Page 103 of The Bound Mage
“I thought I loved you,” she said instead. Her skin burned, her face flushing with heat as her power pushed against her skin, searching for an outlet. “But what we had…that wasn’t love, Jaxon. You just wanted to own me.”
“You didn’t seem to mind belonging to me when it served you.” Jaxon’s eyes flashed, a piece of the monster staring out at her through the crack in his composure. “You wore my mark. You slept in my bed—and if you’d never methim, you’d still be there. We would be happy.”
“No.” Araya shook her head. Her voice was steady now, magic sparking across her tongue and burning her lips. “If I’d never met him, I’d be dead. Or I’d wish I was.”
Araya took a step forward, clinging to the last shreds of her control. The power in her veins screamed for release, searing her from the inside out.
“I’d have done something wrong,” she continued. “Something that disappointed you. You would have killed me—or drained my power and locked me in that apartment, keeping me around to play with whenever you got bored.”
She stopped directly in front of him, so close she could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes. The perfume of his vanilla soap surrounded her, thick and cloying.
“There was never a happy ending for us, Jaxon,” she finished quietly. “Only an ending.”
Magic tore from her like a tidal wave, heat and light bursting outward. Jaxon took the brunt of it, skidding into the altar so hard that the statue of the Goddess trembled above him. Caylin shrieked, throwing up an arm to shield her face, and even Hale cursed viciously, staggering as his inquisitors were thrown off their feet.
“Run!” Araya screamed.
The chaperones didn’t hesitate. They snatched children up by hands and arms, dragging them into the shadowed depths of the temple. An inquisitor lunged for them, but the shimmering wall of magic Araya had called into existence held, blocking pursuit as the children raced for the door. Between them, Eilwen scrambled to her feet, lunging for Kai and her son—but Caylin was faster. She yanked the female back by the hair, slamming her to the floor with a sickening crack.
“Stop them!” Hale roared. “Don’t let a single one of them get away?—”
But the crypt door slammed shut, the sound echoing through the suddenly quiet sanctuary.
Araya sagged to her knees, her shield flickering out. No one who meant the fae harm could open that door now. The children were safe. They were safe?—
Hale seized her arm, wrenching her backward.
Araya’s head slammed into stone, stars bursting across her vision. Her knees buckled, a scream ripping from her throatwhen Hale shoved her hard into the nearest column, twisting her arm until her shouldercracked.
“No—” Araya gasped in pain as he exposed thely’ithrarune inked at the base of her thumb. She clawed at him with her free hand, trying to stop him—but Hale wrenched her mind open.
Someone screamed—shewas screaming. Hale tore into her, ripping her magic free in long strips. It felt like her soul was being flayed, every delicate nerve ending peeled back and scraped raw.
By the time he dropped her, Araya couldn’t force her limbs to obey her. It was all she could do to stay conscious as she lay on the stone at his feet, gasping and trembling.
“Halfblood slut.” Hale loomed over her. Stolen power—herpower—crackled over his hands. “Do you think you saved them?” His voice rose, echoing in the vaulted chamber. “Get that door open! I don’t care if it’s enchanted—rip it out of the wall if you have to!”
Caylin dropped Eilwen, stumbling toward the back of the sanctuary with blood still dripping from her temple. The other two inquisitors scrambled after her, eager to obey.
Araya laughed, the ragged, broken sound that bubbled from her throat foreign even to her own ears. A pack ofzal’vorrhadn’t been enough to bring that door down. Three inquisitors didn’t stand a chance.
“Do you think this is funny?” Hale snarled. He dropped to one knee, seizing her jaw and forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’ll kill them all just to teach you a lesson. All you’ve done is make things worse for yourself, you stupid little bitch?—”
Araya spat in his face.
Hale reeled back, her bloody spittle dripping down his cheek. For a heartbeat, all he did was stare at her, shock twisting into something far uglier. His hand snapped out, striking her acrossthe face so hard that her head snapped sideways, her vision blurring.
“Enough, Hale,” Jaxon snapped. “She’s not yours to punish—or drain.”
Hale sneered, his eyes wild. “And she’s not yours now either,” he said. “The Arcanum won’t smile indulgently like your father while you play house with the fae king’smate. Everyone will want a chance at her bloodline?—”
Hale’s words broke off in a wet gurgle.
Araya blinked, unable to believe her own eyes as Hale staggered, his fingers clawing at the blade jutting through his neck. His eyes bulged, his mouth still working soundlessly, trying to speak even as his lifeblood soaked his shirt.
Jaxon ripped his sword free, Hale’s blood spraying across her before she could turn away. Araya choked on it, bile mixing with the iron tang as Hale dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.
“Get up.”
