Page 52 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

That was too cruel, even for me, to insert myself in the middle of a mating bond I had no right to destroy.

Last night was a one-time mistake, and now, losing her felt like the gods swift punishment. I’d never realized what it truly meant to be cursed with misery. Now, I wondered how I’d ever managed to live this long with the despair constantly finding ways to torment me.

I would help Bael find Lonnie, and then I’d leave. I’d let them go off on their adventure alone, just as I’d tried to do back in Inbetwixt, and I’d find a way to defy the prophecy my brother had made, and never let her become my wife.

My thoughts came crashing to a halt as behind me, an ominous rattling sounded and I whipped around. Bael, several paces back, had also turned to look. Without my realizing it, or even thinking of where we were going, we’d reached the edge of the dark, churning water.

Bael swiveled back around, and we made meaningful eye contact before moving as one closer to the water itself.

I held my breath and waited for a long heartbeat, then another. Nothing moved in the forest or beneath the surface of the lake, and I relaxed slightly. Opening my mouth to suggest we keep moving, my words were lost as a menacing voice hummed through the trees, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “Is thisss my reward?”

I spun in a circle, searching for the voice, then halted. My stomach turned over, horror flooding me as a massive blue-black serpent emerged from the water, its scales gleaming in the setting sun.

My blood ran cold. How the fuck had Lonnie escaped this thing? And worse, why the fuck had I insisted she enter the second hunt alone?

I didn’t have long to dwell.

The snake’s sharp gaze locked onto me as its forked tongue flicked out of its mouth, tasting the air between us like it was salivating at the thought of devouring both of us in one gulp. Its scales glittered as it coiled and uncoiled, its eyes fixed on me.

My heart pounded against my chest as I stood frozen, unable to move as if in a trance. My fingers tingled as I thrust my hand forward, instinctively, aiming to halt it with my magic.

“No!” Bael’s voice rose in a desperate yell, and he forcefully pulled my arm back. “Stop! We need it alive.”

The shadows that I held in my hand dissipated quickly, and I scowled at my cousin. We also neededusalive, but I couldn’t deny he had a point. We’d come all this way, and despite my best efforts I couldn’t think of another way to find Lonnie.

I lowered my hand slowly, keeping a shred of magic tingling on my fingertips, just to be safe. Perhaps this had been a foolish plan—a deadly mistake.

“Have you brought me royal blood?” The creature’s enormous head lowered until it was level with mine, swaying back and forth, mesmerizing me with its movements. “Are you here to repay my kindnessss?”

“What kindness?” I asked, half-entranced by its swaying head.

“What kindnessss,” the snake repeated, its voice rising as if in excitement…or anger. “What kindnessss, asks the king, as if I have not been waiting far too long for my prize. As if I am not ssstarving. Ravenousss.”

Bael and I glanced at each other, and I could tell instantly we were of the same mind. This had been a fucking terrible idea, and likely a deadly mistake. If both of us left this lake unscathed, it would be a damned gift from the Source.

Hiding his hands behind his back, no doubt to maintain some element of surprise should he decide to use his magic, Bael stepped forward toward the snake. He smiled pleasantly, and offered it a courtly bow. “Forgive us, old one, allow me to introduce myself, I’m?—”

“I know who you are, ssshadow prince.” It thrashed its long tail, and the water splashed some twenty feet into the air, the floating bodies churning on the newly formed waves. “I know all that goes on in these woodsss.”

I swallowed thickly, before offering a bow of my own. The back of my neck prickled, and I stood quickly, not liking the feeling of taking my eyes off that enormous swaying head even for a moment. “That is why we’ve come to you, old one,” I said quickly. “To seek your assistance.”

“Asssssistance,” it hissed, drawing the word out so it echoed all around the quarry. “Why should I offer anything, when the lassst favor I granted has not been repaid?”

Again, Bael and I shared a look. It was entirely too focused on whatever bargain it had recently made to be of any use. Perhaps, then, we should leave and find another way?

I widened my eyes at Bael, trying to convey with a look that we should retreat while we both still breathed. Evidently, he misunderstood my meaning.

“What was your bargain?” Bael asked the snake. “And with whom?”

The serpent hissed in rhythm, almost as if it were laughing. Its twisted mouth curled into a sinister smile. “The queen…Ssshe promisssed me her life in exchange for another. Her mortal blood, for that of a born royal. Ssso, I ask you again, are you here to repay her debt?”

Shock rocked me. “The queen” could only mean Lonnie. This, then, was her bargain. This was how she’d escaped during the hunt—by offering another in her place.

I couldn’t help but wonder who Lonnie had planned to offer up as a sacrifice to the snake in order to save her own skin. And deep down, I knew it was me.

I almost couldn’t blame her.

That thought rattled around the back of my mind, and I warred with myself. On the one hand, I wanted nothing more than to fix this for her. Give her no other reasons to hate me, and ensure she would never doubt my love for her again. On the other hand, perhaps it was fate that I’d heard this. Perhaps it would be all the easier to walk away from her now, knowing that not so very long ago she’d meant to offer me a gruesome death.

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