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My certainty crumbled, but I lifted my chin and didn’t bother to hide the sideways tug on my lips. “My reports of the loss of their magic were exaggerated.”
The only reaction Damien gave was a brief flex of his jaw. He sat in the chair, his back perfectly straight as his hands turned to fists on the armrests. “You may have taken my supply of Halfling blood, but it will only take my guards hours to pull Halflings from the streets.”
My chest heaved at the thought but I didn’t show it.
“I rescued a legion of your best trained soldiers.” I crossed my arms. “They are not so easily replaced.”
Damien’s lip curled. “Most are girls who have never left that island let alone drawn blood.”
I gritted my teeth at how easily he was able to dismiss what he did to them. What he’d done tochildren.
“You have seen what we are capable of.” I turned back toward the flooded beach. The flames reflected in the water that now reached the garden walls of the palace. It was a terrifying sight, the shore at once underwater and engulfed in flame.
Damien scoffed. “Water magic will not save you when we meet inland. All you have shown me is that I need to reinforce my assets by the sea. And despite yourmeaslydisplay”—Damien flicked his hand like the burning ships and drowned soldiers meant nothing to him—“I have more than enough men to defendmykingdom.”
I sat on the small table directly across from Damien since he’d only outfitted his room with a single chair. I leaned back and rested my ankle on my knee. Casual and open, unworried about an attack.
Damien’s eye narrowed.
“We have much more than water magic at our disposal.” I drummed my fingers against the dark wood.
Damien’s lip twitched upward. “And how long will that water wielder need to recover from a single wave? A day? A week?”
The blood drained from my face.
Damien stood, peering down at me with the cold hardness of a statue. “You forget I am well studied in the art of Fae. Every use of magic has its cost.”
His boot nudged mine and a cold shiver went down my spine but I refused to move.
“You can attack my armies by sea, by air, with flame or earth. It does not matter.” Damien let out a dark chuckle. “Twenty thousand more men are reaching my shores as we speak. Do you think I care how many I lose in your pitiful attacks?” He smiled down at me like a cat, a curious and patient killer. “I can withstand them. Drown a battalion and I have another that will charge your fleet while your magic wielder is made useless. Burn the soldiers where they stand and another troupe will be at the field of battle before the first sun rises.”
I swallowed at the utter lack of fear in Damien’s eye.
“I can wait while your Fae fall one by one. And then I will kill everyone they hold dear while they watch. You have won the round, Keera, but I intend to win the war.” There was a vile edge to his voice, a part of him that relished this back-and-forth.
“You haven’t called your banners.” I stood, pleased that without his dais Damien had to look up at me. “All you have is empty threats.”
Damien grinned and reached for the bloodstone dagger at my waist. My mouth went dry as he studied the blade that had killed Brenna. He drew it across my throat, light enough to tickle but I felt the amber blood drip down my skin.
Damien’s pupil expanded as he watched it fall. His stony face was wild when he looked at me. “Do not test me, Keera. You have no idea what I am willing to do.”
He turned the blade onto himself and pushed it into his own chest. In the same spot that I had done with Brenna. I let out a gasp and the room went black.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
IWOKE ON A SOFT BEDof faelight with a dozen curious faces peering down at me. My entire body ached from exhausting my magic, but all my bones were intact. A miracle from a fall so high. I blinked up at the eagle’s nest swaying above my head. It blocked out the light of the suns already past their peak.
“How?” I wheezed.
Gerarda smirked as she elbowed Vrail in her side. “She’s a quick thinker. Had the faelight covered before you hit the deck. Though you’ve been out for hours.”
I felt like it. Vrail bit her lip, her dark eyes dancing all over my face as she made sure I was okay. I adjusted myself on the bed and my arm grazed something hard. Riven lay next to me, his face twitching in pain even though he was unconscious.
My head spun from launching myself off the faebed. “What’s the matter with him?”
I turned to Syrra and Nikolai. They glanced at each other glumly before Syrra finally answered. “We think it is exhaustion from the magic use. But …”
Nikolai crossed his arms and pulled on his hair. “He’s never been so uncomfortable in his sleep before.”
