Page 343 of Bitten By the Fae
“Your king,” he replied, power underlining those two words and wrapping around my neck like a noose. “Nowkneel.”
“Fuck you,” I choked out, my own gifts roaring to life, preparing for a fight.
I wasn’t going to bend over and take this shit. The source had chosen me for a reason.Iwas the future king. And I let themfeel it by unleashing all my power in a rapid wave of fire that engulfed the room in red embers.
“Kols!” Ella shouted, her small frame collapsing over Tray, her defensive shield rapidly melting beneath my fury.
Phoenix fires!I yanked my essence back, sparing her and my brother, only to feel my father’s energy flare outward. It struck me directly in the chest.
My knees buckled beneath the impact, the air whooshing from my lungs.No!I pushed back, creating a shield to protect myself against the onslaught, but it was too late.
Dark energy rippled along my arms, the source calling upon my spirit to relinquish control. It hit me from inside, spreading a sharp demand through my veins, sucking the life from my very soul.
I cried out, the agony shredding apart the core of my being. It felt as though I was being ripped in half, my purpose in life dying before my eyes.
Don’t do this. Please don’t do this!I begged as the dark source reneged on every promise it had ever made.
The Council didn’t help.
My father continued to pull… pull…pull.
“You’re killing him!” Ella screamed.
Tears streamed from my eyes, my vision blurring as I attempted to yank some of the power back into my veins, my soul screeching in anguish at having my essence ripped from me without permission.
This can’t be happening,I thought, bewildered and dazed.How is this happening?
I wasn’t given a trial.
I wasn’t given a chance to speak.
“Stop!” Emelyn demanded at the same time Tray wheezed out, “Dad…”
Wind rippled through the room, silencing them all and zeroing in on my chest as another spell pounded into my heart.
The denouncement.
He wasevisceratingmy essence.Exsanguination.I’d seen this done. I knew the chances of survival were slim, and after having the source ripped from me? I would never recover from this.
I was going to die.
By my father’s own hand.
For falling for an abomination.
For choosing right over wrong.
For not wanting to subject an innocent to the death penalty just because our archaic laws dictated it.
I curled into a ball, my soul weeping as the blood drained from my body, squeezing every bit of life left from my veins.
I’m sorry,I thought to Aflora.I’m so sorry I failed you.
And Zeph.
Oh, fuck,Zeph.
He would die, too. Not because of my death, but because the Council would require it.
