Page 46 of The Serpent Prince

Kiran slid Imani a dark gaze, lip hitched in what amounted to an elven sneer. “You will die if you don’t agree. Don’t you understand?”

“Understand this,” Imani snapped and gave him her middle finger. “I’m not doing it.”

Kiran let out a crazed laugh at her gesture then dragged his hands through his hair. She would have paid good coin to be able to read his mind at that moment. It seemed to be working in overdrive as he glanced quickly between the three women. With tighter and tighter limbs, his agitation grew, as if the choice was physically backing him into a corner.

Finally, he rounded on Imani. “I refuse to let my mind be violated again. Agree to the memory spell,” he all but shouted at her.

“No.” Imani’s eyes were as hard as diamonds and her voice as sharp. She had the strength of fury running through her now. “I choose death.”

In one motion, Kiran ripped her traveling dress down the front, causing her breasts to spill out of her ripped undergarments. Red veins ran across her chest to her heart.

“You see this? The root binding is coming for your heart.”

Rage bubbled up in her throat, and she let out a scream while trying to cover herself. Despite her weakness, she found the strength to grab a piece of cutlery on the side table and point it at him.

Imani wanted to kill him. Truly end him for pushing her on this when the solution to stopping the root-binding ramification was easy. One day, she would make this man pay for every drop of mortification she’d felt in his presence. But, even if she had the choice, she could at least see the wisdom of keeping him alive for now.

“Your mind is open to violation, as well, Imani. And just as Kiran said, we know you have dangerous secrets,” Esa said.

“I didn’t realize things inside my mind were such an issue. I’ve only ever fed from two people before,” Imani whispered.

“So innocent … inner mind exposure is the problem every elf faces outside of their home territory or away from people they can trust,” Kiran snarled.

“Why not have Zadie help you then?” Imani shot back.

Zadie marched across the room and grabbed Imani by the throat. “Who do you think has been helping him these past few weeks? But I’m old—far older than you know—and I am not enough to sustain him much anymore. Or sustain you, either.”

“How about his mate? Isn’t that what she’s there for?”

“She’s the whole reason we’re in this mess. She learned some things she shouldn’t have,” Zadie said. Then the nymph let her go.

Imani fell back against the wall, coughing, nearly passing out from the stress. She still managed to feel a surge of jealousy thinking about Kiran feeding with Esa and Ayla. The emotions racing through her at the thought of them together made her clothes feel tight, and she tugged at the bodice of her dress.

Everyone watched her. Imani felt a pang of sympathy for Kiran. For an elf to be so alone without anyone he could trust … well, she understood that completely.

“I’ll agree to the binding,” Imani replied quietly. “And in it, we’ll specifically state there will be no memory spell.”

Disgust slid over Imani as she worried she was being selfish or weak by giving in. But she shook it off, wringing her fingers together. She absolutely had to feed, so she tried to remind herself that a bargain with the prince would actually make her strong.

Kiran stood, slammed his fist on the desk, then started pacing, but he didn’t disagree.

Zadie ignored him and nodded. “Fine. That will have to be enough. Let’s get started.”

Esa let Imani feed from her for a short while before the binding. “This is a one-time thing,” the pixie snapped as she lay down next to Imani.

Imani didn’t reply; she simply shut her eyes and reached out, taking as little as possible. It renewed some of her strength and brought her back from the edge of death. But Imani was still weak.

This binding was different from her other ones. It wasn’t a root binding, and it hadn’t been done with flesh magic. But it was still brutal in her weakened state.

By the time Zadie finished, it was in the darkest hours of the morning. Imani could hardly stand. The symbol covered both her and Kiran’s forearms in brands entwined with poppy flowers. She had no idea what this meant, but Kiran was still covered in bindings. They covered every inch of skin and ran up and down his arms and onto his chest like tattoos.

Within minutes of finishing, Imani fell asleep in Zadie’s tent. At dawn, harsh murmurs cut through her dreamless slumber.

“How can you be so foolish?” Zadie hissed.

“I’m to save her but watch her suffer? How could you ask me to do that? No one could.”

“To protect what we are fighting for, I will always ask you to do that. I can’t believe I have to even say that to you. Leave. I’ll finish this.” Zadie hustled about the room then continued, “Show some restraint. You should’ve done nothing. We agreed to keep this hidden.”