Page 111 of Realm of Wind and Vines
My mate just leans back casually against the door, crossing his arms over his chest and one ankle over the other. His entire body language is practically dripping with nonchalant power and lazy arrogance. A smirk spreads across his lips, and he lets out a chuckle.
“What’s so funny, traitor?” the tavern keeper snarls at him.
“The fact that you have it all wrong. I am not the most dangerous person in here.” His golden eyes glint as he nods towards me. “Sheis.”
The three of them quickly twist towards me again. Confusion, and a hint of wariness, flits across the tavern keeper’s face as he looks me up and down. The blond patron, Gordon, does the same. The third guy, Kil, is neither convinced nor intimidated. He lets out a mocking scoff as he flicks a dismissive glance over my body before meeting my eyes. His boots thud against the stained wooden floor as he starts towards me.
“I’d recommend simply obeying our orders,” I tell him while he advances on me. Sliding out my dagger, I flash him a vicious smile. “Or this is about to get messy.”
Anger pulses across his face. “I will not take orders from some skinny little fae bitch who thinks she’s?—”
I slash my knife at him.
He jumps back, surprisingly fast for someone who has four empty mugs of ale on his table, and twists to the side to avoid the blade. It misses his chest but nicks his upper arm instead. And that is all I need.
Summoning my magic, I shove it straight at that violet spark of pain that flares up in his chest. He cries out in pain as I pour a flood of magic into it, increasing that flame until it roars like a wildfire. Screams of pure agony rip from his chest, and he collapses down on the ground.
I stand there over him, increasing the strength of my magic, and watch him writhe in pain at my feet.
“Please,” he gasps out. “Please, stop.”
Staring down at him with merciless eyes that are glowing with magic, I keep increasing his pain until he screams and breaks into panicked sobs. He reaches a shaking hand towards my boots.
“Please, I’m begging you,” he sobs.
I kick his hand aside and continue increasing my magic.
“I’ll obey,” he cries. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want.”
A vicious smile curls my lips, but I finally cut off my magic. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He just curls in on himself and sobs on the floor.
I slide my gaze to Gordon and the tavern keeper. “Anyone else?”
Fear crashes over their features, and they quickly raise their hands and drop to their knees.
My whole soul pulses with satisfaction. All my life, I have been at someone else’s mercy. So watching three grown men get down on their knees and surrender is so deeply satisfying that it makes me feel drunk on power.
Across the room, Draven watches me from where he is still leaning nonchalantly against the door. His eyes burn with such hunger that it snatches my breath right out of my lungs. It looks like he wants to shove me up against the wall and fuck my brains out right here.
The sight of it makes my soul vibrate with pleasure.
I was so worried about what Draven would think when he found out about the endless rage and hatred that have been building inside me for decades. I was worried that it would change the way he looks at me. That it would make him stop loving me.
But it hasn’t. It’s the exact opposite.
He loves this ruthless side of me. He loves seeing me powerful and in control. He loves the darkness in me as much as the light.
“What do you want?” the tavern keeper stammers while casting panicked glances between me and Draven.
“We want you to run up to the elite soldiers’ barracks and tell Sharptail that his cousin is brawling here in your tavern,” Draven says, locking eyes with the terrified man. “Bring him, and only him, here straight away.”
The tavern keeper jerks his chin down in a couple of frantic nods.
“If you even think about betraying us…” A cruel smile spreads across Draven’s lips.
“I won’t,” he stammers. “I swear, I won’t.”
