| |
Elizabeta
I snap out of the spell with a fury, launching myself at Fane before he can do anything. “You son of a bitch!” Nails extended to gouge his eyes out, I’m ready for blood.
But no sooner do I get within reach, and dark tendrils rise up from the ground, binding my wrists, my ankles, and keeping me away from him.
“Let me go!”
“No,” he says calmly. “I don’t think so. Calm the fuck down first, and then we’ll talk.”
“There’s going to be no talking. The moment I get out of these restraints, you can be sure you’ll pay for it.”
Stefan ignores me, simply settling back by the tree. He runs his hand over a fire, and a roast comes to life. He’s soon eating, and I’m no less close to escaping these binds.
I focus my anger on them. Darkness used to listen to my father, surely I can make it listen to me.
As though guessing y thoughts, the Dacian says, “You can try, but you won’t manage.”
“Why not?’
“Because you’re not as strong as your sire.”
“Fuck. You.”
He chuckles, going back to his food. And his dismissiveness infuriates me more. first that woman in the hag’s cabin, and now this. Why did I even let Vlad convince me to get on this hellish quest?
“Because you care for him,” Daniel says.
I glare at him. “You must be so happy to see me like this.”
“Not really,” Stefan answers. “But I won’t have you kill me before I can help out Silviana.”
“What he said,” Daniel smiles. “Minus the bit about his sister. What I can’t have is you killing your mate.”
I glare at him, since I can’t say what I really want to say. That there’s no way Stefan is my fucking consort.
“Think about it, Liza. Since you emt him during that fight in the woods, you’ve felt weaker. Same as Vioelta. Same as Vlad.”
“You’re full of it,” I tell him.
Stefan only snorts, still thinking I’m talking to him.
Daniel shrugs. “Maybe. But I see what you don’t, or what you’re too stubborn to. Or...” His gaze narrows on me. I wait. “Is it that you’re afraid?”
I curse against my bindings, trying to escape them once more—it’s no use.
“You are. Of what?” Daniel comes closer. He reaches for me, then seems to remember he can’t touch me, never can again. “What is it you fear?”
I shake my head, refusing to answer him. And turn my gaze to the ground, refusing to acknowledge him again. But I feel his gaze on me, probing. He was always able to see past me, apst everything.
Stefan
I set aside the remnants of my dinner and turn to her. “Can you please not kill me in my sleep?”
“I’ll try,” she mutters, and something in her tone sounds almost...docile. Hmm. If it’s a play, it’s a good one.
I wait another beat, but nothing else comes. So I release her.a fter a moment, she steps towards me.
“I spelled you because I needed to get us out of that cabin. Those two weren’t just regular visitors.”
“How would you know? You couldn’t see them.”
“No, but I felt one of their power. The woman, probably, since you kept verbally sparring with her. And she was...powerful.”
“So, she’s a withc.”
“No. something stronger.”
A beat later, “Well, are you going to tell me? Cause this suspense sucks.”
“A goddess. What was she dressed like?”
Liza lets out a sigh. I bet she’s rolling her eyes. “Leather outfit. Bow and arrow. Red hair. Not as nice as mine.”
Hmm. Liza’s a redhead? That explains so much.
“Artemis.”
“The Greek goddess of the hunt? Are you shitting me?”
“No, I’m not. It’s her, it’s got to be. And the man with her, something else was wrong about him. I felt...connected.”
“Only you would say that.”
“You don’t understand. I sensed the same hum of energy that I do aroundmy magic, around my Grand Master, around him.”
Liza’s quiet for a while. Then there’s a breeze in front of my face, and I realize she’s moved in front of me. “Whatever. Gods or not, the point is if you ever spell me again, I promise you you’re going to understand what it’s like to be strung up by your balls.”
I wince. “Noted. I suppose it doesn’t matter that I was trying to protect us both from the gods’ wrath?”
She moves closer, her hair tickling my face. “Not in the least.”
Then she’s gone, and I hear her settle in the distance.