Page 102 of The Bound Mage
Someone grabbed him, their hands digging into his arms. Loren snarled, the shadows that had stayed back with him rearing up like striking snakes before he recognized his sister—her helmet long gone and her braid half fallen out of its knot at the back of her neck.
“It’s over,” she said, shaking him slightly. “Loren, it’s over. They’re pulling back out of range.”
Her words pierced the fog clouding his mind, making their way through the raw terror consuming him. He hadn’t even realized the ships were retreating, his shadows stretching to their limits as they reached greedily for the endless supply of human soldiers the Arcanum had sent to feed them.
But they were. And that meant?—
Eloria nodded, squeezing his arm again before stepping back.
“Go,” she said. “Go get her, Loren.”
Loren didn’t need to be told twice. He turned and ran, Araya’s hot terror throbbing in his veins.
Chapter
Forty-Three
Eilwen’sbroken sobs rose to a crescendo as Jaxon stepped into the fractured light, his smile too pleased to be anything but cruel. Caylin prowled forward to stand beside him, her eyes gleaming as she raked her gaze over the desolate female. Kai stood on Jaxon’s other side, his face pale and unhappy, but it was the bundle Jaxon cradled in his arms that stopped Araya’s heart cold.
“Jaxon—” she stumbled forward as Selan squirmed, fussing in his arms. “What are you doing?”
“Retrieving you, Starling.” Jaxon shifted, rocking the child like it was something he’d done a hundred times. “Are you really surprised? After all my gifts?”
“You mean the innocent fae you murdered?” Araya spat.
“That’s your fault, Starling.” Jaxon cocked his head, glancing down at Selan. “I told you I would burn your world to the ground before I ever let you go. Did you think I didn’t mean it?”
“I didn’t run.” The words tumbled from her lips, frantic. “They drugged me—I woke up on a boat halfway across the Shadowed Sea. Jaxon, please—” she forced herself to take another step forward, holding out her arms. “Give Selan back. Let the children go—I’ll come with you. No one has to get hurt.”
Hale laughed.
“We will do no such thing,” he said, twisting Eilwen’s arm harder as she cried. “This one already belongs to us—as does her child. The children will go to the reeducation camps, like all the other orphans. The older fae will be processed and either put to use or culled. Andyou?—”
He dropped Eilwen to the ground, stepping over her. Araya braced herself, refusing to fall back even a step as he prowled toward her.
“You are quite the prize, aren’t you?” Hale circled her, the weight of his attention sending a shiver down her spine. “Our spy delivered on his promises for once—our escaped bondandthe mate of the fae prince.”
Araya turned, a terrible part of her already knowing what she would find as she followed Hale’s gaze.
“You continue to make things more difficult than they need to be, Miss Starwind.” Eryn sighed, brushing at the mud staining his pants. “Is it really so difficult to do as you’re told—just once?”
“I trusted you to help me, to helpthem.” Araya stared at him, the words ash on her tongue. “You led the New Dominion right to us. Youknowwhat they do in those camps?—”
“Better the camps than growing up half-starved, waiting for the humans to finally come and slaughter us all.” Eryn’s voice softened, the pity in his gaze cutting sharper than his contempt. “The war is over, Miss Starwind. The fae just refuse to see it. At least this way, the children will live. And all it cost us was you—the king’s mate.”
“He’ll kill you.” Araya clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. She used the pain, focusing on nursing the flame of magic in her blood. Slowly—she needed to do this slowly.
“No one here is afraid of your broken prince.” Jaxon shoved Selan into Kai’s arms, freeing his hands to draw the bone staff from his belt. He twirled it in his hand, circling her. “How longdid it take you to crawl into his bed? A day? A week? You always did gravitate toward the most powerful man in the room.”
“That’s not what happened.” Araya bit her cheek until she tasted blood, her magic burning hotter. It rose, desperate to reach for the stolen magic that hummed through the carved bone. “I swear, Jaxon. I didn’t want to leave?—”
“I’m just not sure how I can believe you.” Jaxon sighed, dragging the polished bone across her skin. “How about this for a deal? Tell me you love me again, and I’ll let the children go. Even your friend and her baby.”
“I—” Araya coughed, her gaze flicking to Eilwen’s tear-streaked face and the wide-eyed children, who still stared at her like she could somehow save them.
And she could—all she had to do was say three words.
But she was fae. And fae couldn’t lie.
