AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll kill you!” Roza shouted, yanking against the chains despite the blood coating her stomach. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
But when the plea went unanswered, Roza’s voice grew shriller, a raw edge of desperation. “Please, stop. Please, I’ll do anything...”
Tannethe smirked, relishing the pain she was inflicting. “Anything? Are you offering yourself in his stead?”
“Yes. Anything. Just stop.” Roza’s shoulders slumped, her eyes locked on Tannethe.
“NO!” Zerek shouted. “No. Don’t hurt her. Don’t listen to her.”
My entrance was clumsy, still unsteady from the effects of the poison, as I snuck up behind her. I had little strength. I’d have to be fast. Holding my breath as I drew closer, I willed Roza and Zerek to ignore me. I leaped onto her back, hooking my manacles around her throat and pulling backward. She collapsed on top of me, sending me crashing to the floor. The impact was sharp, an explosion of pain radiating from my side as we struggled. Heat coated my skin, and I realized she’d stabbed me with her dagger. I pulled harder, but her knife found my arm, striking my wrist and forcing me to let go.
Tannethe scrambled to her feet, panting and holding her knife out at me. Bruises were already forming on her neck.
“Back up.” Her voice was a low crackle as she lunged toward me, forcing me against the wall.
I staggered from the poison that coursed through my veins. Tannethe saw her opportunity and sprung towards me, viciously kicking me in the stomach as I stumbled back, trying to avoid her blow.
Each breath I took sent a ripple of pain up my spine, but I still had enough strength left in me to dodge her strikes and move away from her before she could stab me again. My heart pounded in my chest as I scittered backward, searching for anything that could help me kill her as I fell backward, my numb legs unable to hold me.
“Look who’s awake,” Tannethe cooed mockingly. “The mighty Kael, brought low. I’d say you’d fallen, but can a whore get any lower?”
Desperation and fury clouded my thoughts, but I clung to one clear idea: distract her. Keep her attention on me and away from Roza and Zerek.
“Oh, Tannethe,” I drawled, struggling to keep my voice steady even as my head swam. “Always playing with other people’s toys because you don’t have your own. Is that why you’re so fixated on Theron? Because he’d never want you?”
She hesitated, her knife still pressed against Zerek’s throat. “He’ll want me when you’re gone,” she sneered.
I managed a weak chuckle. “You believe that? Even now? He’s always seen you as less than the dirt beneath his shoes. He’d rather have a slave than you.”
Tannethe’s face contorted with rage. “How dare you?”
“Oh, I dare,” I replied, mustering as much bravado as I could. “Honestly, you’re pathetic. Do you measure your worth solely through a man’s desire? Or by how much power you can gain through marriage? At this rate, you might as well settle for your own brother.”
Tannethe surged forward and slapped me, hard, across the face. I felt the sting of her rage on my skin as I tumbled back to the ground. She shouted at me, her voice rising to an angry scream as she brandished her knife. “He’s just using you for your power, you stupid whore.”
I’d struck a nerve, but it didn’t matter. Every second she focused on me was a second Roza and Zerek weren’t in immediate danger.
Her words were like ice, her face a mask of hate as she loomed over me. I could hear Roza crying in the background as she struggled with her restraints, but all my focus was on Tannethe.
“Theron is my mate,” I told her, watching as her eyes flew wide.
“You’re lying. Elves don’t have mates anymore.”
I smiled--a tired and bitter expression that said more than words ever could.
“No, I’m not. We were mated right after my Ascension.”
Tannethe’s face grew pale as the realization of what I was saying sunk in. She shook her head, backing away from me and pointing the knife at me as she shouted hysterically. “That’s a lie! You’re lying!”
I stood up and met her gaze evenly, never letting my smile falter as I replied, “I could be carrying his child now.”
She screamed, her eyes wild with fury as she lunged at me, her dagger raised to strike.
The world reduced to the two of us: Tannethe with her furious rage, and me, running on pure adrenaline. Her knife gleamed wickedly in the dim light, still coated in mine and Zerek’s blood. I was unarmed, my hands still bound as I used the chain to block her strikes.
Every move I made, she countered with twice the ferocity, her magic-enhanced agility outmatching my drained state. The metallic tang of blood filled my nose as she landed hits on my already bruised skin. The pain was overwhelming, but I pushed it aside, focusing on her patterns and movements. Tannethe was skilled, but she was also enraged and reckless, driven by her emotions. Not thinking as she fell back on her training.
“Whore!”
