missed me, Prince of Death?” Heat from her breath settles over the back of my neck.
I turn, finding the ruler of the in-between lounging on the decaying trunk of a blackened tree. A half-skeletal corpse of Lenore lies on the ground beside her, twitching every so often.
Drusinnia’s face is as strikingly beautiful as I remember. But her cruelty cannot be hidden. It’s all too obvious, the acts of torture and death replaying in her irises for all to see in an unending loop of pain and terror.
She curves her full lips upward. “It’s so good to see you.”
I don’t know what type of creature Drusinnia is. Her skin is as red as the blood she spends her days spilling from those who get lost in her lands. A mane of curling black hair hangs down, covering part of her chest. Her bare breasts hang heavy, leading down to her waist, and the place where the true scope of how nightmarish she really is comes into view. Her long, insect-like body is lined with hundreds of tiny legs. They click as she shuffles upright, slithering toward me. Part gorgeous woman, part hellish insect, a hundred percent demonic entity. She’s as lovely as she is deadly.
“Release me from your realm, Dru.”
She taps a dark nail against her chin. “Hmmm. I could. What will you give me if I do?”
My wings flatten against my back. The scars at the base of my back burn. “You’ll not get another wing from me.”
She sticks out her painted black lip in a pout. “Pity. I was hoping to acquire the full collection. They’re rather stunning on me, don’t you think?” She turns and my insides twist with pain and rage. My wings have been crudely stitched to her red back. An echo of emptiness and utter loss rattles through my ribcage. They hang, limply. The edges are bare and featherless, having been dragged for so many years. She can’t even fly. She just took them for sport.
“I may be willing to make other arrangements. It does get so lonely here.” Her gaze roams the length of my body. Revulsionsends bile up my throat. “Of course I’d want you in your other form. I do love a challenge.” She grins, displaying her needlelike teeth.
