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“Well, there is another way this goes,” Nigel said. “I let your boyfriend go free. You swear to serve me alone. It’s the only way you both don’t die tonight.”
My skin prickled at his offer. Was it relief, or almost joy? How could I even consider it? But I’d already made worse deals. I’d almost lost track of all my promises. Could I give myself to Nigel, in order to save Damien?
“Join me, and they’ll all be safe,” he promised. “I’ll release him right now. He’ll be banished, of course. But you will live forever, and you’ll be more powerful than you could even imagine.”
He wanted to turn me, out of cruelty, as Augustine had done to Tate. But not as reward, as a punishment. I felt for the vial of antidote in my pocket, through the folds of fabric. If I could only get close enough to him, I could take away his powers. I’d just have to pretend for a moment.
“Come on then,” I said, raising an eyebrow. His eyes widened when I stepped out of the light, into the shadows, my palms exposed. He was on me in an instant, but I didn’t resist. I stiffened as he dragged me across the cavernous tomb, and lowered his dark mouth towards me. I could smell the elixir on his breath, like wilted roses and death. His eyes were black and hungry, and my breasts heaved as he tightened his grip on my throat. I felt sick, but I needed him to lower his guard.
And I remembered what Tate said earlier, and what I’d heard from Augustine. Elite liked to savor their food, and taste its flavors. Blood like mine, spiked with adrenaline and roasted in fear, should be enticing. It might not make him weak, but it could make him careless.
“You won,” I pushed against him, exposing my throat. He drew his rough thumb over the vein in my neck, feeling my pulse. “Take your prize,” I whispered, looking up at him through my lashes. I was disgusted with myself, but hadn’t I already bartered away Jazmine’s life, and that of my unborn child? Maybe this was all I had left to give.
His scarlet lips drifted lower, below the range of my mouth and chin, pausing above my throat. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. My throat began to tingle at his shivering touch, and then I felt the hard dents of two sharp teeth, scraping and pushing against my soft skin like daggers. The feeling made me uneasy, some longing for the elixir in his blood, and at the same time, some mortal terror. I knew his fangs would inject venom straight into me, and my body melted in hesitant expectation. And in that moment, as we were attached and he was invested, I could end him. I closed my eyes and waited, feeling our heartbeats clash an unsteady rhythm between us.
He snarled and sniffed, reaching around my waist, and pulling me against him. But he didn’t bite me. Instead he reached into the satchel at my hip, drawing out the crown with a cruel smirk and pushing me away roughly.
“As if I’d be stupid enough to drink twice from the same poisoned chalice,” he said. “There’s nothing you have that I can’t take. I’ve already taken everything of value from you. Now, you’re nothing, just like him.”
I slashed at him with a dagger, but he caught my wrist before the blade could pierce his skin. He flung me across the bridge and slammed me into the far wall of the cavern, so hard I felt my bones threaten to snap, and the elixir rushing to heal my body. His fingernails dug into my neck, drawing blood this time. My head was pounding and my vision blurred. He scowled at me, licking his teeth like an animal. Wrestling with himself, to risk everything and drink from the open wound right in front of him. It was the moment I needed.
I grabbed his coat and pulled him towards me, until we were eye to eye, so close I could kiss him. And then I made a fist above his heart, firing the concealed crossbow straight into his chest. He flinched in pain and surprise, but only for a second. The crossbow bolt had punctured through his clothes, enough to draw a scarlet stain, but didn’t have enough force to break through his ribcage. It glanced sideways, sinking into chest, but missed his heart by an inch. Maybe I’d aimed improperly, or sitting in a shelf for over a decade had weakened its efficacy.
Nigel grabbed me by the hair and lifted me off the ground. I pulled the syringe from my pocket and swung it at his neck, jabbing with my fist, but he blocked my arm so hard I felt my bones strain.
The vial flew from my hand and shattered on the ground; a sticky pink stain surrounded by shimmers of broken glass. I scratched at his face with my fingernails, but he shoved me away and kicked me in the stomach. I tumbled several paces, feeling a burning pain spread through my torso. I lay on the ground, gasping for breath, but my lungs wouldn’t work. My vision exploded with black stars, as my brain grew desperate for oxygen. But Nigel was already above me, holding my head under the water with the weight of an elephant. I gasped, coughing out the stale liquid, now stirred up with the slimy sediment of rotting corpses.
“I gave you a choice, but you’ve squandered it. You know, after thinking about it… I’ll keep your siblings after all. There’s a certain appeal of a king with sons. Even if they never age, it gives the appearance of dynasty, stability.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your brother Jamie. I’m going to turn him after my coronation, and raise him as my successor. Wouldn’t you like that? At least for now, for appearances. Until I have children of my own. Your sister will help with that. Then, he can be replaced.”
So this was his plan. He didn’t want to kill me. He wanted to destroy me. Carving out every good thing from my life and devising the worst possible punishment. To remind of everything I still had left to lose, and to watch as he took it from me.
I felt the fight go out of me, my body limp under the pressure of Nigel’s foot, my cheek in the mucky coating of the cavern floor. It had been surprisingly close, I noted with satisfaction. He held a chunk of my hair in his fist, but I’d left deep gouges across his cheek and neck, and a thick pool of blood was staining through his chest from the crossbow bolt. I’d made him bleed, which seemed to surprise both of us.
Nigel raised me up, pinning my arms behind my back. He lifted my chin, holding my eyes open to watch the spotlight of sun move closer to Damien—now only a few feet away. He was tugging against his chains and growling, his eyes frantic. I’d lost the antidote, my weapon had failed, and I was out of time. Nigel was too strong, and even if I could defeat him somehow, it was too late.
“Beg me,” Nigel said, his lips at my ear. “And save your prince.”
“Never,” I said.
“Then watch him burn, and remember as he screams thatyoudid this. These are the results of your actions, the choices you’ve made.”
I was squirming so hard I didn’t feel the vibrations at first, until Nigel stumbled and pebbles fell around us. The sound hit a second later, a deep crack like the world had split in half. The ground trembled and the entire cavern shook like a baby’s rattle, as a thousand skulls tumbled in place.
“What was that?” Nigel asked, looking towards the entrance.
“My army,” I said, spitting blood. “And they’ve breached the walls.”
18
“Right on time,” Nigel chuckled. “You put together a nice little resistance, Emily. Though I am annoyed, I won’t be able to stick around to watch you break.”
My heart pounded in terror, but I forced a stoic expression.
“Don’t tell me you were expecting a torpedo?” I asked. “Wait until you see what else I have in store for you.”
