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His lover who took his fire and buried his still breathing body.
CHAPTER26
CLAWDIA
“Pretty little thing, aren’t you? Red has always been my favorite color.” Fafnir fingered a curl of the witch’s hair, and another tear fell from her eye.
I need to do something. I need to stop this. But how? What can I do?I wracked my brain for answers but couldn’t concentrate, my eyes glued to the horrific scene in front of me.
Fafnir continued monologuing, oblivious to my presence. “You are right to be afraid. But lucky for you, I am too hungry to contemplate anything else. I’ve been dead over a hundred years, and your magic is going to tide me over until I can find something more satisfying.”
I prayed for inspiration. I couldn’t sit and watch this woman suffer, but I also couldn’t risk myself because that would risk my men. I needed to distract him from her.
If I could get him to leave, maybe I could get to her and help her escape.
“I want to enjoy my meal. It’s been so long.” He licked his lips and wiped away a tear. “And your fear makes this so much better.”
His hand moved from her face to her neck, and he squeezed.
No. No.
His hands glowed as he absorbed her magic, something essential to her being, something tied to her soul. I remembered that pain. That cold feeling as his skin touched mine, as something seeped under the surface, violating and alien and attacking me at my center. Pulling my very essence outward in painful tugs.
Her eyes were wide with fear, and a trickle of blood dripped from her nose.
Blood.
Blood! I can control blood!
Taking a deep breath and clenching my cold fingers together, I narrowed my focus on Fafnir. I tried to imagine his veins and the life-giving liquid that ran through them. Drawing on the partial bond I had with Baelen I used his power. I shook with exhaustion but pushed at the blood in his free hand, making it move, slapping himself in the face.
The sound echoed across the warehouse, and the silence that followed was deafening.
My lips sealed together to stop a squeak from escaping.
What have I done? Did I really use the “stop hitting yourself” trick to stop him?
Fafnir turned his head slowly. Stiffly. And stared at his hand. The witch’s tearful eyes also stared at it and widened as his gaze cut back to her. They seemed to scream, “It wasn’t me!” and Fafnir, with a tight jaw and even tighter grip around her neck, lowered her to the floor as if he understood that message and knew it to be true.
He stood with overly controlled movement that betrayed his fury, and I hunkered down further behind the boxes. My heartbeat was loud in my ears, and despite the cold, my hands were sweaty.
Please go. Please go. Don’t see me. Leave.
I didn’t have the strength to do any more. I couldn’t make him physically leave or even hold him still long enough for me to get to her and escape. As I watched, he walked down an aisle, away from us both.
Saying a quick prayer of thanks to God for looking out for me, I crept out between the boxes into the aisle where the witch lay motionless. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp as she spotted me.
“It’s okay. I’m going to help,” I whispered.
But I hadn’t thought it all through. She was spelled to be motionless and silent, and I couldn’t drag her away without Fafnir hearing and coming back. If I had realized that beforehand, I could have tried to heal her from the safety of my box fort. But I hadn’t.
Damn it.
I placed my hands on her and looked for the threads of her health. They were wrapped tightly around her leg, chest, and arm, with the end touching her neck. Its orange-red color told me what I already knew—she needed help. Now.
Gritting my teeth and focusing on the threads, I started pushing my power into her until the bottom of the threads started turning yellow and green.
But it was taking too long. At any moment, Fafnir would come back for his meal, having found no one culpable for his assault. And as the threads slowly turned green, I found myself breathing harder, sweat pouring into my eyes, and my attention flagging.
