Page 76 of The Stolen Bride

I blinked and suddenly she held my dagger, and I did not. Shock didn’t have a chance to form. She shoved the blade into my gut. Agony seared me, and stars flashed over my vision. Grunting, I hunched over. Liquid rushed up my throat, and crimson spilled from my mouth. I was getting really tired of being stabbed.

Juniper screamed and Viktor roared, the sounds seeming to travel through a narrow tunnel as my vision constricted. Dizzying darkness closed in…

“Love!” Viktor snarled.

“Clover,” my twin sobbed.

The darkness retreated, or I stepped from its path, their voices a lifeline leading me into the light. Inhale. Exhale. Good, that was good. My head ceased spinning.

I took stock. Valkara watched me, curious. The battle between kings hadn’t lessened. They used the entire space, doing laps around Valkara and me, sometimes slamming into Bodi and his opponents, the number of which had dwindled significantly. Juniper had released one leg from her shackles and fought to liberate her remaining limbs.

“You killed Lena,” Deco bellowed at the berserker king. “You will know my pain!”

“Youkilled her when you believed her lies,” Viktor spat.

With gritted teeth, I straightened and plucked the bloody blade free from my stomach. Never had I been more grateful for supernatural healing. “You will pay for that, too,” I told my mother.

“I’ve wrangled primordials for centuries,” she said, oh, so casual. “I’m not new to battle. As you can feel.”

True, that knife thrust had hurt as if a thousand Labrador puppies tested their razor-sharp teeth on my insides, but thankfully my wound healed in a matter of seconds. “Maybe I won’t kill you. Maybe I’ll keep you locked up, so you can watch as I win the loyalty of the primordials. You had to chain them, but they’ll adore me, their liberator.”

Scowling, she swiped at me, moving so swiftly I couldn’t mimic her and avoid injury. Like me, she possessed thick black claws, and the tips scraped across my cheek.

Skin split and blood trickled, stings erupting. My rage burned hotter.

“Hurt her good, Clove!” Juniper called.

Valkara’s smile returned and widened. “Last chance to surrender.”

As she spoke, I tracked Viktor and Deco from the corner of my eye. They beat at each other without mercy, ripping out organs with their hands. Both failed to do a heart amputation, but not for lack of trying. Any love between them had died.

Juniper freed her other leg.

My mother wanted me to surrender. “No, thanks,” I snapped.

Valkara delivered a dramatic sigh. “Very well. I would’ve shown you a smidgen of mercy and let you say goodbye to your sister. Instead, I’ll let Viktor experience sudden loss exactly as Deco did. The results won’t be as pure, but I’ll find a way. I always do.”

Nothing but a blur, she latched onto my arm and flung me into the combatants. I slammed into Deco just as Viktor swung his claws at the beast’s chest.

I rolled out of the way as he pulled back. The actions cost us. Deco raked his claws through Viktor’s throat, and Valkara zoomed over. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and, rather than tossing me back into the fray, which had moved closer to Juniper, she threw me into a wall.

Breath abandoned my lungs, but I didn’t let the lack prevent me from diving into her when she approached, driving her to the ground. We rolled one over the other, striking and blocking without mercy. Adrenaline surged until I felt nothing but the icy frost of my rage. No, no, this wasn’t rage but fury, and it burned so hot it left me cold. I maintained my wits, and yet, still she delivered injuryafter injury. Strength began to drain, weakness taking its place.

I slowed gradually until my knees collapsed. Down I went, unable to do anything but huff and puff. What the—I scanned my body and gnashed my teeth. She’d cut me open from hip to hip. Things had spilled out, and the sight revolted me.

Juniper gave a cry of denial. Viktor released a guttural roar and headed my way. When the shifter king moved into his path to strike, the berserker king ripped out his trachea. It would have been his heart, but Deco repositioned at the last second. Dropping the bloody mass as the shifter collapsed, Viktor resumed his sprint to me.

How long before Deco recovered?

At my side, Valkara grinned, drawing back her elbow, claws spread. “Told you I’d win.”

I spotted Juniper, sneaking up on us and smiled. “Wrong.”

With a high-pitched war cry, my sister slammed into our mother. Both flew to the ground. On the way down, Valkara swiped her claws across my twin’s throat, just as Viktor had swiped at Deco’s. Juniper’s yelp of pain died a split second after it began.

“Nooo!” Despite my weakness, I threw myself at the pair at the same time Viktor threw himself at me. My hand latched onto my sister’s, who reached for me. At the moment of contact, a bolt of pure power shot through me.

Wounds healed in seconds. Strength flooded me. No part of me was left untouched. But there was too much to contain, a glowing light flickering with various colors shooting from my pores. It hurt as much as it helped, and I screamed from my deepest depths.

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