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I landed with a sharp exhale on my back. The mattress, which had seemed so soft and luxurious before, now felt cold and hard against my tingling skin. Goosebumps rose up my bare arms and traveled over my neck, and my chest heaved as Scion loomed over me. The knife slipped from my grip and clattered uselessly to the floor.
I shoved at his chest, and whether he meant to or not, he dragged his body against mine, pressing me harder into the mattress. I shuddered.
“I’m curious,” he said with a slight edge of menace to his tone. “Do you ever stop to think through the consequences of your actions?”
“Not when I wake up to find you looming over me.”
He smiled slightly, saying nothing for a beat, and reached out, gently running one hand over the column of my neck. I shivered involuntarily at the touch, and he smiled slightly. Then, without warning, his fingers closed around my throat.
I choked, gasping for air, as his silver rings cut into my skin. He leaned down even closer and brought his lips close to my ear. “Never try that again, or there will be fucking consequences.”
He let go and leapt off the bed, taking several steps back toward the middle of the room. I coughed, gasping for breath as involuntary tears welled in my eyes. “Your threats don’t frighten me anymore,” I coughed. “I’ve already seen the worst of what you have to offer and survived.”
To my surprise, he grinned. “No, rebel. Believe me, I can be far, far worse.”
I swallowed thickly, holding my tongue for once. Although, as he stepped further back, all I could think wasSo can I.
14
LONNIE
THE OBSIDIAN PALACE, THE CITY OF EVERLAST
Scion left the room, allowing me a moment to myself to dress and bathe, but not before announcing that he’d return shortly to discuss the attack.
Part of me wondered if I’d overreacted—if that’s all he’d meant to discuss all along—while another part felt somewhat vindicated for finally getting the upper hand. Granted, now that I’d played that hand and lost, I’d never be able to catch him by surprise again.
That was alright. I’d simply have to wait until I could feed him to my new snake friend.
I swallowed thickly, that thought jerking me back to reality with an unpleasant lurch. Was it truly possible that the attack was my fault? Could my failure to warn Bael have caused such a disaster? Or was I spinning too far into panic and ignoring more rational possibilities?
The attack had changed any other plans and shifted all priorities—at least for me. I could only hope the Everlasts viewed the threat as seriously as I did, but one thing was certain beyond any doubt: I needed to find Bael.
* * *
After a quick baththat was more utilitarian than relaxing, I flung open the wardrobe and selected the first dress I touched.
The gown was made from a lovely mulberry silk, but to my dismay, it turned out to be one of the more difficult ones to put on without the help of a servant. As I stood in front of the vanity mirror, struggling to do up the back, I thought wistfully of Enid. As far as I could tell, she’d been running in the opposite direction from the afflicted after the attack, and I hoped desperately that she’d escaped.
A knock sounded on my door, and I stiffened. I’d grown to dread those knocks, as no one I wanted to see ever bothered, and the list of those I would welcome was depressingly short. “Who is it?”
“Thalia,” came a soft voice from the other side of the door.
I froze. Lady Thalia, who was objectively one of the loveliest Fae I’d ever seen, male or female, was Lord Gwydion’s fiancée, as well as a cousin of the Everlasts, though how closely they were all related, I’d never really known. She’d always been relatively kind to me, though I couldn’t say I exactly trusted her.
I went to the door, anyway, and opened it a crack so as not to expose her to my half-dressed body. “Hello.”
She looked down at me, her expression bemused. “What are you doing?”
I held my intricate gown to my bare chest and opened the door slightly wider. “I have never put something this complex on by myself.”
She looked like she wanted to laugh, which was unusual for her. Tall, blonde, and willowy, Thalia had haunted gray eyes that often appeared as if she’d recently been crying. It was something I’d wondered about before but had no business asking about.
“Would you like help?” she asked.
I paused, then nodded, letting her inside, where she immediately made her way over to the vanity. I followed, holding all the mulberry straps up with immense difficulty.
“What is this?” Thalia asked, picking at the end of one of the straps.
