Page 54 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

“Why,” I gasped, again, as massive jaws opened over me.

“To sssee the heir,” it hissed, as its jaws closed around me. “The lassst true heir of Elsewhere.”

22

BAEL

THE WAYWOODS, INBETWIXT

My heart pounded too fast as I kept my gaze fixed on the serpent.

The moment Scion had offered his blood to the snake and not struggled as it began to wind around him, I’d known what he was planning. I so rarely got to use the strongest of my magical abilities, because instant death wasn’t all that useful except on a battlefield, and I’d never been allowed to set foot on one.

From an early age, I’d been capable of destroying multiple lives with one wave of the hand. The problem was, and always had been, that I enjoyed doing it.

It didn’t seem to matter to my family that I was far from the only one with that particular character flaw. They didn’t acknowledge or care that both my uncles had been far more blood thirsty than I ever was, or that Scion crippled anyone who mildly annoyed him. They didn’t want to think that perhaps I’d inherited a love of violence from their side of the family, and it had nothing to do with my father. No, the family line had always been that I was broken, dangerous, and too Unseelie to be trusted.

The family had worried for years that my control would waver, and I’d destroy far more than their intended target. I didn’t have to summon power as others did. No, my issue was keeping it under control, and not letting it leak out. Destruction always lingered just below my skin and I myself wasn’t entirely sure how precise my aim was. There was no time like a life-or-death situation to find out.

As the snake lowered its jaws over Scion’s head, I raised a hand, and in a blink the creature was gone. Surrounded by a mound of ash and crumbling scales, Scion sat on the ground, his face completely drained of color.

My hands were trembling, and I could feel the magic coursing through my body as I approached to offer him a hand up. “Are you alright?”

Breathing heavily, my cousin looked up at me. He scrutinized my trembling palm with apprehension, before hesitantly grasping it and allowing me to help him up.

“I’m fucking fine…obviously,” he said roughly. “More importantly, are you alright?”

I wanted to laugh, but I was too exhausted to even manage a chuckle. He had just been moments away from being devoured in front of me, yet he seemed more worried about the energy it took for me to kill the creature attacking him.

What did that say about my family’s faith in my control? Nothing I wasn’t already well aware of, I supposed.

“I’ll be fine,” I told Scion. “I just need to rest for a bit.”

A bit, or several days—but I didn’t want to alarm him.

“Are you close to draining?” Scion asked.

I shook my head, because I wasn’t sure I could deny it out loud. Even if I was close to using too much magic, I wasn’t sure I could die from drain, as others could. I’d shift before reaching that point…though, that was almost as dangerous.

“What about Lonnie?” Scion demanded.

I pressed a hand to my throbbing temple. “What about her?”

“Did you use her power as well?”

I shook my head. “Our bond isn’t sealed, and I haven’t shared power with her in weeks.”

“But, the last time you used that power?—”

“I know,” I cut him off, thinking darkly of the afflicted attack in Inbetwixt where I’d nearly drained not only myself, but Lonnie as well. “But I’m telling you she’s fine.”

Mates could share power back and forth, giving bonded groups a nearly unlimited supply of magical life force.Nearly unlimited, being the operative phrase. It was a useful side effect of mating that each partner would become more powerful, however the danger was that once one mate drained, they’d start feeding off the power of the other. It was possible, therefore, for one mate to kill the other by mistake.

I’d nearly drained Lonnie on the day after the second hunt while escaping from the afflicted, and sent her into a coma for several days. Now, though, that was unlikely to reoccur. At least, not unless I could mimic Scion, and find some way around the curse that prevented us from sealing our bond.

I glanced at my cousin, who looked relieved now, that at least Lonnie was not in danger. That his wife was not in danger.

We would have to talk about that eventually—that, and everything else the snake had said, but first all I wanted was to sleep.

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