Page 65 of The Serpent Prince

The woman slit her eyes and rasped, “He’s engaged to me.”

Oh, if Imani heard that again, it would be too soon.

She punched the elf.

Ayla spat blood, rubbing at the side of her face. “You little cunt, you⁠—”

Before she could finish, Imani grabbed her by her stupid, glamoured silver hair and slammed her face against the tree. Ayla screamed, letting out a cry of pain as pieces of splintered wood shattered around her head. It almost looked like a spider web … a bloody spider web.

Pushing her face harder against the splinters, Imani made the female cry out again.

“You stupid⁠—”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Imani hissed, grabbing her hair. Blood poured from the side of Ayla’s face, and black and blue bruises were already forming around the cuts.

The female whimpered, struggling against her, but Imani held her still, pulling on her hair. Tears spilled from Ayla’s eyes as she opened her mouth to scream.

The sky chose that moment to release a downpour. Imani barely noticed.

“You scream again, I bash your skull in again, you hear me?”

Ayla glared at her, and the female’s eyes turned to defiant slits. “I’m⁠—”

“I’m speaking, and you’ll listen while I do,” Imani snarled.

She shoved Ayla to the ground, choking her with her foot pressed against her throat. “Prince Kiran is unavailable. You should use whatever little brainpower you have remaining to remember that, you worthless idiot. How much more do you need to bleed to remember? I’m nothing but thorough.”

Ayla didn’t speak, but her eyes promised to follow through on her threat to tell Magnus about Imani’s red brands.

Imani weighed her options. She could force a binding on the elf, but in her heart, Imani didn’t think that would stop her. The elf might have been stupid to threaten her, but she wasn’t shy about going after what she wanted.

Death it was then—Imani would have to kill her.

At that conclusion, she felt her shadows pulse, but Imani wanted to do this without magic—the old way, like Riona the hob had taught her.

In fact, she wanted to take Ayla’s head and bash it in further, but she needed to make sure they were away from prying eyes.

Peeling her face from the ground and grabbing another fistful of hair, she dragged her farther into the forest. Then she cast an invisibility shield over them both. She wished she had defensive magic to silence everything—because Ayla was going to be screaming after Imani was done with her.

They fought more, but Imani just pulled harder, throwing her against another tree before punching her in the nose. A gasp and a cry escaped Ayla as she slid down onto the ground and gripped her bloody nose, sobbing. She clearly wasn’t trained in any sort of combat.

Kneeling in front of her, Imani grabbed her chin and ensured Ayla could see her clearly. “What were you doing with the prince this morning?”

“Fuck you, you insane whore.”

Imani stared at her, trying not to laugh in her face. The elf was insulting her, but she was so pathetic that it was hard even to get worked up about it.

“I am insane. Now … Ayla.” Imani sighed. “I’m going to ask again nicely. What were you doing with Kiran this morning? And don’t you dare to lie to me again and insult both of us.”

“Sucking his cock. It’s a nice cock.”

“Wrong answer,” Imani ground out. Grabbing her neck, Imani choked her tight. Ayla’s arms swung around like a madwoman, but Imani pinned them down quickly with her other hand. She screamed before Imani silenced her with a knee to her gut. Then Imani strangled her harder.

Pulling back, panting, Imani gave her a moment to cough and catch her breath. Imani smiled.

Tears streamed from Ayla’s eyes as she shook, covered in bruises and blood. “He’s mine. He will love me eventually,” she sobbed.

“Love? Kiran?” Imani threw her head back and laughed. “You’re even dumber than I thought. Kiran doesn’t love. I’d suggest you find a new male to delude yourself over, but I’m going to kill you today,” Imani hissed against her ear. “Now, tell me you understand what I’m saying.”