He studied my crumpled body with a flat expression, then nodded, glancing at his partner. She frowned but shrugged and walked away.
The male crouched at my feet. “It will be quick. And I'll bargain to ensure your children live.”
He touched his fingers to my temple. I didn't have the strength to lift my head. My ribs were broken, and blood trickled from my nose and mouth. My breathing came in labored gasps.
Darkan had abandoned me.
Damn it, I didn't want to die this way. My avatar uncoiled, peeking up and. . .out. Ignoring me. What was it watching? Stupid thing.
“Help me get on my knees,” I said, voice hoarse with the effort to hold back a storm of screaming. “You can give me that much.”
He did as I asked. “You're only drawing it out. What does it matter? Low foolishness.”
I grimaced. “Of course it matters.”
He didn't respond, impassive. When on my knees with some semblance of dignity, he reached out his hand. I didn't flinch.
Juliette was dead.
Numairwas dead.
None of my warriors had escaped.
I closed my eyes for a moment, shuddering. Gathering enough strength to die with honor.
The enemy warriors watched me beyond the magical barrier, and if the last sight of Faronne they'd see wasMaryonneCapulette's daughter, they would witness our House facing eradication with honor. We weren't cowards, and I wouldn’t beg in the end.
I lifted my chin and gave him a grim smile, hoping they didn’t note my unshed tears. The tears weren’t for me anyway. “Do it.”
ChapterFive
So eager fordeath, Darkan said, astrangetonality to his voice.I will teach you the folly of courting it.
My stomach clenched, pressure beginning to form behind my eyes.
The subtle scent of glaciers and crushed blackberries and frost on fir menaced through the air, but when I inhaled I once again scented a haunting note of lavender—then it was gone, and I thought my nose was just imagining things.
The mage hesitated, turning his head to gaze through the forest as he stood.
“I would rather not draw this out,” I added. But he wasn’t paying me any attention.
“Killher,” the female said, moving towards me with the ire of someone taking mymurdera little too personally.
He lifted his hand. “Be silent. Don't you feel it?”
Yes. Yes, I did.
“It doesn't matter. We have a task to complete.”
“You won'tsurviveby ignoring when the players on the board change.”
My mind sludged through pain, fatigue and the adrenaline of imminentdeath, but I understood.
A presence flowed through the old forest, the weight and breadth of an alarming alien power that tasted familiar approaching. I shivered, chilled by the arctic edge in the air, flinching when the female gasped, clutching her head. I sympathized. The magical barrier surrounding us ripped apart.
I bit back a groan, the pressure in my head shifting to throbbing pain.
Something was coming. Something was hungry. Something was displeased.
