Page 46 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
“Such a waste, Belladonna,” a masculine voice rumbles. It sounds so far away. “We could have used this one.”
My heart slows until it stops beating.
Each panted breath comes shorter, shallower and further between.
An agony like none I’ve felt before rips through me, lighting up every inch of my body, making it spasm, until that too dims. There is crying inside my head. A voice wailing and screaming at me to get up. A soul-deep grief rolls through me, piled with hysteria, but those emotions do not belong to me. Layer by layer, they float away on the wind, until they are just a distant whisper.
Blackness crowds around the edges of my awareness. Dark pinpricks form across my visual field, half blinding me. A bone-chilling coldness seeps all the warmth out of me. I can no longer feel my body, but that doesn’t seem to be such a bad thing. The pain is gone.
I am so incredibly tired, I could sleep for an eternity. There is a deep part of me that wants to give in to the beckoning calm and peace, away from the agony of my flesh, but something holds meback, with claws sunk into my soul.Someonestill needs me. And so I hesitate.
“Well fought.” A loud clapping rings out, paired with a deep, masculine voice, jarring what is left of my senses. It’s not Valentine. A new silhouette walks out before my eyes. The strike of a cane against the floor tells me exactly who has entered the arena. “Really, Belladonna. Did you have to kill him? You have no manners at all…no sense of diplomacy.”
“It’s the rules,” she replies with nonchalance. “He shouldn’t have challenged me.”
I slip away, until there is nothing left but bursts of light among the blackness and that most distant pleading inside my head. She tries to hold on to me, but I am dragging her with me down into the abyss.
A sudden warmth blooms through my chest like a fire roaring to life, jolting my entire body, then my heart gives a feeble beat, followed by another. The pain of being sliced apart from the inside by a vicious poison flares as the numbness recedes from my limbs. I drag in a ragged breath, filling my lungs, as my vision slowly returns.As my brain registers that I died. My body did at least.
But somehow, I am still here, in this fighting ring, defeated without a drop of my blood spilled.
Oh, Aldrin! Thank the gods!Keira cries out. Trauma lashes through her, making her shake violently. I hate that I did that to her. Again.
There is a hand on the bare skin of my neck, warm and large, controlling the very particles of my blood, forcing it to move around my body and making my heart beat even after the flesh died. That foreign power attacks the poisons plaguing me, purging them from my system. It is an immense, specialized magic that succeeds where my own would have failed even if my reservoirs were full.
There is only one fae with such magic.
I rear up, gasping, desperately scanning the space around me for the next attack. Would they be cruel enough to kill and resurrect me again and again?
He is crouched over me. Leonardo. The infamous King of the Starlight Court, with a reputation as black as the lands he rules over.
“Aldrin.” He drags my name out. “I have been following your plight very closely these last decades. You have finally decided to take action and that has sparked my interest. I would like to offer you a bargain you cannot refuse. One that could be beneficial to both our courts.”
My skin crawls. I do not want to be at the mercy of this brutal king, one who rules over Nightmares and vicious monsters, but I have little choice. This fae is just as likely to drink my blood and devour my organs as he is to offer me a bargain that is actually beneficial to my people.
He holds out a hand and I take it, hiding my shudder as he drags me to my feet.
Ihold my sword at the ready while the Mistress and Master of Death circle around me. King Leonardo stands opposite, leaning on his cane as his crimson eyes examine me from head to toe. He smiles darkly, my stomach turning as a hint of fangs becomes visible.
The rumors are true, then.
The Starlight King can not only control the blood pumping through the veins of another fae, but he also drinks it to steal their extra abilities for as long as the liquid lasts in his body. It is a terrifying power to hold.
My mind whirls, looking for a way out of this dangerous situation.
I couldn’t fight two of them. The gods know Belladonna would have finished me on her own. I have no chance against three.
Leonardo doesn’t wear armor. He doesn’t need to lift a finger or break a sweat to win a fight. Not with his powers. He is clad in finery instead. A vest of black brocade with silver buttons, and a coat of long midnight feathers. His curling inky hair tumblesdown to his shoulders, and his short-cropped beard frames a strong jaw. All of that darkness contrasts against skin so white it is almost transparent, like the man never sees the sun. The only color to him is the blood red of his eyes.
I take up a defensive stance and channel the magic that slowly returns to me into my enchanted sword.
“Are you looking for another fight, Aldrin?” Belladonna purrs as she stops by Leonardo’s side, staff still in hand. “Was one death not enough for you?”
“Usually in a duel, the opponents are announced at the beginning. They don’t sneak an extra combatant in halfway through.” I send Valentine a dark look.
She raises a single eyebrow. “Would you like a rematch? How many times would you like to die? I’m not sure if Leonardo is feeling generous enough to bring you back a second time. It is a lot of effort, and he is the only fae alive who can counteract my venom.”
Valentine cracks his neck from side to side. “You’ve already had your fun, Belladonna, and I hardly got a taste.”
