Page 54 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I saw red.
This man had taken me, was telling ridiculous lies about my Clan to my face, and now he had the gall tosmirkat me?
“You think this is funny?” I asked in a deadly whisper. “You think my life falling apart, my Clan being destroyed from the inside out, my relatives and friends dying, isfunny?”
The smirk fell from his face as fast as it appeared. “No, I–”
I didn’t listen.
All the anger which had been simmering since before he’d entered this blasted room exploded to the surface.
I swung the bottle at his face with the dregs of energy I had.
I knew I couldn’t touch him.
I didn’t care.
He instantly raised his arm.
Not to block me, no.
He flicked his hand like he had at the wedding and my entire body seized.
One moment I was propelling myself toward him.
The next, I was frozen mid-swing, my entire body out of my control.
The panic I’d been trying so very hard to suffocate rushed forward.
I couldn’t move.
My limbs locked, my neck paralyzed, my fingers white on the bottle but unmoving.
Every part of me belonged to him now.
“Don’t,” he said simply, sounding annoyed. No. Angry. He was angry. “After the past few days, I am in no mood to deflect your weak attempts at maiming me.”
“I am notweak,” I gritted out.
So he hadn’t taken away my speech.
Small comfort when I couldn’t even blink.
“Right now, you are. You were shaking where you stood and not because you fear me. The sooner you accept that, the quicker you can start resting and recuperating.”
First Daughters couldn’t afford to rest–especially not in enemy territory.
“I should have killed you back in the maze,” I said.
“You could have tried.” He cocked his head to the side, examining me. “Mercy isn’t always the right answer.”
“You miserable bastard–”
“You’re not in Aquila anymore, princess. I’m free to tell you the truth and you have to face it.” Shadows crowded his gaze, making it even more ferocious. Then he blinked and sighed and his eyes sparked true blue again. “Promise you won’t attack me again and I’ll let you go.”
I pursed my lips.
He rolled his eyes. At me. “And she’s concerned with my pride,” he mumbled.
