He’d said that once, and it was enough.
“What’s inside you,” he repeated, his breath coasting over my cheek as his hand slipped under the shirt and brushed the bare skin of my stomach. “But I don’t want to destroy cities. I want what is due to me. What I am owed.” His fingers slipped lower, pulling the band of my breeches taut. I couldn’t focus on that—any of it. I wouldn’t. “However, I do want a bit more than a little senseless killing. Starting with that husband of yours. His arrogance reminds me of…” His head lifted, his gaze moving to Attes. “Not just him. Not even Kyn.” His eyes narrowed, andthen he muttered something in the language of the gods as my skin crawled. He spoke it too fast and low for me to hear past the buzzing that had started in my ears. “Anyway, he will die. So will that wolf with him.”
Fear started to slither its way through me—
No.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t give in to that. I needed to stay calm. My heart pounded, though, because how the fuck was I supposed to be calm in this situation? He was going to kill me. Then, he would turn his sights on Carsodonia.
“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen…” His hand slipped away, delving into the hair above my braid. He jerked my head back, sending a wave of fiery pain down my spine. “And I need you to pay attention, Poppy. So, open your fucking eyes and listen, or I willmakeyou, just as the Duke did.”
The Duke.
Teerman.
For a moment, I wasn’t lying on the floor of Seacliffe Manor’s Great Hall. I was in Teerman’s favorite office with its dark walls and crimson furniture. I could feel the cold, smooth desk against the bare skin of my chest, and the even colder, smoother surface of his cherished cane against my back.
My eyes snapped open as rage burned straight through the cold terror and pain. I met his stare.
Kolis smirked. “I had plans for you. For him.” Streaks of midnight eather lashed across the crimson of his eyes. “I wanted to fuck you while I drained you, and I wanted him to watch.”
My eyes didn’t squint.
“That’s what I wanted him to see before I ended your life.” His lips parted, revealing the tips of large fangs. “I wanted the last thing he saw to be my cock slamming into you while I tore your throat out.”
My fingers didn’t twitch.
“You may think that’s excessive. Maybe it is.” Kolis’s lips touched mine as he spoke. “But the so-called King is arrogant and disrespectful. And you.” He bit down on my lower lip. “You are nothing more than a whore.”
I didn’t swallow.
“So, I’ll have to make do with telling him how you screamed for mercy as I fed from you. And you will scream,so’lis.” His tongue caught the blood on my lip. “And then, after your heart stops and I take your essence within me, I will take your soul. You know what that means, don’t you? Icanbring you back. And I will.” He twisted my head to the side, baring my throat. “This won’t be the end of you,so’lis. So, you’d better not displease me. And give me what I want.”
Kolis’s lips brushed my pulse.
Essence sputtered and then thrummed, unfurling from the pit in my stomach. It was hot and cold but nowhere near as intense as I’d felt it before.
“And just in case you forgot,” he whispered. “I only want your screams.”
Eather poured into my veins.
“This is going to hurt,” he promised.
I lifted my arm, ignoring the pain flaring across ribs that had yet to heal whatever fractures they had in them.
“A lot.”
Fangs scraped my throat.
I sank my fingers into his hair, jerkinghishead back. Crimson-and-black eyes locked with mine. “You will be the only one screaming.”
His upper lip curled. “You bi—”
I slammed my knee between his legs with enough force to squish everything there.
The bastard didn’t scream. Not yet. He roared as he let go of my hair and reared back, cupping himself. Blood drained from his face as he started to list to the side.
The corners of my vision turned silver and gold as I rolled my hips inward, drawing my legs up. My jaw clenched against the agony in my back and shoulder. I kicked out, planting both boots into his chest and knocking him back. He hit the floor, and I didn’t waste time. Hissing through the pain, I sprang to my feet, unleashing a bolt of pure energy, I let out a ragged breath as I stumbled. Golden light streaked with silver and faint shades of black and red arced and crackled. The essence slammed into his shoulder, sending him sliding across the floor. I knew it wasn’t enough to kill him—I knew it was probably causing me more harm than him—but I kept it up, channeling everything I had in me into it.
