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“So kill them,” I replied. “Be rid of them now before we reach Aneira.”
Alaric shook his head, that smile still in place.
“Why not?”
“Because they are exactly what we’ve been waiting for.”
“What?”
“This realm thinks the Nine are such a boon. Warriors of legend, yes?” He chuckled, bending briefly to claim a sheath and belt from one of the fallen humans. Donning it, he stowed the sword inside. “They’re hardly that.”
“What does that mean?”
Ignoring me, he gave a small jerk of his chin, motioning for his brethren to leave the destruction.
Furious, I stalked after him. I would have answers for this.
Gwyneira was nothing.
“What do you mean?” I demanded again.
Still he ignored me, walking onward as if I wasn’t even there.
“If there is a threat awaiting us,” I snapped, “I would know its form before meeting it.”
He threw me a glance over his shoulder, and his amusement was so patronizing, so viscerally disdainful, it felt as tangible as a knife straight to my gut.
How dare this intolerable mockery of a man look down his nose at me that way? I was a queen. I was?—
“Hush now, pet. We have every intention of destroying your stepdaughter.”
I eyed him warily. “You do?”
“Eventually.”
Rage surged inside me. “The girl needs to die.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
Alaric turned back to me, a condescendingly patient look on his face. “I already told you. Because this realm is mistaken. The Nine are not its saviors.” He grinned, his vicious metal teeth glinting in the light of the fires. “They are the ones who will ensure its downfall.”
8
GWYNEIRA
Consciousness returned slowly in a wave of tiny sensations.
My heart beating steadily.
The scent of spice filling my lungs with every breath.
Warm skin against my cheek.
My eyes flew open.
Ozias held me. We were on the floor of the cave where I’d fled when the vampire still had control of my body. His weapons and bag were gone, as was his shirt. But he was in his Erenlian form again, once again looking like the man I’d known these past few weeks.
