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I crawled over to it, gripping its steel handle in my fingers, admiring its weight. The size. A deep belly laugh erupted from somewhere inside me, echoing off the brick walls. It wasn’t funny. No, the king wanted me to end it all. Like the trials, he hoped I’d do his dirty work for him. I was over the mind games. Tired of fighting.
Flipping the knife in my hand, I entertained dark musings.
“You did it,” a small voice squeezed. “Congratulations.”
Pipion.
Clearing my throat, I placed the knife in my lap and turned to her, my tone bored when I asked, “And what’s that exactly?”
“Fulfilling your destiny.” She blinked, licking her paw to clean the back of her ears.
I looked down and huffed a laugh, balancing the knife on the tips of my fingers. “Don’t tell me you believe I’m the fabled princess, too. I’m an abomination, Pipion. Death follows me everywhere. How am I to fulfill a destiny I don’t know the first thing about? I’m a failure. Worthless.” The silence felt too loud as I admitted it to her—to myself—my heart aching as I watched her bright eyes turn sad. I didn’t want to believe it. But with everything that’s happened, it was hard not to. I had so many questions—ones only my mother could answer.
I motioned around the cell. “I mean, look where we are. Back in the same place we first met. I’d hardly call that a win, Pipion. It’s a tragedy.” To think I’d believed for even a second I’d make it out alive. Make it home. That was the real joke: that for a moment, I thought I was capable. I rolled my shoulders, popping my neck.
“Elowyn,” Pipion squeaked as she hopped onto my legs. “You have only just discovered who you are. The gifts you bestow. This,” she enunciated. “This is only the beginning.” Distant shouting rang, and she raced to the bars, her tail alert while she peered out of the cell. “Get into the corner!” Pipion ordered, shooing me aside. “It’s happening.”
“What’s happening?” I scurried back into my spot in the shadows, thumbing the ring on my finger until my skin was raw.
She didn’t respond.
Swords clashed together as a struggle ensued, reverberating off the stone walls.
I held my breath while the seconds ticked past, counting the number of grunts and groans and obscene phrases, before everything abruptly went quiet.
Slow, deliberate steps followed, approaching my cell when a dark figure attached to the sound came to a stop before the metal bars. They waved their hands, opening the door as if pushing aside a curtain.
I swallowed hard when they entered, their presence sucking up all the air. Dominance and power rolled off them, and I knew they could kill me with a snap of their fingers.
Cringing, I pressed myself as far into the brick as I could as they removed their hood.
Wavy, raven-colored hair spilled out against their forehead, sweeping in front of familiar emerald eyes. My heart sank.
It wasn’t possible.
Snapping my jaw shut, I scrambled to my feet—hurrying to him as fast as I could before he disappeared, collapsing into his strong, secure arms.
Sweat and iron overpowered his usual teakwood scent as he picked me up, gripping the back of my neck as I wrapped my legs around his torso.
Talon.
My Talon.
Alive—not dead.
Not growing cold in a cellar somewhere, but here in my cell. Holding me.
I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed as I grabbed his face, pulling his lips to mine—savoring his taste and the warm sensation that grew deep in my belly. Talon didn’t hold back. He claimed my mouth, taking what he wanted without reservation.
It was feral. Wild. And for a moment, my surroundings disappeared, and I forgot where we were.
Shoving out of his arms, I hopped to the ground, pounding my fists as hard as I could into his solid chest. “What the fuck!” I yelled, tears continuing to roll down my cheeks as I laid into him. “How! You were dead, I killed you!”
Talon captured my hands, pulling me back to him. He held my head to his body as I fought him, trying to wrangle free from his grasp, but I surrendered to it.
The cathartic rhythm of his heartbeat simmered my rage, and I loosened my breath, sinking into him. I didn’t care how it was possible. I only cared that he was here.
My Talon
