Page 47 of A Bond in Blood

My skin warmed with rage. I was getting tired of being man-handled by these two. Tired of keeping my mouth clamped shut.

But I’d made a deal. A promise to do as I was told with a reward waiting for me at the end of it all.

I kept my back turned away from the door, holding Ulrich’s gaze once more while Olen’s footsteps retreated. The echo of the door slamming shut rang through my body, but I didn’t flinch.

“Bed,Ursa?” the king asked.

I allowed myself to turn and look out across the now empty chamber. Noting the stone columns spaced throughout the room. The skylight, high above. The many corners hidden by shadows.

Places of darkness that appeared to have been deliberate for aching bodies to find their release.

“Do you like my palace?” His breath was hot against my neck.

I held still, only nodding my head once. “It’s sufficient.”

“That’s an understatement,” he replied, flipping me to face him.

His body towered over mine and I strained my neck to meet his eyes. We hadn’t stood so close. Not when I could easily stare into his eyes.

“We made a deal tonight,” he muttered.

I gulped. “Yes.”

His smile lifted. “You have no idea what’s in store for you.”

I stepped away, pushing him as I went. “I have eleven months to do what I’m told. To follow your terms. I know what I just agreed to.”

He was before me again, his hand hovering next to my cheek. I bit my lip, staring into his shifting eyes.

“You.” He stroked my skin. “Are.” Fingers trailed down, stopping at the base of my neck. “Foolish.”

Our war was on now. His words a warning cry on the field of our battle. An approval to ready my determination to best him.

“I can accept the worst you can do is ruin me,” I replied, wrapping my hand around his wrist.

“Ursa,” his fingers tightened around my neck, offering just enough pressure to force out a gasp, “you may just ruinme.”

Chapter 12

Three months.

Eighty-four days.

I wasn’t sure how it had happened so fast. How the last month of my imprisonment had flashed past my eyes. Skirting around me while I played my role in this war between myself and the Unseelie King.

Neither of us bending. The fights had stopped though. With my attempts to end his life halting.

For now.

I walked the streets of Muspell, with Olen stalking beside me. His claws clinked against the cobbled roads of the city.

“This way,” he snarled.

My body went stiff at the command. We were heading to another poor soul who’d failed in their ability to uphold Ulrich’s deals. One name among a long list of the bodies I’d already witnessed lose their life.

A penance I suppose. Reminding me of my own foolish deal.

Ulrich’s sick upper hand in our silent battle.

---