Page 259 of Blade of the Nightking

Then, with the last shreds of his self-control, his fingers opened. Thalassis crumpled to the floor in a fit of violent coughs.

Rìan stood over him like a thunderhead. "You're fortunate the Eidra has mercy," he said, his voice as final as a death sentence. "Because I do not."

Thalassis stiffened as his fingers grazed the bruises darkening his neck. Slowly, his gaze lifted to Rìan, something unreadable passing across his face. His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. Whatever he saw, it made him go very still.

Unease curled in my stomach. I crossed to Rìan. Without taking his eyes off Thalassis, his arm came around my waist, drawing me against his side.

"We're leaving Pelaga."

Rìan flung the doors open. The servants inside looked up in alarm.

"Out." The single word cracked through the air.

They fled without another glance. A heartbeat later, the doors slammed shut behind the last of them.

Silence settled over the apartments. Rìan stood with his back to me for a long moment.

"Rìan—"

He spun to face me.

"What did he do to you?"

The gravel in his voice made my pulse jump. Fury radiated from him, filling the room as tangibly as his magic.

"N-Nothing," I stammered, my fingers still wrapped tightly around the bone knife. "You got there in time."

Those silver eyes slitted, honing in on me like a target.

"I'll ask you one more time." The words were quiet. Somehow, that made him all the more frightening. "What. Did. He. Do?"

My throat tightened.

"His magic." My cheeks flushed with shame as the memory crashed over me—the invasive brush of Thalassis’s power against mine. "He... he touched my magic."

Rìan's face drained of color, turning bone white with wrath. He turned on his heel at once, striding toward the door as though he meant to march straight back to Thalassis and finish what he'd started.

I threw myself after him, grabbing his arm, but it was like trying to hold back a hurricane. He barely seemed to notice, dragging me after him as though I weighed nothing.

"Rìan—stop!" I cried. "You can't kill him! Pelaga⁠—"

"I don't give a fuck about Pelaga."

His hand closed around the handle.

"The Full Circle!" I dug my heels into the floor. "They’ll know it was you. They'll come after us!"

"Let them come."

"Rìan..." My voice cracked. "It was nothing."

He whirled on me so suddenly that I lost my footing. His hand shot out to catch me.

"Nothing?" The single word reverberated through the room.

Before I could recover, he had me against the wall. One hand slammed beside my head, caging me in as he bent down until only inches separated us.

My heart stuttered. I'd never seen him like this.