Page 123 of Born of Starlight
When I tried to peer into his mind, I realized, other than the ebbing power, nothing else was coming from him.For the first time, no feelings were being thrown over my mental barriers, no slipping of emotions into the depths of my mind. He was just…blank.
“I can’t…” I almost admitted it before biting my tongue.
He sighed as if war was a minor inconvenience to his week.
My brow furrowed. “Whatoffer?” I’d only asked for his aid—I’d never set terms with Asterie.
“We are to remove the wards and unite the realms—isn’t that what was proposed? I see certain benefits to that plan.” He stared at me like a predator waiting for his prey to run. “I took the liberty of breaking down those wards to get here. More efficient than waiting, don’t you think?”
My nostrils flared. I didn’t like his arrogance.What right did he have to tear those wards down?“I made no such offer to—”
All air was suddenly cut from my lungs as shadows crept around me. It felt like the darkness was trying to find a way in, as if assessing me down to the core. My hands found my throat—I didn’t even have the breath to choke. It felt like being encased in nothing. My mind clouded into a numb, cold, blank space. When he dropped the shadows, air abruptly returned, and I gasped out from that horrifying void as though I’d surfaced from deep water.
“What the fuck? You barbaric asshole—what was that for?” My glare met his.
There was no doubt this warlock aimed to scare most people shitless, including me.It was working.My whole body trembled, and from his point of view, I guessed that I looked like a pathetic, sickly girl ready to cower in a fetal position.
But that didn’t stop me from thinking about six different ways to kill the bastard.
“Charming. I’ve been called worse,” he grumbled. There was not an ounce of apology in his tone. “Unfortunately, since the wards are already lowered, your offer won’t be enough. I suppose we’ll think of a way you can repay me soon enough.”
Darvanda turned to look over the south wall at the wreckage and warring soldiers below.
“Care to join our people below before they start their victory songs?”
“Ourpeople.” When I glared at him again, his brow quirked upward before the darkness crept into my mind again like tentacles pushing their way in. That gruff voice grated against my thoughts.
“Your move, your majesty.”
A bone-chilling realization—he knew exactly what I was and had been shielding this whole time.
A snarl of defiance huffed from my lips.
He might be saving my people, but he held my tail under his thumb like the mouse he deemed me. No doubt, whatever it was he wanted out of this arrangement would be a price I did not care to pay.
“There’s someone we need to see first,” I ground out through clenched teeth.
Chapter36
Fenris
In my all-consuming desperation to reach Asterie, I left Van to do what he does best—destroy. The flames escaping his mouth were unruly. He was able to push back the attacks of a hundred northern soldiers. Yet the troops kept coming, along with Wasteland defectors that slung shadows and devoured and devastated Luz’s defenses.
I’d followed Firose around to the barbican—it was the one area of the castle grounds still being held by Luz troops. Her Lynx attacked anyone in her path.
When I reached them, Asterie was limp in Emmerick’s arms.
I was on fire. Physically, mentally.
And the one that started it all was before me.
“Nice to see you, old flame.” Firose’s words hit my ears like a detonation. I would burn her limb by fucking limb. She stood behind her guards, looking at me with an expression so cocky that it shook my resolve. For a split second, I was back on that rooftop in Phynx four hundred years ago. I was nothing.
“Put her down—let him see what you’ve done,” Firose commanded.
Emmerick knelt to rest Asterie on the ground before me—guarding her body with his own. His tunic was burned through, and blistering burns marred his chest.
Blood coated Asterie’s chest and soaked through my green cloak. The lifelessness of her slackened features made the world stop. My vision tunneled. I wanted to crumble there—to hold her to me, to scream at the heavens to bring her back. I’d let flames engulf everything around us until this version of reality was nothing but ash.
