Page 54 of The Silver Spider
“It suppresses the use of magic,” he said. “It will not otherwise harm him.”
She was a little surprised he seemed so inclined to give her useful information, but then he technically wanted her on his side. It gave him the opportunity to appear forthcoming—Amnan could have answered the question as well.
His muscle flexed under her touch. She glanced up at him, met his eyes. “They’re probably going to torture me,” he said. “Don’t let it affect your thinking.”
The words were a cold shock, and his apparent indifference to the fact of his upcoming pain.
“If you hadn’t followed me, you wouldn’t be in this,” she said.
“I will always follow you, Sere.” He bent his head, brushing his lips against hers, then turned away, her hand sliding away from his chest.
She froze. His action was revealing enough, no matter how one chose to interpret it. Her hand curled into a fist. He stood in front of her, a shield, and he was the one, who needed protecting. There was no resentment in him, she felt no anger toward her coming from their link. It was astounding.
“Torture is distasteful,” Dawnthorne said. “We hope to show you the consequences of stubbornness. And later, the rewards of cooperation.”
“This is all too much talking for me,” Amnan said. “I feel faint. Can we get on with it?”
Serephone said nothing, the tension in her jaw sending shooting pains in her head. Amnan’s fingers brushed her hand, a brief press on her skin. She didn’t know if he meant it to be soothing, or a warning.
“I’m guessing no blood?” he asked. “That would mean unnecessary work for your staff.”
She’d never heard quite this level of insolence from him before—he was normally neutral to the point of boring her to tears, when he wasn’t actively trying to be annoying. She wished he wouldn’t bait the fae.
Serephone pushed in front of him. “Strong arm tactics won’t work with me.”
Dawnthorne said nothing. “There is enough of the binding in your blood that I can, with the bracelet, control you in small ways. I’ve chosen not to. And your Amnan is immune to my influence because you have bound him to you already.”
“What?”
“Two fae cannot bind the same person,” Anissa said. “You both protected and endangered him. A mistake you would not have made were you properly educated.”
There was no insult in her sister’s tone, only fact. Anissa spoke softly, as usual, as if she didn’t want her words to call attention to her. Dawnthorne glanced at her, but only said, “Let this be her first lesson. It is a gentle one.”
He raised his hand and Amnan stiffened, shoving her behind him. A thin stream of black light flew from Dawnthorne’s fingers. Serephone stepped in front of Amnan, Anissa responding with immortal speed and pushing her out of the way. They tussled, her elder sister maneuvering Serephone into a hold with a strength she wouldn’t again underestimate.
“Please don’t,” Anissa said in her ear. “I don’t want to see you hurt. Let him endure this for you—if he loves you, he will prefer it this way.”
“Let me go.”
“I can’t.”
When this was over, if she didn’t kill Anissa, she’d ask her for lessons. Her combat skills were what they could be, considering she’d been trained by a woman who’d cobbled together her own fighting style mostly from trial and error and random teaching over the course of decades.
Her mother wouldn’t like hearing that particular opinion.
“There is no benefit to me in bringing you, or Amnan, pain,” Dawnthorne said. “Comply, and this will end.”
The black magic penetrated the bubble surrounding Amnan and struck him in the chest. Amnan paled, body jerking, jaw tight. Serephone didn’t know much about dragon anatomy—she just assumed his heart was in the same location as hers.
“Comply to what?” she snarled. “I have a life. I am not fae. I don’t care about your laws, and I don’t want to swear fealty to a family that isn’t mine.”
“You are fae enough that you instinctively bound another to you in the manner of our people,” he replied, expression cool as he observed her.
“Amnan started it!”
“Perhaps. But you ended it.”
“You have to accept the binding oath willingly,” Anissa said. “Coercive magic doesn’t work on fae very well. It makes things difficult sometimes.”
