Page 162 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

“Your father would say otherwise,” she jeered. “Never thought I’d have two men fighting over me. It’s almost flattering.”

Blake’s jaw ticked, the jab striking as she intended. “He only wants your power. I want you.”

“Sorry, not for sale. Why not turn your attention to your fiancée?”

Blake sighed at Kora, and Hector called her name, a clash of metal followed. The pirates were still fighting, yet Kora still couldn’t see anything beyond Blake.

“Look around you, asterya. You have nowhere to go. I’ve got you, and my father is claiming Galen as we speak.”

“No. You’re lying!”

“Kora! He’s trapped ye!” Hector’s cry was so close, and Kora’s stare narrowed. The others could still see. It was just her in this sphere of cold darkness, tangled once again in Blake’s web.

Blake smirked, and with the simple flutter of his stained hands, his darkness parted behind her, revealing ships crashing onto the shore of Mistros City. She kicked his shin, pushing away and his magic shuddered, revealing the pirates swarming them, inching closer to Blake. Hector wrestled with Garvan still, but the Talmon soldiers had become stationary. Mindless. Blake had shut them off somehow.

Hector glanced up at the parting darkness and swore.

“Leto, ye fucking snake!”

Her heart broke, as Bone Rattler crashed into the dock. They’d left everyone behind there. Aerion, Aryn, Erick, and Skylar. The Skytors. The civilians. Sirona and poor Conan. They hadn’t prevented Barron’s invasion. This fleet had been a distraction.

“I just knew once you saw the fleet you’d come sailing out. You could never resist a battle upon the sea. The heroic captain, come to save everyone, determined to attain all the glory. Did your emotions get the better of you again?” Blake knelt before Kora, tilting her chin to look at him as her rage crested within. “I know you so well, Kora.”

“No, you don’t,” she seethed. Coldness leaked down her back as her darkness toyed with Blake’s. He smiled, as if sensing what lay within her.

“Oh? Do I not? I know that you like this, when done in the right way.” He gripped her throat and Kora gasped, the scar down her throat burning alive at his touch. Blake leaned forward, his lips so close she grimaced. He inhaled and froze.

“What the fuck.” He pushed her away, fury warping his features. “You reek of him.”

Kora snapped. “He’s mine. You can never part me from Raiden.”

Blake blinked, his fury igniting when she said his name. He lashed out, his magic wrapping around her throat, clicking into place like a magical collar. She cried out, heaving as it tightened, shallowing her breathing. She tried to summon her power but it burned, his magic suppressing her already weakening gift.

“Bonds can be broken,” Blake’s gaze turned vacant. “I can sense darkness in you. It’s calling to me. It wants me. I can make you like me.”

Her heart plummeted as a laugh echoed in the recesses of her mind. No, no, no.

“I hear it,” Blake spoke with wonder, his glistening eyes dropping to his shadowy collar around her neck. “It’s the answer. How we can be together. Just give in, Kora. Allow the darkness to take you.”

“No!” she shrieked.

Kordelia’s laugh increased, circling her ears, vibrating down her spine, taunting her water beast. Kora wrestled internally, flooding her mind with light, recalling moments with Raiden, Aryn, Skylar, even Sirona.

Garvan grunted, as two pirates helped Hector push him back. He whirled, desperation flooding his face, and a tiny sliver of fear. “Disappear, now!”

Kora shook her head. She couldn’t spirit again, she used up her one chance getting to Hector. She wasn’t strong enough. She was too weak. Kordelia surged, grabbing hold of her mind.

Weak, pathetic human. You cannot win.

Blake smiled, slowly sinking to both knees before her, Callan’s body forgotten beside them. He took hold of Kora’s wet hands, his thumbs swiping across the backs.

“I can hear you, little temptress.”

Kora flinched as Kordelia purred in response to Blake’s magic. His shadows poured out of him, tinged with a hint of green. They flowed up Kora’s arms, swathing her in a blanket of darkness. She panted, writhing against his magic.

Yes! Free me!

Panic, all-consuming, laced with the deepest cracks of dread, exploded from Kora. Her desperation to survive, to encompass her chosen self, to be the female she wanted to be, became too much. Bright, white light shone, blinding her as her body burned. Shrieks rang in her ears, mixed with hisses, and Blake fell back, shielding his eyes.