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Fear ran down my spine with a jolt, but I stood my ground. “I no longer play your games.”
“You will play this one.” Damien stood and straightened the interwoven clasps of his black jacket. “I had meant for this to be a choice between Collin and that chattering Elf he brought with him, but it seems fate had a much more interesting game for you to play.”
Fear flooded my chest, pressing on my lungs until I couldn’t breathe. “I will cut out your other eye before I let you hurt Maerhal.”
Damien ignored my threat and pulled on his sleeve. “The choice of who dies is yours.” His cruel lips trembled in anticipation. “When you wake you will find yourself in the city center. On the east bank of the river you will find the Elf you stole from my dungeons. Unharmed as long as you get to her in time.” He waved his hand and a tall townhouse appeared. I recognized it from the market street of Silstra.
I straightened my back. “I will.”
“Keera, you can’t save them both.” Damien chuckled to himself. He waved his other hand and a second house appeared. This one more rugged than the last and only one story. “On the west bank is your Fae. Riven, I think is his name?”
My heart dropped to the floor. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was stare at the decrepit house. “What are you going to do to them?”
Damien ran his tongue along his flat teeth. “I think you mean, what willyoudo to them.” Smoke began to billow from each roof. “When you wake, the flames will have already been lit and you can make your choice. The Elf who spent so long alone in the dark or the Fae that drips in shadow.”
My mouth went dry. I turned away from the violet flames that had consumed both houses. “I won’t choose. I refuse.” I had played this game before and there were no winners.
Damien stalked toward me. He didn’t stop until our chests were almost touching. “Remember what happened the last time you refused to play?”
Hildegard’s bloody face flashed across my mind. Tears welled in my eyes.
“Play or don’t.” Damien’s finger curled under my chin. “I win regardless. But I know you will always settle for one death over two.”
“This could all be a ruse. You may not even have them.” I spat.
Damien’s nail scratched the skin under my jaw. “Perhaps. But I believe you will be convinced when you wake.”
There was an earnest anticipation in his voice that made my skin crawl. Whatever game Damien was playing, I knew it wasn’t a lie, at least not entirely. The pleasure was in watching me squirm, in trying to guess which choice I’d make.
“Kill me.” I rasped. “Let them both live and I will not fight your Blade when he comes for me.”
Damien’s cold fingers wrapped around my throat but he didn’t squeeze. “You don’t get to die today.” Damien’s lips were so close to my cheek I thought his tongue would brush against my skin. “You have destroyed my ships and killed my men with no regard for my power. Such treachery does not earn you an easy death. I will break you before I take your head.” Damien’s words were cold and calm, it made the threat that much more dangerous. “You are not allowedto die until you have watched everyone you love perish. You are not allowed to die until that Shadow you love so dearly burns in a fire so bright his shadows can’t save him. I will use his screams as fuel for your nightmares for months, if not years. Then I will cut the skin off your eyelids so you can watch every Shade you stole pay for your treason as I slice your front just as I did your back.”
Damien’s hand cupped my cheeks and squeezed, pushing the tears from my eyes.
“Only then will I kill you.” He ran his hand over my cheek to wipe the tears away, like a friend issuing a promise instead of a threat. “When you beg for death, I shall be merciful enough to give it to you.”
Damien threw me to my knees and stood over me as I caught my breath. “The choice is yours, Keera. The Elf to the east or the Shadow to the west.” He gave me a gentle smile and stepped back into the violet flames behind him. “Play well.”
CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE
IWOKE IN AN ALLEYin the middle of Silstra. The smell of shit and stale water filled my nostrils and stung my eyes.
On my lap were two items. The shaded spectacles Nikolai had made for his mother and a thick black cloak I recognized immediately as one of Riven’s. It was stitched with the same Elvish pattern of small leaves and swirling stems as his leathers. I leaned down and the scent of birchwood was faint, but it was there.
My blood pounded as the truth stared me in the face. Maerhal and Riven had been captured, and now I needed to choose.
I stood and tripped over something soft. The palms of my hands tore as I caught myself on the stone wall of the narrow alleyway. I looked down and saw Killian unconscious at my feet. His hands and legs were bound, but his chest was rising in even, steady breaths.
His hands were undone with a quick slice of my dagger. He could untie the rest when he woke, I didn’t have the time. I ran to thestreet and looked at the skies. The night was clear but I could see two thin wafts of smoke beginning to billow. One to the east and one to the west.
Tears streamed down my face as I stood, paralyzed. No matter who I chose, I would never recover. No matter who I picked, someone’s death would be my fault.
My stomach churned. My heart already knew I wanted to run for Riven, that I couldn’t live with myself if he died and I had the chance to save him. But would I survive if Riven perished when I unlocked the last seal? Would Nikolai be able to survive it if I traded his mother’s life for a few short days with Riven?
Guilt tore at my throat as my eyes shifted from the east to the west. I could hear Damien’s cruel laugh in my ear, taunting me that no choice would leave them both dead.
My hands were so tight the scratches on my palms bled but I didn’t feel the pain. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew from the moment Damien had stated the choice who I would pick.
