“Wouldn’t I?” he taunted in a vicious tone as he finallydropped me, and I fell to my knees on a far too fancy floor as I clutched at my neck, gasping for air. His eyes remained pinned on me in a cruel stare as he snapped his fingers.
Two guards on the far side of the room moved at the motion, opening the door they’d been standing guard by, and my heart plummeted as two guards walked through the doorway, Orela held upright between them, hands bound and restrained as she struggled between their hold.
Our eyes collided from across the room, and everything around me seemed to fade into nothingness as I held my sister’s gaze. I tracked the slight quiver of her lip, the tremble in her arms as she was held back, the way her head hung in defeat.A bruise was forming on her cheek.
My head snapped from Orela’s to Luc’s, taking in his smirk of victory as everything in me screamed.
“What is the stars-damned meaning of this?” I snarled, springing up toward the king, only to find powerful blasts of water restraining me. Luc’s affinity swirled tightly around me, refusing to let me move.
“This,” he replied, his eyes gleaming as he stared down at me. “Is a reminder, butterfly. A reminder of what happens to those who go against me. Who go against royalty and everything I stand for. I suggest you take this lesson to heart; otherwise, you may find that I’m not so merciful toward your dear sister.”
“You can’t be serious, Luc.” My eyes widened in surprise at the male before me, frustration rising inside my soul.
“Oh, but I am, Rae,” he responded as chocolate brown eyes held mine. “We made a bargain. One that, if my memory serves me right, you begged me on your hands and knees for. A bargain that you seem inclined to attempt to avoid, and I won’t stand for insolence and blatant disregard for my decrees.”
My heart sank like a stone, the fight fleeing from my limbs as my gaze caught on Orela’s. The silver rimming her sea-glasseyes had me swallowing. I had never told her of the bargain I’d made. She had never known.
At least, she hadn’t, until now.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.” The words fell from my lips in a hollow tone, laced with defeat. “There won’t be any further misunderstandings on my part going forward.”
“I should think not.” Luc settled back against the sofa, the pillows shifting as he made himself comfortable before raising his hand. And a flick of his wrist later, Orela was dismissed.
I felt his affinity withdraw from my skin the moment Orela departed the room. Only then could I let out a relieved sigh, taking the first full breath of air I’d had since my younger sister had been dragged into the space.
“Now, I believe we have much to discuss.” Luc smiled as his satisfied gaze cut straight through every crack in my armor, hitting me directly in the heart as my fate sank in.
I was his, from now until my last breath.
I movedthrough the court halls as quickly as I could without paying much attention, my limbs still shaking, my body tight with tension. I wished it would disappear, but I knew it wouldn’t.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten who holds the power here. Do you need a reminder?
Perhaps you’ve forgotten.
Do you need a reminder?
The cold bite of Lucanus’s words rang as a harsh reminder in my mind. I played them over and over again, unable to forget the sound of each word falling off his lips, the sinister smirkthat cut across his mouth, or the glint in his eyes as his fist tightened around my upper arm.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten who holds the power here.
But how could I forget? How could Ieverforget?
I told myself not to think of that day—when I’d made the bargain to begin with. But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop the flashback as memories of my sister flooded my mind in a torrential onslaught.
“Rae,” a weak voice cried out in the dusk light. “Rae, are you home?”
I picked myself up from the couch, exhausted from a shift at the tavern, as I peered into the display by the door. My sister, Orela, had tears streaming down her face as she stared at the door, waiting for me.
I unlocked the door as quickly as I could, worry knotting my insides as I undid the last latch and threw the door open?—
And froze.
My sister stood there, charcoal gray wings bent at an awkward angle, her head hanging low. Her wings . . . her freshly emerged wings were coated in a thick crimson color. Small droplets of blood splattered against the tiles of my front door, staining the ground.
“No.” The word fell from my lips in a hoarse plea as my heart shattered into a million tiny pieces, fracturing irreparably. “Orela . . .” I couldn’t even say the words. There wasn’t anything I could say that would make what they did to her any better.
“I marked as an aetherial affinity,” she said, eyes downcast, face stricken with tears. “A seer.”
