Page 17 of Wings of Snow

In my next blink, she shoved me against the wall and brought a knife to my throat.

I froze.

She pressed the blade harder into my neck. “Because of you, my king is leaving me.” Fury flashed in her eyes, and the knife burned across my skin. “If I kill you, I can throw your worthless body to the sea, letting thefeerilydevour you, and then my king will stay.”

“Sabreeny,stop.” I held up my hands, finally gaining control of my limbs. “He’s not leaving you. He’s just taking us somewhere.” I tried to inch out from under her grasp, mindful of where the knife grazed my skin, but she pinned me harder to the wall.

Breath sucking in, I stilled, and a rumble of magic stirred low in my gut.

“Lie!” she hissed. Hatred flashed again in her eyes. “I’ll kill your sister next, throwing both of your bodies in the sea. You’ll be devoured by the feerily, and no one will ever know what happened to you.”

“Sabreeny, this is madness.” I tried to keep my position non-threatening. A tiny scar running along her chin was plainly visible. Mother Below, she was completely in my face. “Nobody is trying to steal the king from you, and the last thing Cailis or I want is to take your place.”

“As if you could!” she spat. Her teeth flashed, her canines glistening, and a course of power abruptly zinged from low in my belly through my limbs, but it was gone in a heartbeat.

Sabreeny’s wrist flicked, and the knife cut me.

I sucked in a breath as pain zinged through me, and that strange pulse low in my belly increased.

Blood dribbled down my neck, a drop landing on the floor, and my eyes widened in disbelief when she whipped her hand to the side.

In that second, I knew she was truly going to slit my throat. She would kill me before allowing Drachu to leave prematurely.

Oh gods. Magic roared in my gut, as though trying to erupt from even lower in my abdomen than what I was used to, but it slammed into that veil suppressing my affinities as my arm shot up to dislodge her hand.

I ducked just as she stabbed at where my eye had been only a second prior.

Sandus’s training roared through me, and Sabreeny shrieked when my elbow jerked up and caught her in the chin. I swiped my leg out, catching her unaware, and hooked her behind the knee, buckling her entire body.

She spun sideways with a scream. I punched out at her chest, hitting her right in the breastbone. She launched across the room and landed with a crash against the sink while her knife clattered to the floor when she crumpled.

I was on top of her, pinning her to the ground just as Cailis appeared in the doorway. Shock flashed across my sister’s features as her wings flared.

“What in the realm is going on?” she yelled.

Drachu and Tylen appeared behind her, not even a blink later.

Magic again pushed and shoved against the veil within me, but all of my concentration lay on keeping Sabreeny restrained.

The salivar thrashed beneath me, but I kept her pinned using Sandus’s techniques, not allowing her to rise.

“What in the seas?” Drachu growled. “What are you doing, Ilara?”

“Your salivar just tried to murder me!” I shot him an accusing glare as my chest heaved. I suddenly regretted coming here. We never should have trusted the Lochen king or any fae other than our own.

“Sabreeny!” The king’s sharp call had her frantic movements stilling. “Is this true?”

“Of course not!” She hissed and looked at me with pure malice. “I was simply dressing in here when she barged in on me. It’sshewho tried to killme!”

“What?” I jumped to a stand as if burned. “I did not!”

Sabreeny also stood, all lithe grace and fluid limbs. Her dress had ridden up, revealing a strip of cloth covering her womanly area. Even caught in such a state, she didn’t appear ruffled, and if anything, her haughty glare was back before she gave the Lochen king a pleading stare. “My king, as your salivar,you’re bound to protect me. Please, banish this ingamy from my home.”

“But I didn’t do anything!” Frustration threatened to boil up inside me as my trapped magic rattled and vibrated so strongly that I thought I was going to be sick. That strange pulse throbbed in my lower gut again as electric shocks traveled down my limbs, causing painful bursts and jolts. “She slammed me into the wall when I opened the door, then brought that knife to my throat. I was simply defending myself. See?” I pointed to the knife that still lay discarded on the floor, then to the puncture wound on my neck.

Drachu cocked his head and stepped closer to me.

His gaze narrowed as he assessed my throat. Eyes darkening, he picked up the knife, studying the hilt. Jewels were embedded into the sheath, and the blade glinted in the morning sunlight. “This weapon was a gift to me from the chancellor of Pasibith. I was keeping it in the nightstand near our bed.” He brought the knife to his nose and sniffed. “That is indeed Ilara’s blood coating the blade.”

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