Page 378 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“Am I wrong?”

“Ag and I were partners. Equals in all but one respect.”

“You were placed between him and Moros in the binding.”

“That placement alone set me above him.”

I watched him carefully. “And still, you failed to use it. You lost. And then you fled here…and broke the one thing you’ve cared about in centuries.”

Adrastos surged forward so violently his chains crashed, halting him just as suddenly, the bed’s metal feet screeching across the floor. Chest heaving, he loomed over me—his shoulders bowed against the restraints, face inches from mine.

Good.

Either I’d struck a chord…or he was playing me like a fucking fiddle.

I glared up at him, refusing to flinch.

“Face it, Adrastos. You could never have kept her. Magnolia might be broken—in no small part thanks to you—but she’s resilient, and courageous, and good at her core. She’ll never kneel before a tyrant.”

His nostrils flared, eyes blazing. The bed groaned again as he strained against the chains.

Then came the roar. “He’s coming to claim her!” Adrastos bellowed. “He’ll fucking destroy her, don’t you understand?!”

Finally.

“Moros will never stop. You and your band of bloodthirsty misfits tore the country apart trying to find the one who held my leash. Now you know. So do it. Kill me. Spill my life here, stain the floor red. You have the right. But Moros Balaskas will not stop. He will take every piece of the prophecy. Every bond. Every heir. Every drop of blood.”

His voice broke. And then…silence. His lips pressed shut, trembling with fury.

“I was going to keep her safe,” he whispered. “No matter what. I…” He didn’t finish. Looked like he couldn’t even if he wanted to.

“You care for her.”

Adrastos nodded once, jaw locked. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

“She’s sure become a hell of a problem,” I muttered, letting Aren’s pain saturate every word.

“You’ll protect her,” he said, eyes pleading now. “You’re too good not to.”

“So sure of that?”

Black pupils devoured his irises, swallowing what little humanity remained—then stilled. “You’d never allow harm to come to Aren’s mate.”

“She just rejected him.” My voice cut like a blade. “I don’t think you’ll like what’s left of his heart. Or his sense of mercy.”

Come on. Break, motherfucker.

“You would never…” His words trailed off, eyes going glassy a heartbeat before the vision slammed into me.

A neighborhood swallowed in serpent-like flames, the buildings crackling as fire dances through them like living things. Adrastos standing between Magnolia and the white-haired demon king—the one who’d haunted my dreams for months—his hand outstretched protectively in front of Aren. A silver-haired woman siphoning the life from the earth itself, turning everything to ash.

In the next heartbeat, I lunged, fumbling with the key to release the enchantment on his chains. “You so much as split a hair on anyone in my family’s head, and we’ll put you down. Consequences be damned. Do you understand?”

“We’re out of time,” he rasped, voice laced with fear. “I tried, El. I did everything I could. I thought…maybe if I could show you the truth, we could change things together.”

I jammed the key into the first lock.

“Keep me from Moros. You have to protect Magnolia.”