Chapter 55
SAPHIRA
“Iwill never return to that wretched court with you!” I snapped at Kaeleron, shaking my head, holding myself and shrinking away from him. “I will never let you hurt me again.”
“Well then. Since this little game is done.” Shadows rose around Kaeleron, the air thickening as his power grew, and the stars faded. He sneered, his lips twisting hard as his eyes flashed crimson, narrowing on me. “I will exact my vengeance upon your court, upon the blood of my sworn enemy.”
I backed into Sylvan, the hard plate of his chest armour cold against my skin through my plain cotton dress, heart shooting into my throat as I braced myself, unsure whether Kaeleron would actually attack.
“We were always enemies,” I snarled, putting as much effort as I could manage into spitting that at him, all the hatred and hurt I could muster, drawing it up from the past—from the pain my wolf instincts clung to from that night Lucas had rejected me.
I let it all pour out of me as I lunged towards Kaeleron, snarling, “We were enemies the moment you bought me at that auction. I’ve hated every second you’ve held me captive in your court. ”
His fingers twitched at his sides, the only evidence that my words had struck him hard, his expression remaining bored and impassive.
I wanted to tell him I was sorry.
I shoved that desire down deep into my heart, denying it, and focused on stoking my anger and building the courage I would need to get through the next few days, weeks or months.
I had to do this.
Even when I was terrified.
Even when I didn’t want to be apart from him.
Sylvan was fooled and the guards looked ready to go to battle in my name, for my sake. The very court who had wounded him so grievously wanted to bring me into their midst. A viper among vipers. That’s what I would be, and I would find a way to deliver his vengeance.
“I hate you,” I bit out.
Meaning quite the opposite as the seelie closed ranks with me. I loved him. I loved him so damned much, and I should have told him.
“I hate you too,” he snarled right back at me, but I knew from that glimmer of softness in his eyes that his words were the opposite of his feelings too, and that he knew what I had been trying to tell him.
His shadows grew sharp.
“Harm her, and your sister and your court are forfeit, Shadow King,” Sylvan drawled and I tensed as his hands closed over my shoulders.
My first instinct was to shake off his disgusting touch. I somehow managed to withstand it, bearing it as I glared at Kaeleron, as I felt the tide turning in my favour and that I was almost there. Almost in.
“Release my sister and call off your armada and I will not cut her down,” Kaeleron growled. “You have my word.”
“I am expected to accept the word of a traitorous viper?” Sylvan smirked at him, throwing Kaeleron’s earlier words back at him.
“Accept it or an heir presumptive to the Summer Court throne dies on your watch.” He aimed his shadows right at me.
Sylvan hesitated, as if it wasn’t an easy choice for him.
As if he wasn’t sure whether he really wanted to save me.
I looked over my shoulder at the seelie, right into his blue eyes, my heart cracking wide open as I continued my charade, as I made my final play, desperate to convince him to accept Kaeleron’s terms. “I can’t stand the sight of the bastard.
Please… get me out of here. I’ll go anywhere. I just need to get away from him.”
Sylvan nodded.
Power built around me.
Power that felt like the caress of death against my skin, the touch of doom, and I panicked.
I looked at Kaeleron as light swirled around me.
The devastated edge to his expression branded itself on my mind.
And his enraged and pained bellow that reverberated through the night as I disappeared destroyed me.
I turned my face away and closed my eyes, pulling down a deep breath and holding it, clinging to my courage as I was pulled away from him, towards a court he couldn’t enter, where there would be no one to protect me.
No one to save me if things went wrong.
The scent of blossoms chased around me on a soft, warm breeze as my bare feet met grass.
Birdsong followed it.
I opened my eyes, afraid of what I might see, and found Sylvan watching me with that viper’s smile.
A snake.
And he had just struck at Kaeleron in the cruellest way—I had just struck at him.
Gods, I hoped he would forgive me.
“Thank you,” I whispered and plastered a smile on my face, one filled with false gratitude and hope, and relief, playing the role of damsel in distress just saved from the dragon by a white knight.
Sylvan nodded and swept his arm out to his right.
“Welcome to Evergreen Castle, to your ancestral home, daughter of Sylas.”
I slowly turned, gaze tracking over the rolling hills filled with blossoming fruit trees in all colours that perfumed the air around me, and lush emerald fields that were too bright for my eyes, the green of them almost unreal.
To the stunning white castle town that stood a short distance away, the roofs of the buildings a vibrant turquoise or bright gold and copper, with towers that speared the bright blue sky like blades.
Like blades of bone.
I looked at Sylvan, at his armour, and then at the roofs and the flags that fluttered in the breeze, their embroidery catching the light to glitter at me.
The most glittering of gold.
Carved from blades of bone.
And blood.
Neve had seen me in this place.
I was meant to be here.
I strode towards that future she had witnessed.
A plan forming in my mind.
One I would carry out flawlessly.
To save Danica.
To give the man I loved—the other half of my soul—the vengeance he craved.
I would choke the light from this court with the shadows I carried in my heart.
I would become a viper among vipers.
And deliver their heads to my king one by one.