Page 75 of A Bond in Blood

Disgusting me to my core.

In an instant he released me, standing calmly like nothing had happened. His shadows crawled back to him. Strings returning to their puppet master.

I was silent as I sat up. Rubbing my jaw then spitting into the sand. Repeatedly. Until I was sure his own saliva had left my body. At least that’s what I’d wanted to believe.

“Are you done?” he replied.

My eyes went back to his, watching while he rolled his sleeves back to his wrist. I threw off his cloak, standing quickly.

He turned, directing his body back to the entrance of the tunnel. Only I didn’t follow.

I ran right back to the water.

My feet had almost hit the water’s edge when his hands wrapped around my waist, ripping me back.

“Let go of me!” I screeched, slamming my hands backward. My fists connected with his solid body.

“No!” he yelled back, shoving me to the sand again.

“I hate you!” I cried, burying my face in my knees. “I hate you.”

My words grew quiet as I repeated myself and my tears fell onto my already dripping gown.

“Get up before you freeze out here,” the king ordered.

“I hate you.”

He leaned forward and his hair hung over me, covering my face. “Tell me something new and I might actually tell you why I brought that sniveling coward to my home.”

I stared up at him, silent.

He grinned, before standing again.

“Just like I thought.”

“You’re a coward.”

Somehow the wind caught my words, wrapping them around us.

Ulrich’s shoulders went stiff.

I stood, squaring my shoulders with my determined attack.

“You torment and torture to amuse yourself. To distract yourself from the coward that lives beneath that mask. The man who makesdeals, forcing people to bow to him because not one body on this island follows you out of respect.”

His shoulders moved with heavy breaths, and I continued.

“They follow out of fear. What a sad life it must be for a king to lack the respect of his own people. I doubt you could even protect them if the need ever arose.”

The sand beneath my feet began to shake, lifting into the air while an unseen hum surrounded the secluded beach. My eyes snapped to Ulrich, whose shoulders were slumped. His shadowscircled his body, creating a cyclone of sand and black around him.

“Gods,” I exclaimed, stepping back.

His head shifted toward me after my proclamation and his eyes—they were pitch black. I stared back, sure a shimmering crown of shadows appeared above his head.

“You know nothing. His voice was low, terrifying, and unrecognizable.

I lifted my hands in defeat, bowing my head, retreating from this battle between us. Allowing the king to be the victor.

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