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Dreadful anticipation triggers a full-on panic attack. Cold tingles numb my face and fingertips. My lungs are constricted, and I can’t seem to get enough air. Palpitations make my heartbeat irregular.
I haven’t had one of these episodes in a while, and I hadn’t missed them.
One perk of the Lost Land is the absence of my anxiety. Yes, my indifference has been the source of my misery, it’s also been my greatest protection. It’s the only power I have against Armand’s games, and now my armor is falling away.
Alarmed by my high-pitched gasping, Kai steps forward and grips my upper arm.
I shriek, not because I don’t want him to touch me, but because his contact sends a shock of electricity running through my body. His fingers are like jumper cables, and the jolt restarts my pulse to a regular rhythm.
Immediately, my body calms.
Thinking he’s made a mistake, Kai releases me, backs away, and apologizes, “I’m terribly sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”
“It’s okay,” I say, still wondering what the hell is up with the sensation I felt from his hand.
Usually, it can take hours for me to get rebalanced after a panic attack, but Kai stopped it before it could even gain any momentum.
He gazes at me with concern. “What’s happening to you?”
I’mcaring, that’s what. I’m like the grinch when his heart grows three sizes. I almost blurt the comparison to Kai, but I stop myself because it’s a human reference he wouldn’t understand.
“It’s dangerous for me to want,” I explain. “Don’t you get it? Wanting only leads to disappointment.”
“I won’t let you be disappointed,” he rebuts with confidence. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get anything you desire, as long as it includes you staying alive.”
That can-do attitude is Armand’s favorite characteristic to destroy. Kai’s practically daring the overlord to knock him down a peg.
Shaking my head, I warn, “Really, you should go without me. Save yourself while you can.”
All of a sudden, Armand’s presence thickens the air. I can always sense his nearness before he shows himself, and the heaviness presses in on me now.
The overlord likes to lurk. He hovers like a bird of prey soaring over a field in search of its next meal.
But he isn’t looking for food.
Suffering is Armand’s favorite form of sustenance, and he’s been without it for far too long.
Ro
“Oh, a new friend,” Armand drawls, moving into the doorway, his voice echoing in the empty hall.
Dim light from one of the windows illuminates his face. His skin is so pale I can see the blue veins on his forehead. There are grayish circles under his eyes, and his cheeks are a bit sunken in.
Just like every other dark fae I’ve seen, Armand has icy eyes, short black tufts of thinning hair on his head, and no stubble on his face. The lack of hair growth seems to be a common affliction in the Lost Land. Half a million years of starvation will do that.
Armand is way better off than his minions, though. He’s in a committed blood sharing partnership with his husband, Yugo. They sustain each other, taking turns feeding from one another.
I don’t know why the men he’s enslaved haven’t adopted a similar system. Either they aren’t allowed to eat regularly, or they just can’t come to an agreement that works amongst them. Because they look bad. Not only are they missing hair, but their muscles have wasted away, and their colorless skin is wrinkled like dried fruit.
“I suppose I don’t need to tell you who I am,” Kai starts off with hostility in his tone as he squares off with Armand.
“No introductions are necessary,” Armand agrees. “I heard you tell the woman your name, Kai.”
If Kai’s narrowed eyes could shoot daggers, I think Armand would be dead where he stands. “Have you been listening this entire time?”
“Of course. I’m always aware of what’s happening in my home. Don’t forget you’re the intruder here.”
“I wouldn’t have had to come if you hadn’t stolen a queen from Valora.”
