Page 68 of Foretold

The fact that I still really need to pee.

Oh yeah, Vera is dead. I wonder what other exes of Rave’s need to be taken out.

That steak I ate last night.

I think of anything other than how fucking good his bite feels.

But then he lifts his head, licking his bloody lips, confusion etched onto his face. “You taste… different.”

Well, that’s not something any female wants to hear.

“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning. He angles my head, lowers his face back to my neck, and licks it to close the wound before replying, “You taste incredible and so powerful. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. I don’t think you are just fae, Princess. Maybe it’s the succubus blood.” But he still sounds confused.

“Well,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Did you get enough of my weird-tasting blood?”

“I didn’t say it was weird—”

“You’re not hungry anymore?” I ask, still slightly offended at his comments.

“No, I’m—” he stops and says, “Thank you,” before licking his lips again. “I feel strong, even if Rave is going to fucking murder me with his bare hands.”

Now that he’s got my blood in him, he tries to break the shackles, but nothing happens. “It needs magic.”

Magic that neither of us currently possesses.

“Okay, I have to pee, so I need you to turn around and sing a song or something,” I tell him, standing up and walking to the bucket, the chains clanging behind me.

“Bane,” I snap when he’s still sitting there with an amusedeyebrow raised at me. I twirl my finger, telling him to turn around.

He does, and I pull down my trousers and squat over the bucket, the loud noise making my cheeks heat. “Why aren’t you singing?” I growl.

He laughs but starts to sing some tune I’ve never heard before. But what surprises me the most is that he is actually a good singer. His voice is deep, raspy, and honest, and I could listen to it all day. “You have a beautiful voice,” I tell him once it’s safe and I’m finished.

“Thank you,” he replies, dropping his head.Is he shy about it?“I used to sing with my mother as a child.”

Before she died and his dad remarried.

Before they exiled him from his own kingdom.

I open my mouth to reply when we hear a commotion, some yelling, and then some familiar black shadows.

“Rave is here,” I say, standing up and holding onto the bars. I feel his anger and fear through the bond. Fear that I’m hurt or dead. But then the dungeon door opens, and Rave steps inside. Dressed in all black, darkness steaming from him, he looks like a god from the underworld. His eyes are pitch black, and he’s in full shadow-daddy mode.

“Astrid!” he calls out when he sees us, running over and opening the cell. He rushes inside and pulls me into his arms, his eyes frantically checking over me. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”

“I am,” I promise him.

Pandora, Kai, and August step inside.

“Come on, we need to get out of here. The others won’t be able to hold them back for long,” August says.

Rave tries to break the shackles, scowling when they won’t budge. “These are spelled. We need you, Pandora.”

She rushes over, her gown dragging on the dirty stone floor as she touches them. “Shit, a strong witch did these.”

“Does that mean you can’t break them?” Bane asks from behind me.

Pandora smirks, focusing on the silver in her hands. “Rave, get your shadows to help me.”

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