Page 110 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
He grabs me by the throat to hold me in place, and rears around to the orc. “Then I will find another noble to torture first, to cancel out the clause in the bargain that she can’t be harmed in this court.”
The orc shrugs. “I doubt that would work. She is under your mother’s protection, so your mother needs to torture both a noble guest and your queen to activate the contradiction. We both know Titania has no stomach for messes.”
Torin looks at me with disgust, twisting his lips, then drops me. “The Winter ambassador is a guest in this court. Perhaps it is time I paid Sasha another visit. I wonder what she sounds like when she screams.”
He strides out of the room without even a glance at Zedrick crumpled on the floor. The guards enter, pack up his instruments, then carry the unconscious noble out on a stretcher crafted from air and vines.
The second the door of my cell slams shut, a sob escapes from my lips. I bury my head in my hands, my chest heaving silently with my suppressed tears as so much turmoil churns through me. All I can see is Sasha’s face, slashed-up and bloody, eyes lost in even more trauma. Her small body crumpled and broken, fingers snapped the wrong way. She has endured far too much in this court, and I am sure in her own as well.
Tears stream down my face as violent shakes overtake me. I am just so cold. So tired, but I cannot sleep. Torin will come forme next, and I must kill him before he has a chance to stick me with more poison.
You are safe, Keira. You are safe,Aldrin repeats again and again.
“He is bluffing,” an orc calls out, clawed fingers wrapping around the bars of the cell. “He won’t hurt Sasha. Torin has always had a sick fascination with her. Besides, we are sending her a message to hide.”
My eyes flick to the puka that brought in the cookies earlier. Its long ears twitch as another orc places a note inside its vest, then it is off, climbing the wall.
I let out a long, ragged breath as relief floods me. Sasha has always been kind, even when she hasn’t had to be.
“Was that true, what you said about the bargain?” I ask. “That he can’t torture me? That Titania won’t?”
“He has no fucking clue,” the quiet one answers.
“I didn’t want to have to watch you get torn apart. The important thing is that Torin believed it.” The orc standing nearest runs a hand down his face. “There is an enchantment on these bars. Magic can be used on either side of them, but cannot cross the barrier. I couldn’t help you any other way.”
A heavy silence falls over us. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare out the window of their cell as the sliver of sky turns silver, then indigo, then black. Not a single thought rolls through my head as I dissociate, body still shivering. Every muscle aches from being held so taut and pain claws across my temples.
I can see no way out of this.
We threw everything we had at Titania and lost.
The element of surprise wasours. The Spring Court army followedus. The majority of the people were onourside.
And we lost.
Aldrin’s presence remains with me. I focus on the ghost of his large, warm hand rubbing up and down my back as he whisperssoothing words in my ear. He is deep within the layers of my consciousness again, taking control of my magic and slowly picking off the remnants of poison in my blood until it is all gone. I don’t have the energy to help him.
All hope is lost tonight.
Tomorrow, I may pick myself up and fight again, but not right now.
Lean into me, dear heart,Aldrin rumbles.Stay here with me.
I become more aware of his physical body than my own, leaving my thoughts behind. He lies in a soft bed with a blanket pulled up to his hips, coating us both in warmth. A full moon peers in through the sheer curtains of his room, illuminating the hard muscle of his chest and the sparse curls of hair that reach from the V of his belly to his hips and beneath.
Gods, what I would do to be there with him, to run the tips of my fingers down the grooves and divots of hard abdominal muscles. I want to hold his face in my hands and kiss his lips. To never be separated from him again.
Aldrin’s heart swells as his essence reaches out for mine and our souls entwine and dance in a way that our bodies cannot. His longing for my touch is as strong as mine for his, and a soft groan escapes his lips. The pull he has on me is far too intense and I allow myself to be swept up by it. I relish that need.
A numbing, fuzzy feeling starts at my fingers and toes, creeping up my arms and legs until I can barely feel them. I hold a hand before my eyes and hardly believe what I am seeing. Red cracks run all across my flesh with the light of fire burning beneath them. Ash floats away in rapid channels, disappearing in the air, until my fingers are gone. Then my hand dissipates, followed by half my arm.
It looks exactly like when I killed Finan and turned his body to ash and dust, but I know I am not dying. This feels too right. Too warm. And it is somehow bringing me closer to Aldrin.
He calls my name urgently. Tells me to stop whatever it is that I am doing, but my mind is lost in an oblivion of love. A simple thing like panic cannot seem to break through it.
I fall apart into a cloud of ash. When I rematerialize a moment later, I am no longer in the dungeons. I am in Aldrin’s bed.
All that soot doesn’t even stain the sheets. No, it funnels back into my body, recreating me whole and still wearing the same clothing, the thin stretchy fabric I had on beneath my armor, which they took away from me.
