Page 42 of The Soul of the Dragon

"He's not the only one either. Word in the village is that the King and his dragon are searching for it as well. There's a lot of interest in an amulet that may not be as powerful as you think."

"What do you mean?" I was counting on using it to release my bindings. Without it I had no other way…

"It's said that the amulet only has enough power for one time use. Which is one of the reasons it's been hidden away. The wizard that created it over a century ago feared that our realm would one day be invaded by outsiders. He'd grown obsessed with the notion, and thus, before he died he channeled every ounce of his power into a single artifact. But the legend says that once it is used, the last of his power is gone forever. So it must be used wisely and thus kept hidden."

"Someone must know where it is. What's the point of having something that powerful if it can never be found?"

"It is also said that the one who finds it is the one who needs it the most."

"I hate stupid riddles. If I didn't make it clear enough, I don't have time to stand around solving puzzles."

The girl shrugged. "I can only tell you what I know. Your lack of patience is a flaw of the fae and is not my problem."

Her biting words scraped down my spine as I frowned. It was clear she'd given all the help she intended to, despite it not being much.

"What other reason has it been hidden? You said there was more than one reason."

Her eyes shuttered for a moment. When she opened them, their previous blue hue had turned black. Startled, I took a step back. I wasn't supposed to show fear, but she'd certainly caught me off guard.

"The amulet is more dangerous than you can imagine. It can be used with light or dark magic. And used in the wrong way it could throw the balance too far one way or the other. And while someone with good intentions might think eradicating the dark would be a good thing, you can't have light without dark or dark without light. The amulet in the wrong hands could break the magic of this realm forever."

Kitra. Run.

I heard the startled words in my head, causing me to stumble backwards. I quickly looked around to see if someone else had entered the room, and saw no one.

And when I turned back, she was gone too. The seer had disappeared into thin air. What the hell was happening? I could still hear those two words scratching at the inside of my head, a dire warning that I had to heed. Panic rose swift and hard.

But who?

I searched frantically around the room for the seer and her guidance, but she truly had disappeared. And whoever had sent the warning had infused it with enough power I was going to pass out if I didn't heed it.

"Okay. Okay," I whispered aloud as I stumbled towards the front door. I wrenched it open and my stomach pitched.

"Hello, Darling."

ChapterSeventeen

Kitra

No! It couldn't be.

Not after everything I'd done and been through to get free. "How?" I mumbled.

"Aren't you going to greet your King properly?" he asked from beneath the black hooded cloak that did little to hide his identity. But it did make him look like the monster I knew him to be.

My heart was beating so hard, it felt like it was going to come right out of my chest. "Will it make a difference if I do?" I finally ask, despite the constriction of air in my lungs. It was damned hard to breathe when your worst nightmare was standing in front of you, threatening you, with merely a scathing look.

And since he was blocking the only exit I saw, there was nowhere for me to escape or run to.

"Treating your King with respect instead of disdain always gives you a chance." He lowered his hood and stepped into the seer's home. The seer who had conveniently disappeared at his exact arrival. She'd betrayed me. I didn't know how or when, but every instinct I possessed screamed with it.

"A chance at freedom?"

A dark laugh erupted from him. "For you? No. But your future still depends on my kindness and we can either do this the hard way or the easy way."

I doubted there was anything easy about his intentions for me. "If by easy you mean I willingly let you fuck me until I'm pregnant with an heir, the answer is still no."

His expression darkened and I realized my mistake immediately. In this position I was a caged animal that he could do with what he pleased. Antagonizing him wouldn't change the outcome, but it could make the process worse.

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