Page 33 of Bitten By Chaos

All I could do was watch as Bres pulled a familiar dark sword from behind his back and plunged it through the queen’s stomach without hesitation.

Her lips froze around what was left of Grival, and black fairy blood bubbled out of the corners of her mouth and down her chin and neck. Her eyes glassed over, wide with shock, and after a heartbeat, she folded to the ground, the heart rolling away to stop right in front of my face.

Yanking the blade from the queen’s body, Bres held it up and bared his teeth like a madman. It seemed there’d been a fairy coup.

My bones knit back together as it happened. Merl’s blood had at least sped the process. But by the time I managed to pull myself up to my knees, Bres had the tip of Soul Eater poised at my throat.

“Thank you for not letting her eat it,” I said.

“Hmmph.” Bres snapped his fingers, and my chains fell to the floor around me, allowing me to sit back against the wall as my body finished healing.

“Thanks for that too,” I added. The last of yesterday’s feeding and the miniscule amount I’d ingested had been used for mending my own broken body, and the familiar hunger now gnawed at my insides. It was possible the sample of wizard blood had made that worse instead of better. But that was the least of my current problems.

“What are you going to do with the sword?” I asked, licking my dry lips.

“It’s a fae sword. It belongs with the true king,” Bres grumbled, leaning down to tear the queen’s head from her shoulders, sticky black ooze stretching between the body and skull.

I leaned away, trying not to vomit. “And me?” I asked as he stuck her head on a mushroom cap to admire.

“I ought to kill you and be done with it,” he said, slashing the sword through the air. “Then again, you served me pretty well by delivering me the weapon and the distraction I needed to get close enough for the kill.” He bent down to look in my face. “The Seelie would give you a favor for that.”

“I get a favor?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

“Nah. That’s what the idiot Seelie would do. I think I’ll just kill ya, so you don’t cause any more problems.”

By the time I processed his words, he was already swinging the sword. I rolled, my freshly healed body springing to its feet in a fighting stance the way Daphne had taught me. I didn’t have a blade, but I did have my own abilities. Still, the fae king was no average enemy, nor was the sword he wielded. I knew exactly what that was like.

“Stop,” I commanded using my mind-bending. But one more slash at the air, making me jump backward, and I knew he was immune.

“I knew she’d called on you to deliver, so I took some preparations,” Bres said.

That probably meant he’d taken a charm. But I was willing to gamble the queen hadn’t shared I’d kept my telekinetic abilities.

I wiped a hand through the air, lunging at the same moment, and Soul Eater flew from his hand across the room. My fangs tore through his flesh, black blood spurting out to spray our clothing as I latched on during the critical moment of surprise.

I’d expected it to taste foul, but the liquid that flowed into my mouth tasted of cherries, currant, and…licorice. I sank in, gulping and sucking faster than I’d ever done before. Clutching his flailing body to me, I called up all my power as though on instinct. I’d gotten to the point of overcoming charms and other forms of glamour before I’d been turned. And I hadn’t really flexed my abilities since. But now, I let my power rise inside me once again, filling me as I recalled the way Major Honeywell had used the power without words when she’d first captured me. I knew I was far stronger than her now. Picturing the ability as a glowing red light and braiding it with the predatory glamour I possessed as a vampire, I willed the king to stop struggling and enjoy himself as much as I was enjoying him.

The more of his blood I consumed, the more I felt my power rise and intensify. Electric currents raced through my veins as I feasted on the now compliant Bres, who’d gone limp in my arms. I knew from the warmth in my fingers and toes, I should stop, but the hunger inside me could not be sated. It was as though each pull from his body was the first, like light flowing through my body and filling each crevice, each pore with something I hadn’t known I was missing until this moment.

Stop, a faint voice in the back of mind called. I hadn’t heard it since I’d been turned. But even Pythia’s pleas only served to slow my pace. It was impossible to stop. Inconceivable.

Let him live, Pythia pleaded, louder now. Or you will regret it, Char.

With a needy groan, I bit into the tip of my tongue and drew it slowly over the giant gash in the fairy’s throat. Then licking my lips, I dropped him to the ground and stood. Everything was glowing.

I blinked. No, it was me that was glowing, and I was seeing through my own aura. I held up my hands and stared at the way they hummed with power. I stomped on the heart, destroying it before anyone else could initiate the curse. Then I checked on Bres, who’s pulse beat slowly against my fingers. I didn’t dare feed him my blood to heal him, or I’d end up fighting him again. I had to trust that Pythia had stopped me in time.

I crossed to where Soul Eater had landed, looking deceptively innocuous. I didn’t want to touch it, but at the same time, I couldn’t just leave it here for some other bloodthirsty fairy to find, or worse for Bres to retrieve when he awoke. Using telekinesis I lifted the weapon and pictured sheathing it in an invisible scabbard behind my back. Stretching to peer over my shoulder, I confirmed with satisfaction that it had worked. Nothing appeared strapped to me at all, and I wouldn’t have known it was there if not for the weight of it across my back.

Wrinkling my nose, I next lifted the queen’s head from its seat and looked around me, searching for a way out.

Make your own, Pythia suggested.

How are you back again?

I never left. You just hadn’t accessed your powers fully since being turned.

Shaking my head, I reached out before me, and opened a pink portal to my own realm. Poppy snorted and danced at the sight of me, which I was sure was a mess. She was more than happy to carry me back to the estate, head tucked under my arm as we rode.

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