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That feeling of dread ramped up several notches. My throat was so restricted, I could barely even say, “How?”
But I knew.
And he knew I knew. That was very evident by the amused glitter in his bright eyes. “Ilianna.”
My reaction was instant. Without thought. In one smooth movement, I drew Amaya free, swept her across the ropes binding my ankles, then lunged at him. But he was even faster than me. He jumped back and fired the gun. The shot tore through my hand, blowing apart two fingers before it hit Amaya’s hilt and ricocheted into the nearby wall. Pain and blood surged, but all I felt was anger. My anger, Amaya’s anger, and the utter need to just rid the world of the man who might well have destroyed my best friend. I attacked him, Amaya raised high above my head and screaming for blood.
Just for a moment, surprise flitted across his features; then he retreated from my onslaught and held up the gun.
“Know that I will shoot you again if I need to,” he said. “And know, too, that if I die, so will Ilianna.”
That stopped me. Even Amaya muted her screams. “What do you mean?”
“Just that.” He paused, but the tension in his body suggested he was very much ready to react the minute I so much as twitched. “If I do not contact the people holding your friend every hour, they will kill her.”
“You bastard.”
Amusement flitted across his features. “All Aedh are bastards, dear Risa, because we seed and leave. We are not prey to the emotions and needs that wreck so many human lives.”
And were poorer for it. “But to rape Ilianna—”
“There was no rape,” he cut in, sounding oddly annoyed. “An Aedh’s kiss always ensures that their chosen breeder is more than willing.”
“Ilianna is gay. You would have had to force a kiss, if nothing else.”
Though anger kept the worst of the pain at bay, I was bleeding all over the place and would be in very serious trouble if I didn’t do something about it soon. Yet I remained still. To do anything else would not have been wise right now.
“Well, yes, but we both know I was not her first male lover.”
No, because Ilianna had experimented when she was young. After the attack on her sister had left her incapable of conceiving, her parents’ desire for grandchildren had fallen solely onto Ilianna’s shoulders. The weight of their expectations had all but forced her to least try to have a relationship with a male. But she could no more change her orientation than the moon could rise during the day.
“That doesn’t alter the reality that you forced yourself on her. Whether the magic made her willing or not doesn’t matter in the end.” And I would kill him for it. If not now, then later.
I shifted Amaya to my left hand and tried to ignore the warm slickness covering her hilt. The pain was getting stronger, a monster ready to consume. I clenched what remained of my fingers on my shattered hand, but it did little to stem the tide of blood.
He made a “who cares” motion with his free hand. “It has been done. She will bear my child, no matter what happens to me. The decision you have to make is whether she actually gets to live or die.”
“And why the hell would you impregnate her if all you intended to do is kill her?”
“Come now, let’s not play dumb, Risa. She is captive to your good behavior. And, of course, she is not the only one I have seeded.” His smile was all arrogance. “The Raziq may have stolen many things from me, but they did not take my potency.”
I wished they fucking had. “So does your dark sorceress know she’s about to become a mom?”
“You always did catch on to the inconsequential things faster than most,” he murmured, looking amused. “But no, she does not. It is not necessary. Besides, she has not entirely upheld her part of our agreement, so I see no problem in not entirely upholding mine.”
“That’s a decidedly risky game to play when dealing with a sorceress as powerful as Lauren Macintyre.” But maybe she’d kill him and save the rest of us the trouble.
“Yes, but there is also great pleasure to be found in playing such games.”
I resisted the urge to glance at his body and see for myself just how much delight he was taking in this game. “So what’s next?”
“Why, you find the keys; then we both go to retrieve them, of course.”
“Of course.” Dizziness swept me. I licked my lips and tried to ignore the trembling that was beginning to hit my muscles. “But what the hell are you going to do with them once you get them, Lucian? It’s not like you can get onto the gray fields anymore.”
Again that dark and dangerous energy flashed through him. “Perhaps, but I can use them as a bargaining chip with the Raziq.”
“If you think they’ll agree to restore you to full Aedh in exchange for the keys, you’re not playing with a full deck.”
