Chapter 10 #2
Duncan dropped his spoon so abruptly that it clattered to the table. Leaning forward, he let the bite he’d been chewing fall from his mouth. Sauce and chunks of vegetables splashed into the bowl. A piece of meat hit the edge and tumbled across the table. It stopped halfway between Duncan and me.
It was the tip of a severed finger, the pale pink nail still attached.
My stomach pitched, a cry catching in my throat. For several seconds, Duncan blinked at the finger. His brow furrowed, and he looked at his bandaged hand.
“Unwrap it, Mr. Bagley,” Rasimir said.
I gripped the arms of my chair. “Duncan, don’t!”
Sweat broke out on Duncan’s forehead. Slowly, he lifted his hands.
“Don’t!” I said, hot tears sprinting down my cheeks. “Duncan, look at me.”
He obeyed, his mouth trembling. A dimple appeared in his cheek as he offered a tremulous smile.
“It’s all right, Corinthe.” He tugged at the bandage, sweat trickling down his temple.
His uninjured hand shook so badly, it took him a few tries to unravel the gauze.
At last, the bandage fell away, revealing two stumps where his first and second fingers should have been.
I covered my mouth, more tears falling over my knuckles.
“Don’t cry,” Duncan rasped. He reached for me but then seemed to realize he’d extended his mangled hand. Frowning, he quickly withdrew it. “I’m sorry.”
A sob slipped around my palm. Lowering my hand, I shook my head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“As you should be,” Rasimir said, catching my eye. “If not for you, Mr. Bagley never would have ventured near the Feyline. But he did, making it exceptionally easy for Sir Vander to apprehend him. Isn’t that right, Captain?”
Vander stared straight ahead. “Yes, Majesty.”
Rasimir gave me a look like See?
“Let him go,” I said, my voice shaking. “He’s just a human. He’s beneath your notice, remember?”
“That was before.” Rasimir gestured to Duncan. “This fool attempted to enter my territory. I can’t let that stand. And now he’s seen you at my table.” Rasimir’s smile was like acid. “What will he tell the fine people of Derryton about Lilawen, I wonder?”
Mama’s face floated in my mind. Doubt and fear followed. Rasimir had a point. Duncan had seen too much. And he could live for several more decades. Could he keep secrets that long? How would he explain his injury?
I turned back to him. “Duncan, listen to me. If you want to live, you have to swear not to tell anyone you saw me in Nocta. Can you do that for me? Do you promise?”
His mouth worked, sauce gathered in the cut on his bottom lip. His chest lifted as he drew an uneven breath, a look of longing descending over his features. “But…will I ever see you again?”
My heart sank. I gripped the chair, desperation leaking into my voice. “Just promise me, all right? You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“This is folly,” Rasimir said. “Sir Vander, remove one of Mr. Bagley’s remaining fingers, please.”
Vander drew a knife and stepped forward.
“No!” I stood so quickly that my chair tipped backward and crashed to the floor. My fangs shot down. “Don’t touch him!” I screamed at Vander.
Ignoring me, he clawed Duncan’s chair away from the table and seized the man’s uninjured hand.
“Corinthe!” Duncan cried, shrinking away from the knife.
“Stop it!” I swung toward Rasimir. “Father, please! Don’t do this!”
A flash of steel drew my attention back to Duncan. He screamed as Vander pinned his wrist to the arm of his chair. Fangs bared, Vander lifted the knife.
My growl echoed in my ears as I vaulted across the table and barreled into Vander.
We crashed to the ground, dishes shattering behind us.
He grunted as his back struck the floor.
Instincts firing, I thrust a knee between his legs and yanked it up, connecting with his testicles.
He wheezed, the promise of retribution flashing in his silver eyes.
But he went slack long enough for me to scramble upright and spin toward Duncan.
Again I acted on instinct, dragging him from his chair and spinning him so his back pressed to my chest. Then I clamped an arm around his shoulders and buried my fangs in his neck.
He jerked as his blood pumped into my mouth.
The scent of hay, ale, and horse manure drifted into my lungs.
Sweat and fear covered his natural essence like a blanket.
Underneath it all lay the faintest whiff of cologne.
Tears burned my eyes as I pulled at his vein.
This is mercy , I told myself even as doubt swirled in my mind.
Rasimir wouldn’t give him a swift death.
But I could. I could spare Duncan torture and degradation.
I could make sure the last thing he saw was a kind face.
He deserved that much. Jerking him more tightly against me, I sucked harder.
His blood was thick and sweet. And then it was nearly gone.
When he went slack in my arms, I lowered him to the floor and went to my knees beside him.
“Corinthe,” he whispered through blue-tinged lips. “I love you.”
“I know,” I said, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “I love you, too.”
Joy spread through his eyes. “You do?”
“Yes.” A tear fell from my cheek and splashed his chin. I wiped it away with trembling fingers. “I love you, Duncan.”
“And—” His breath rattled. With a determined look, he sucked in another one. “We’ll be together?”
“Yes,” I lied, stroking his cheek. “We’ll get a fine house in the country.
Just the two of us. And we’ll find Tess.
We’ll buy her back and build a paddock for her.
Would you like that?” His breath rattled again as he tried to answer, and I pressed a finger over his lips.
“Shh, it’s all right. I’ll take care of you.
I’ll cook for you. And when your mother visits, we’ll have the biggest parties.
You can hunt, and I’ll make whatever you catch. It’ll be…”
I pressed my lips together. Then, one by one, I closed his eyes. His face was frozen in a soft smile, the hint of a dimple in his cheek.
Footsteps approached and then Rasimir’s legs appeared on the other side of Duncan’s body. Slowly, I became aware of Vander and Lorcan standing nearby. Sauce from the stew snaked across the floor in a thin brown river.
“Get up,” Rasimir said.
The anger that had propelled me across the table was gone. Now everything ached as I stood on shaky legs. Stew stained the front of my bodice. Broken porcelain crunched under my slippers as I faced the men over Duncan’s body.
My father’s features were smooth, with no trace of emotion on his handsome face. But as before, the appearance of youth didn’t quite mask his age.
“You learned at the waterfall,” he said, “but your education is far from complete.” Eyes on me, he nudged Duncan’s shoulder with the toe of his boot. “This is nothing to us. The merman was nothing to us. Yet you wept for both.”
I tensed. Lorcan hadn’t spoken during the long walk back to the Drakhold. But he’d obviously reported my reaction to Rasimir. Then again, perhaps not.
Always assume someone is watching.
Rasimir bent, gripped Duncan’s body with both hands, and flung him across the dining room. Shock stole my breath as Duncan’s body sailed through the air and crashed into the hearth. The flames roared and cinders exploded. The next second, I choked as Rasimir gripped my throat.
“We do not weep for prey!” he roared in my face. His eyes snapped to solid black.
My reflection filled the shiny orbs, two miniatures of my tear-streaked face staring back at me.
My knees loosened as my lungs seized. This was it.
He was going to kill me. But fuck him if he thought I’d make it easy.
I clawed at his hand, my nails digging into his skin.
He squeezed harder. My eyes bulged, tiny hammers of agony slamming behind them.
“Majesty.” Lorcan’s voice sounded distant, the low tone muffled by the rushing in my ears.
Rasimir’s thumb dug into my windpipe. Fire burned in my lungs as my body strained for air. Black spots danced in my vision like ink dropped in water. My legs gave out, but Rasimir held me effortlessly.
The rushing grew louder. My legs kicked and flailed on their own, an invisible force jerking me like a puppet on my father’s string.
“My king,” Lorcan said more sharply.
My legs stopped shaking. The inky spots spread, and numbness trickled through my limbs.
“Majesty,” Lorcan said again, his voice cutting through the roar between my ears. “The war grows more dire every day. The dhampir is critical to your plan.”
The dining room tilted…and then faded. My hand dropped from Rasimir’s wrist, but I didn’t feel it fall. I was too numb. And the numbness was good because it wasn’t pain. Darkness spread from the edges of my vision, which narrowed to Rasimir’s face. He stared with flat, blank eyes. Monster.
Madness.
“She is a weapon you can’t afford to throw away!” Lorcan shouted, and now he didn’t sound cold or distant at all. “You could lose everything!”
Rasimir blinked. Hissing, he dropped me and stepped back.
I collapsed, my knees hitting the carpet before I doubled over, my forehead pressed to the ground.
Air rushed into my lungs, every heaving breath like crushed glass in my throat.
Tears streamed down my face as I retched and coughed uncontrollably.
The carpet abrading my hot, damp skin was a blessed relief because it was something —the return of sensation after I’d been almost entirely numb.
“You’re right,” Rasimir said above me. When I looked up, he stood in profile a short distance away, his hand trembling slightly as he swiped at his forehead.
Vander and Lorcan observed him with tense expressions.
“You’re right, of course,” Rasimir continued, and it was as if he spoke more to himself than to Lorcan. “Of course, of course.”