When the scene came into focus, my heart began to race.
Figures stood over me. Tall. Broad. Black, jagged wings folded tightly against their backs. Their eyes were sharp, predatory. These were not Nameless, nor were they fae.
They werefuries.
I needed no confirmation . I felt it in my blood; charged, primal, and fierce. Like the moment before a thunderstorm breaks.
Damon looked at me silently with rage-filled eyes. One of the furies had him by the back of the neck, holding him in a headlock. He was on his knees. Magic shimmered along the fury’s skin like smoke. Damon wasn’t resisting, but his jaw was clenched, and his gaze was locked on mine.
Panic surged, but so did my nausea. I tried to get up, but I rolled to the side, emptying all that had been churning there since my encounter in Vareck’s dream.
“I said don’t move,” a figure repeated, reaching for me. I tried to knock its hand away in a weak attempt at self-preservation.
What a weak fae I was, sprawled on the floor, vomiting while held captive.
“Drink this,” another said, offering a skin of some unknown substance. I glared at him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“No,” I rasped, trying to push it away.
“I told you she needs a moment to come out of it,” one spoke to another. “She’s had an encounter with a demon shadow.”
Damon growled softly, a low rumble.
“Let him go,” I croaked, my voice raw. Pressing my hand to the ground, I moved to sit up, away from the puddle I’d left on the floor.
A fury regarded me for a moment, then looked at the one holding Damon back. She inclined her chin and Damon was released. He catapulted forward, palms landing flat as he sucked in air in harsh gasps.
A fury offered me the skin again, but I looked at it with distrust.
“If I wanted you dead, I could have done it earlier. I don’t need to poison you. Drink. It’ll help you feel better.”
I coughed again, accepting my fate. The fury had a point I couldn’t argue. I took the skin and drank from it, feeling its cooling contents flow through me. It wasn’t water, and it wasn’t wine. Whatever magic it contained was rejuvenating. My shaky muscles felt stable again. The uneasiness in my stomach settled, and my pulse slowed ...
They offered one to Damon, but he scowled, knocking it out of the hand that offered it. Several furies towered overhim, leaving little room for him to attempt to stand. They may have let him go, but they weren’t willing to risk him fighting, apparently.
“If you’re looking for the king, I don’t know where he is,” Damon said, sitting back on his haunches.
“We aren’t looking for the king.”
Damon’s brow furrowed, and he held his chin high.
A fury laughed. “We care not for a prince, either, despite knowing who your father was.”
His eyes narrowed, but concern filled them quickly as he met my gaze once again.
“What, then?” I asked, my voice shaking.
The fury to my left tilted its head, regarding me closely.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” he said. “Our Queen.”
To be continued . . .
Vareck and Meera’s epic love story continues in Between the Twin Realms. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know when the third installment will be ready.
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