Page 108 of The Incendiary

“Your heart is not your own,” it responded, nostrils flaring. “It beats for no one here.”

I was about to ask how it knew such a thing when pain splintered behind my breastbone. Inexplicable tears filled my eyes, drawn out of me against my will. I stumbled back, the sword dragging along the rocky floor with one hand while the other gripped my chest. I bit back a wail and looked down to see what had struck me. Only there was no blood. No weapon protruding from my body. The pain was already fading, but my power stuttered, as did my hold on the beast. By the time I looked up and scrambled to brace myself, it was too late.

I was knocked over and pinned to the ground beneath the creature’s weight. The sword dropped from my grasp and skidded away from me.

And bladelike teeth snarled inches from my face.

TWENTY-NINE

ARYELLA

I don’t care how you slay the evils that hunt you.

Just do it.

Do not give up. Do not yield. And for the love of the gods, don’t you dare die.

—FROM THE BUTCHER OF NYRIDA’S LAST KNOWN LETTERS TO QUEEN ARYELLA I

“Stop!” I ordered mind-to-mind. The scaly white lizard obeyed, rearing back just enough for me to free my right hand, unsheathe my dagger, and stab its right eye.

The beast’s pained howl pierced the air. It thrashed around, half-blind. Sharp rocks bit into my palms as I dragged myself out from beneath its body while it spun and swung its tail like a bludgeoning weapon. I dodged one lethal blow, but spikes as hard as bone slashed across my forearm through my leathers, splattering my blood across my face and chest.

I clamped my teeth together, tucked my injured arm into my chest, and rolled over it to dodge the beast’s tail slamming down to crush me in one fell swoop. Scattered gasps and screams echoed from the cliffs above, where everyone had a full view of the fight.

No, I told myself. Today is not the day you die.

Puncturing the monster’s eyes was one thing. The thick, pearly scales were too thick for a knife. I needed Mavic’s sword, now laying discarded a few feet away.

Refusing to give the beast my back, I retreated and squatted low until my fingers brushed the worn leather of the sword’s grip behind me. The beast stalked closer, infinitely more terrifying with the dagger stuck in its eye.

Another step closer.

Do not give up, I reminded myself.

Click, click, click, click…

Do not yield.

Its tail thrashed, sending pieces of sharp gravel flying toward me as it backed me into a corner.

“You don’t get to kill me,” I seethed.

I had to stay one step ahead. Even though I had been the one to drown that beast on the way to Brinnea, Gavin had never needed me to.

I was only letting it think it won, he’d told me.

I pretended to stumble, trip, and fall in fear, but my grip was still tight on the hilt of the sword. I held it below my hip, angled up and ready to strike.

The way the eyelids of its one good eye shuddered open and closed sent ice up my spine. My body begged me to escape before it could pin me again, but I needed it closer. I repressed a whimper when it straddled me, teeth inches from my face.

And then I thrust Mavic’s sword straight through the roof of its mouth.

My scream tore from my throat, barely audible over the screech of the beast. My forearms burned, even as I doubled the strength of my grip with my free hand and pushed the sword up into its flesh. Its gaping maw nearly engulfed my whole head. But the beast’s weight was a weapon against it now. As it succumbed to gravity, it sank further onto the blade until blood and putrid saliva drenched my skin and clothes. Its echoing screech faded into silence.

For a few moments, all I heard was my own breathing, until the beast spoke five more words. Distant, weak, but clear enough to decipher.

“She is searching for you.”