8. Tempest
8
TEMPEST
E verything slowed .
I latched onto Delaine’s wrist before she could slap her hand across my face. Tightening my fingers, I twisted, smiling while her bones shifted.
The world resumed its regular pace.
Delaine shrieked and stumbled backward.
Maintaining my bone-breaking grip on her wrist, I kept pace with her, forcing her across the room. My gaze was caught by a painting hanging on the wall beyond her where three creatures with long, dark green hair spiked through with gold stood in a wooded setting, contorting themselves with grimaces suffusing their furry faces.
When I slammed Delaine against the wall, the creatures stopped writhing to watch.
“You murdered my sister,” Delaine shouted, spittle flying.
“Why do you think I did something like that? ”
“My father told me you were involved. I’m going to kill you.” She tried to wrench away from my grip.
I tightened my fingers, infusing them with a touch of magic I hadn’t felt before. It resided in my well but deeper than anything I’d pulled before.
It was hungry.
“Do you need help, Tempest?” Vexxion asked in a deadly tone. “I have no problem adding to my count.”
Delaine’s gaze flicked to Vexxion and stark terror flashed through her eyes. I knew right then that she didn’t fear me. She feared him .
“No,” I said. “I believe I can handle this.”
“Do let me know,” he drawled. Crossing the foyer, he stopped beside us and leaned his shoulder against the wall beneath yet another painting depicting trapped creatures, these with golden spikes jutting down their spines and thick tails whipping the lush, brightly colored vegetation surrounding them. “As you know, I’m always happy to assist.”
“Beast,” Delaine shrieked his way. “Beast!”
I swore he flinched, but it was so subtle I could be wrong.
His gaze on me, his lips coiled up in a smile that would’ve sent me bolting in the opposite direction if I didn’t know him. “Beast is an improvement over bastard, don’t you think, Tempest?”
This was what Vexxion had dealt with his entire life.
With rage raking across my bones, I whipped power at Delaine, wrapping it around her neck and using it to lift her. Shake her. “Apologize to Vexxion. ”
Her eyes nearly burst from her head, and her breathing stuttered.
“Apologize,” I snarled in her face.
“Sorry. Sorry!”
My shock at finding my fortress roommate here gave way to a sudden realization, and my magic fizzled. Only my grip on her wrists kept her from fleeing.
“You’re fae,” I snapped, tightening my fingers, making her bones creak.
She whimpered, trying to yank away. “I’m Bledmire.”
“Of course.” That didn’t explain why she hated me or why she came to the fortress. Except . . . “You were sent to the fortress to watch me, weren’t you?”
She jerked out a nod. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Let me go, Tempest. Please?”
Drask soared in through the open front door and landed on my shoulder, cawing Delaine’s way.
She shuddered, her wild gaze spiking from the bird to me. With a shriek, she wrenched her arm from my grip and slammed past me, racing across the foyer and into one of the six ornately decorated, arched doorways on the opposite side.
“Who’s her sister?” I asked, staring after her.
“Selitta.”
Lovely.
Is this going to be a problem? I asked. Funny how easily I slipped back into speaking to Vexxion in my mind.
Only if we let it become one.
I should’ve seen she was fae all this time.
It’s not blazing on our foreheads .
I slid my fingertip across the area on my own forehead Vexxion had marked. Nothing showed when I looked in the mirror. But then, my gaze was more often drawn to the slight bulge of the vines encircling my throat. At least I’d be able to tell who was Nullen and who wasn’t, since every one of us was collared.
I need to get you ready for the king. Vexxion took my hand to flit.
Fuck that. I jerked away and flitted myself, landing on top of one of the chairs facing the fireplace in the suite we were assigned. With a huff, I jumped off onto the floor.
Drask squawked and left my shoulder, soaring into an adjoining room.
Vexxion joined me instantly, placing himself in front of the roaring blaze. He studied my face. You’re getting good at flitting.
The pride in his voice thrilled through me, and I hated that his words and thoughts could still wrench my emotions in all sorts of directions.
“I’m not going to let the king drain me,” I snarled.
He tapped his lips.
Put your threads around us if you’re worried about being overheard, I barked in his mind.
He didn’t even wince. They may not be enough.
Is that why you refused to speak to me inside the throne room?
He stared at me a moment before nodding.
The turmoil I felt . . . I couldn’t decide if I should flit someplace where Vexxion wouldn’t find me—assuming such a place existed—or show this man the same pain still hollowing out my insides .
You’re glaring at me as if you want to gut me , he said pleasantly.
Because you’re going to let your father drain me.
“I will not.”
These two things do not belong together, I said. He told you to bring me to him. He plans to drain me. You plan to hand me over to him without voicing a single protest.
You’re mine.
Snarling it doesn’t make it so.
In this instance, it does.
Don’t take me to him. I couldn’t hold back the whimper in my voice. I kept picturing Reyla and Brodine. He’ll hurt me. I thought you were my shield. I threw out the last on purpose and watched him.
His expression gave nothing away.
Prepare yourself, he said.
How am I supposed to do that? Oh, I know. I stormed to the armoire and wrenched open the doors. Let me see . . . I yanked one dress after another across the rod. Which of these will show my nipples? Which will he find the most attractive on my delectable curves ?
You’ll wear this.
A blink and I wore a black leather tunic and matching pants, like the ones I’d worn throughout my life when I trained or rode dragons. My long hair hung in a neat braid down my back. My only adornment was the pabrilleen stone pendant strung on the simple chain around my neck. I thought I was supposed to dress to please the king.
You dress to please no one but yourself. His gaze ensnared me, edged steel cloaked in velvet night. His dangerous allure seemed to see right through me. It promised danger yet beckoned—like the sudden flair of lightning on someone wandering across a windswept plain.
My heartbeat skittered, and my skin prickled. I wasn’t afraid. Anticipation coursed through me. Only this man could make me feel like this. My caution slipped away, replaced with a raw need that made me feel reckless.
Despite every rational voice within me warning me against getting lost in him once more, part of me wanted to plunge in headfirst just to see if I'd come back out remade, or if he’d shatter me all over again.
I slammed my eyes shut, but it did nothing to block the turbulent feelings slicing through me. How could I still love someone who’d do such horrible things to me?
Don’t do this, I whispered, opening my eyes.
Do what? The weight of his gaze was a smothering embrace. With just a curl of his mouth, he could make me start caring again.
You know what I mean.
He flitted to stand close to me, his light scent of heat and spice filling my senses. I dragged my eyes away from his.
With one finger, he lifted my chin. He’d often caged me and made me meet his gaze, but I sensed here, I could back away, and he’d let me go. How did he know that forcing this would only make me tighten my walls?
Tell me, he said. I need to hear the words.
Your needs mean nothing. I backed up, hoping he didn’t see the tremor of my hands resting by my sides. You have no right to that information.
His hand dropped, and his eyes shadowed once more. An answering pain shot through me.
This isn’t over, he said.
It had to be. We’re here to kill the king. Whatever we had . . . I needed to say I was done with him, but I couldn’t force the thoughts from my mind into his. A treacherous need for him kept rising within me, threatening to drown me in his charm once more. Focus on our goal. That was all I would say.
Alright. Are you ready to go?
What kind of question is that? I injected mockery into my words. Are you ready to let the king drain you, you might as well say. You don’t care about your mind, do you, Tempest? No problem letting him suck it away, right?
From the start, I asked you to trust me. I could feel the disappointment in his voice.
And that was the only reason I was cooperating with this. Some shred of the old Tempest still trusted him.
You promised, he added. It wasn’t hard to read the resolve in his gaze. This man had used every bit of himself as a tool for years. He’d sharpened his magic and his mind, honing them into blades that could slice through anything.
Including the walls surrounding my heart.
That was when I believed in you. In us. Now I was uncertain. I was torn between forgiveness and fear, and I didn’t know which path to take any longer. One alone or one with him by my side? We have an uneasy truce. Let’s not push this any farther.
He watched me, his face stoic and unflinching. He didn’t agree or challenge my words. This man was as stubborn as me. He’d declared himself, and nothing and no one would change his course. He saw me as his, and he wouldn’t stop until I’d admitted it was true.
The thought shouldn’t thrill through me.
When had anyone ever so faithfully remained by my side, determined to do anything he could to claim me?
I hated that I was softening, that I was contemplating giving him a second chance. Where had my anger gone? Where was my resolve to keep the walls secure around my heart?
He’d blinked .
That was the only reason I was standing here with him now, that I hadn’t used my newly awakened flitting ability to flee all the way across the continent.
How much of what you said in the throne room was true? I asked, not meeting his gaze. If I read pain there, I worried I’d slip right back into believing him once more.
As always, he said. I carefully chose my words.
They flashed through my mind. The king said he’d take some of my power tonight, I said. A taste, so to speak.
That is his intention.
You didn’t refute this. You didn’t tell him he couldn’t have me. Rage boiled up my throat, adding to the bitter taint on my tongue. It was all I could do not to let it loose, to let my fury roar through this room, this castle. I wouldn’t stop until nothing remained but smoldering ruins. You didn’t defend me.
That was what hurt the most.
No?
Don’t twist this or play with me .
What would you have me do? Oh, he sounded so sardonic, so conniving.
Tell him you wouldn’t allow him to do this.
Do you believe the king will accept no for an answer?
So, we would’ve died. At least we would’ve done it together. Instead . . . There wasn’t anything left of us to salvage.
You’re not the only one walking on a thin wire stretching across a vast cavern, he said.
I assume you’re suggesting you’re on that wire with me.
I always have been. The honesty in his voice cut me off at the knees. My emotions toppled. With a shuddering breath, I regained my footing. In the throne room, you admitted you were toying with me. I stomped right over to him, tipping my head back to lock my gaze on his. I didn’t want to miss one single twitch. One blink.
From the moment we met, I knew the role you’d play in my life.
Back in the throne room, the sneer in his voice had reached into my chest and yanked out my heart. I still bled. This means you’ve been manipulating me from the start.
Guiding you in the direction you needed to go.
Same thing. You told him I was quite sweet. You said he’d enjoy me as much as you have. That you’d gladly let him have a taste of all I have to offer.
But that was when he’d blinked.
Trust me. He swallowed. Please.
My emotions roiled inside me, bashing their way through me in a way I’d never find the will to control. He was weakening me. Not physically and not with magic, but while we were arguing, he was stealthily scaling the walls surrounding my heart, delicately cutting away the thorns. Reaching inside . . .
I backed away, my hands lifting as if they’d serve as a barrier. The sheath holding his grandfather’s blade tapped my thigh, and I pulled the knife and brandished it between us.
You won’t be allowed to take that to the king’s suite, he said.
You told me I should never go to his bedroom.
I warned you not to, yes.
Yet, here you are, happily taking me there.
I’m not happy about this, he growled. But we have no choice.
I still held the blade, but he was the one gouging deeply. Severing something deep inside me. There’s always a choice.
Not in this. Unless . . . His penetrating gaze met mine. Speak the word, and I’ll flit you to a place where he’ll never find you. End this before you’re in too deep.
It’s too late for that.
He held out his hand. Then it’s time to leave for the king’s suite. Again, I ask you to trust me.
Fear pulsed through me with every beat of my heart. There was still time. I could run, as he’d said. He’d flit me somewhere, and I could hide. Me, hide? Ha. My determination and will remained strong. This wasn’t only about me or even Reyla and Brodine. I stood between the evil king and every single man, woman, and child struggling to survive in the Nullen villages.
I’d grown up wielding a sword, killing dregs whenever I got the chance. I was a protector of others. This was taking the battle to a higher level. With one swipe of a blade, I could end the brutal rule of Ivenrail Levestan, and cut the dregs and Lieges off at the knees .
I would do this for myself.
For my fellow Nullens.
And for Vexxion. There was no harm in admitting that I was willing to stand as his shield, at least in this.
I dragged a swallow down my throat and gritted my teeth to keep them from clacking together. There was no stopping the poke of goosebumps rising across my skin.
With the jerk of a nod, I took Vexxion’s outstretched hand.
“Stay here, Drask,” he barked.
After a long look my way, Vexxion flitted me to the fae king’s suite for draining.