Page 87 of Songs of Vice

The magic grewas the shadows rushed out of me. My head swam as I intensified my focus and forced more to fill the hall. Shaping shadows wasn’t something I did often; it required a tremendous amount of concentration and dipping deep into my magic.

Holding Lira close enough for the quiet rhythm of her breaths to pound in time with my heart made concentration difficult. Neia was right. She was always fucking right, but I hated it this time. I’d hurt Lira more than I realized. The shadow shape I’d created rippled out of form, and I clenched my teeth. I’d have to think about that later.

The darkness formed into a dragon with sparkling ebony eyes. I pushed harder until smoke puffed from its nostrils. My muscles trembled as I stepped forward, carrying Lira and guiding the creature that towered above us until it billowed into the ballroom.

Fairies screamed, glasses shattered as they dropped against the stone floor, and beings tumbled over each other as they tried to get away. Lennox stood by his father who sat on his throne, his eyes wide as he took in the creature.

“Flames would be welcome here,” I whispered.

Lira clenched her jaw, her expression turning stubborn, and for a moment I thought she wouldn’t help, but when I made the massive dragon open its mouth again, she whisper-sang flames forth. Her song murmured around me, tingling against my flesh, and making my heart race.

The flames rushed out, licking against candles, causing them to flare. Panic escalated as guests fled the room. Some knocked into a tree, and it tumbled over, the candles on it landing on the floor, and guards hurried to douse them. Tangy smoke whirled through the air and mixed with my shadows. My body shuddered as I struggled to keep the shadow’s form especially as my thoughts galloped forward, constantly breaking my concentration.

This plan was foolish. Lira was right. Those among the Seelie who didn’t see me as a devil would after this. I couldn’t leave Lira in a precarious situation, though. I’d overheard some of her conversation in the alcove. Her mother—the woman she wanted to get away from—was here as well. If she disappeared right as my team escaped, it would be suspicious. She’d lose her opening she had in the court, and that could come in useful in the future. It might also give her options if she didn’t want to remain in Prasanna lands. The idea of her leaving me one day made me want to cry out so ferociously it would match the dragon I’d formed. I’d face any repercussion, tarnish my already soiled reputation, and put my life on the line for Lira without hesitating. I didn’t know what to do with that.

We moved into the ballroom as the dragon swallowed the light of half the chamber. “Time to act,” I said as I set Lira down, curled my hand around her waist, and placed my free one over her mouth. The idea of someone actually holding her like this, against her will, made fury lick through me again, and the shadows pulsed before I tightened my focus and brought the form back together.

Lira jerked away from me and kicked as we stepped away from the line of windows and out of the shadows. “Lennox,” I yelled.

He looked up, and his mouth fell open as he noticed Lira. She thrashed around and pulled away from me as I yanked her closer and tightened my hand on her mouth even as disgust rippled through me over it. Lira writhed like a snake, and it made me want to smile that she had so much fight in her. Good luck to someone who ever tried to truly cross her.

Lennox took a hesitating step forward. “Release her at once.”

I chuckled darkly and called the shadows to curl around me, allowed myself to become the dreaded prince of darkness.

Lennox stumbled another step before grasping his neck. Without his zevar his magic was untethered and weakened. The bastard couldn’t do a fucking thing about me right now, and it was glorious to watch the panic flit across his expression. I smiled cruelly at him.

Lira had lifted her face towards mine, and at my smile she snatched an arm free and smashed her elbow into my gut so that I released her. “Help me,” she screamed as I pulled her back into my grip.

It stung to suck in a breath. She hadn’t held back, and I fucking deserved it, but we needed to escape which would be more difficult if I struggled to breathe. She felt affectionate towards Lennox after whatever act he’d given her in their time together. It made a nasty, furious feeling rise within me. Jealousy. She was fucking mine, and he couldn’t have any part of her. My grip on her loosened. Lira wasn’t mine. Where had that thought come from? It’s like a part of my heart had separated from me, and I had no control over the emotions. It wanted Lira—protected, safe, happy, cared for, with me—regardless of the cost.

All fae with powerful magic have Atallas, Sai. It’s part of what helps balance our magic.

Mother’s words whispered through my mind.

Lira was her own agent, though, and she didn’t want to be with me. She would happily stay here if the situation didn’t demand otherwise. She couldn’t be my Atalla. Plus, I shouldn’t want her to be. I shouldn’t feel this sense of devastation over her hatred.

Lira’s mother ran into the room and pressed a hand over her waist before screaming.

I snapped my hand back over Lira’s lips. “Sorry,” I whispered. I wanted to apologize not just for this farce and the fact that no being should ever treat her like this, but for every action I’d taken since we’d met. How I wished I could unwind time and try again. The weight of Shaan’s zevar rested against my leg in my pocket. I couldn’t risk losing it. That brought me back to the moment and why we stood here facing the Seelie.

I yelled to Lennox, “Remember who you’re fucking with the next time you cross the Prasanna Fae, Prince. We’re not cowards who will sit back while you shame our court.”

Lennox’s clear blue eyes had doubled in size, and wrinkles marred his forehead. His focus was on Lira, though. He worried for her.

Goddess damn him for making it impossible to despise every aspect of him. If he cared for Lira’s well-being, I couldn’t hate him for that. Ninety-nine percent hatred would have to do. I stepped us back, kicked behind me, and shattered a window before whispering to Lira, “I would appreciate some fire here.”

She sang another round of flames that spit out of my dragon’s mouth and curled away from the guards who approached as I pulled us through the window. Lira was thoughtful, kind, strong, dangerous, beautiful. Lira was—unlike me—perfect.

Some of the dry, dead trees decorating the ballroom caught flame. One crackled and landed against the stone floor with a thud. It scattered the few lingering fairies from the crowd.

“Go after them,” the King yelled. “Seize that man!”

Guards poured towards the window as I called my shadows back into me. Lightheadedness swept over me, and spots danced over my vision. I took an uneasy step into the sodden grass. It was rare I pushed that deep into my powers for that long. The full moon above doubled in the sky. I pressed my fingers to my head.

“You okay?” Lira asked but her focus was on the guards who moved towards the window.

“Fine.” I wiped a hand over my face.Time to shake it off, Sai.“We need to go. I can create more shadows for us to disappear into, but the magic trail will make us easy to track. We have to get out of here.”

---