“You just kissed me?” The words left him in a confused whisper as he tried to make sense of the last several minutes.
“Actually, I bit you. Don’t flatter yourself.”
Shadows surged from the corners of the room, spiraling around her wrists, her ankles, and then her throat. Her smile never faltered as the darkness tightened around her neck.
“I should kill you,” Atlas growled, still beneath her. The temperature of the room dropped as his fury slipped free. “You came here to what? Trick me into thinking you’re my queen and slit my throat while I slept?”
“Now, now,” she purred, her voice ragged but amused. “Is that any way to get your precious Elowynne back?”
His breath stilled in his chest, the shadows loosening their hold as his magic wavered. “What did you say?”
She tilted her head, her expression calm. “You think I came here without a plan?” Her voice dropped. “Don’t worry, princeling. She’sstill breathing… for now. However, if I die, she’s getting dragged down to one of the hells with me.ThatI can assure you.”
His mind emptied, heart cracking in his chest. “You’re lying.”
What the fuck was he going to do? The sea witch, the woman who shattered his brother’s heart and murdered his king, was straddling him.Mockinghim as she dangled the life of his betrothed in front of him.
Esmyra’s grin widened. “Am I?” She leaned down toward him as much as the shadows allowed. “You remember what I am. You’ve seen the power I hold. How I can bend it. Fill a person’s lungs until they beg for death.” The last few words were a whisper. “The sea is tied to her throat like a leash.”
His shadows shuddered, tightening. “Where. Is. My.Wife?”
“Does it matter?” she asked softly, her eyes narrowing. “You’re never going to get to her.”
“You’re a monster,” he whispered.
Her smile faltered, but the cruelty stayed. “You have your father to thank for that.” She shrugged. “And perhaps my own.”
Atlas’s face fell, his shadows loosening their hold completely on her as he realized he could lose Elowynne forever if he didn’t play by Esmyra’s rules.
She rolled her shoulders back, cracking her neck in a casual stretch before leaping off of him and the bed.
He leaned up on his elbows as he watched her. “Why are you doing this?”
Esmyra halted at the fireplace. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Atlas stood from the bed, shadows swirling around his shoulders.
She scoffed as she lifted a trinket from the mantel and twirled it in her hands before tossing it into the flames. “I want you to know how it feels to have everything you love ripped from you.” She winked. “Where’s Draevyn?”
“You wretched fucking bitc?—”
Esmyra lifted a finger and tsked, cutting him off. “Easy now, princeling. That mouth of yours could cost you greatly.”
Atlas desperately worked to steady his racing heart, but it was no use.
“Now, if you won’t tell me where your brother is, that’s fine. I’ll find him eventually. But velsinyte…” Her evil smile was back. “Where do you mine it?”
Oh, she had a lot of nerve.
“And why would I ever fucking tell you that?”
Esmyra lifted a brow. “Oh, I don’t know, to get your pretty little elven back?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What am I going to do?
“I don’t know,” he said, hands flexing at his sides.
“Oh, I don’t believe that for a second, Atlas.”
