Page 45 of A Bond in Blood

“Fine,” he replied.

I yelled out, not expecting the sharp sting of his shadows slicing across my wrist.

“What in the Gods?” I grunted, holding my hand over the now bleeding wound.

“A deal,” voices whispered across the room.

The whispers grew—like a chant. An old, soul-gripping sound. Shifting to something else other than the simple words.

A deal.

A deal.

A deal.

It didn’t stop, making my head turn while the blood flowed beneath my hand, seeping onto the stone floor through my fingers.

A drumbeat picked up, somehow thumping at the same beat as my heart.

What have I done?

I was terrified. Wondering if I shouldn’t have uttered those words. If I were a total fool to fall into the exact trap I’d been warned to avoid my entire life.

Ulrich sauntered around the dais, my blood dripping from his shadow blade. Then, to my horror, he licked it. With a smile that should have sent my soul straight to the Gods.

“Blood, Brenna. A deal is bound inblood.”

Without my control, I was standing and moving toward him.

“Open your mouth,” he commanded.

My hand fell to my side, allowing my blood to fall freely from my wrist once more. And I obeyed. I do not know why, but I did. I tilted my head back, opening my mouth for the Unseelie King.

“I control you after this, Brenna,” he whispered against my ear.

“Or I control you,” I replied back, letting something quiet and commanding inside of me to respond.

I kept my eyes open and my shoulders stiff, watching him slice his own blade against his palm. Not closing my mouth when he dropped three drops of his black blood onto my tongue.

My body jolted when the liquid ran through my body. A shock of pure power radiated through me. Igniting my soul.

Then it was gone. As quickly as it had come.

“A deal made!” his people’s voices screamed while he raised my bleeding arm into the air.

“A deal bound in blood,” Ulrich yelled back.

The ballroom picked up with the same sounds of debauchery while the attention of his people quickly resumed to their most natural instincts. Ulrich held me though, flipping my body to watch the moving bodies. Pressing my back against his chest.

His hand tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and his rough beard scratched my cheek.

“You do not know what you’ve just done,Ursa.”

I bit my lip, holding my hand to my bleeding wrist again, not replying. Because he was right.

I had no idea what I’d just set in motion.

The party raged around us, but I remained in my seat beside the king. I held my hands in my lap and my shoulders straight while I watched the bodies move.

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