His hand reached out in front of my chest to stop me. “What the fuck.” I opened my eyes, my spine straightening at the panic on his face.
I turned my attention where his gaze lingered—the sight caused my chest to squeeze.
A Blood Court solder was holding a dagger to Luce’s throat. A thin line of crimson leaked from her neck, dripping down the column of her throat. Her mouth was set in a thin line, not a lick of fear on her face. Her gaze flicked to Stellan and me for only a moment before it returned back to the two witches on their knees in front of her.
Stellan brought me to a crouch with a hand on my back. “What do we do?” he whispered.
“Wait a second.” I strained my ears, trying to hear what the soldiers were saying.
“Tell us what this potion is for or I’ll slit their throats.”
“Like I said, over my dead fucking body.” Luce winced as the soldier dug the blade in deeper, the rivulet of red increasing.
“I’ll create a distraction, go for the other two witches. Luce can handle herself, but she’ll want us to get the other witches first.”
Stellan gave me a firm nod before sneaking off into the brush.
“Let her go.”
Luce’s eyes went wide at my loud arrival, pinning me with a deadly gaze.
Trust me, Lucy.
I wished more than ever I had the ability to speak into people’s minds. I mean, how cool would that be?
“Who are you?”
“You’re asking me? You’re the ones intruding on our camp.” I took another step forward, my boots crunching on the snow. “I should be holding a blade to your throat, don’t you think?”
“We’re here on direct orders from Que—from Adreona.”
“Hmm, she’s not queen consort anymore is she? Sheholds no title—therefore no power. Whereas Luciana and I are here on direct orders from the High Queen and Kings themselves. You wouldn’t want to anger the High Queen by hurting her cousin would you, the Heir to the Mystic Court?”
The male’s face paled slightly, but his grip on his blade remained tight. “Nothing to say now?” I prodded.
Lennox had mentioned Declan’s encounter with Reggie—perhaps the loyalty to Adreona was even thinner than we anticipated.
“I answer to Adreona,” the male said finally, his voice lacking conviction.
“Wrong answer.”
I pounced.
The male dragged Luce into his chest, his hand moving to slide the blade against her throat.
Luce was faster. Her heel slammed into his foot, causing him to stumble. Her hand encircled around his wrist as a vicious gleam entered her eyes, her pupils going wide.
Black lines slithered up the male’s pale hand, like roots, snaking across his skin.
The lines spread quickly. I couldn’t see them under his clothes, but in seconds, they appeared out of the collar of his shirt, crawling up his neck to his face.
I stopped in my tracks, watching in horror as the rot took over his face. His eyes hollowed out, the blackness swallowing them hole, leaving nothing but black pits. The black roots crawled out of his mouth, his face lodged in a scream as his body shattered into pieces littered across the ground.
“What the fuck was that?” I croaked.
Luce shrugged, brushing off chunks of the guard from her jacket.
Stellan looked between the two of us, slack-jawed as he stood next to the two witches, the unconscious guards at his feet.
