Page 224 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

“It is if you don’t want to end up eaten by a sand worm,” Melody says from somewhere close by. “Or fight our way through the soldiers who guard the stables.”

Point taken.Caryan’s guards are skilled, and cursed; and Blair in her miserable state is too weak for a fight. Not to mention the half-human, probably more hindrance than help.

“WhereisCaryan?” Blair asks as the darkness around them shifts, swallowing them whole before it tears slightly, like pushingthrough a veil until they can see outlines again. What the fuck is this? It’s as if this was a living thing.

“Close,” the girl retorts, walking ahead, her voice pressed.

“Are these bones?” Blair asks with a frown, kicking aside a skeleton that looks very much like a human ribcage.Interesting.

Melody casts a glance at the mortal remnants before her eyes dart to Blair’s.

Blair starts to cackle. “You have no idea where this is leading, huh?”

“I want to get out. And survive,” Melody snaps back, but her eyes shine quite wildly, and she smells of despair.

“What happened?” Blair asks again. “You reek of Caryan’s blood, and you obviously have some of his runes on your wrist.” Not to mention the bruises there and on her throat. “I’d say good sex, but sadly for you, you don’t smell of sex,” Blair adds when the girl stays silent.

Melody pauses as if she’s heard something and puts a finger to her lips. Just then, Blair hears it too. A faint rumble, as if something big is moving their way.

Fast.

“I asked you a question,” Blair hisses. Threat or no, she would not be shushed. By anyone. “And I’m better not ignored,” she adds, just to make that very clear.

“As I said, long story,” the girl whispers back, still staring toward the source of the noise. She’s unsheathed the sword from her back and eased into a fighting stance, but that sword is almost too heavy for her human body.

“I like long stories, especially if I’m not to slit that person’s throat,” Blair croons.

The girl cuts her a glance, her tone sharp. “Is that a threat?”

Blair flashes her teeth at her in a saccharine smile. “Did it sound like a compliment to you?”

“I think we have bigger problems right now. Later. Let’s get out first,” is all Blair gets in return. The tone in Melody’s voice makes her blood boil.

“Oh no, not later. I want to know what you did exactly before I take another step.”

Melody turns to her fully. “Yeah, then, you know what, turn around and crawl back into your cell if you liked it so much.”

For a second, Blair’s speechless. Not sure whether to admire the girl’s courage or throttle her. It’s not every day someone dares to speak like that to a witch. But it’s also the girl Caryan’s obsessed with, so Blair’s rage wins, flashing red in front of her eyes.

She grabs Melody’s slender throat, her other hand closed around Melody’s hand still holding the hilt of the long sword. She pushes the girl against the ragged stone before she can so much as blink.

“Watch your tongue, human, or I’ll rip it out and eat it as dessert,” Blair drawls slowly, her teeth mere inches from Melody’s neck, hot blood pulsating underneath in a too-fast rhythm. All it would take is to sink her teeth in to taste it. Hells, it smells delicious.

Another rumble shakes the cave, sending tiny stones and debris raining down on them. It’s followed by a snort that must belong to a massive beast by the way it travels along the halls.

Blair’s head reflexively snaps towards the sound. A mistake, because just like in the human world, that nasty little thing comes for her. Melody’s knee slams into Blair’s solar plexus, and gods help her, she struggles for breath like a pathetic youngling. The human pushes her off, and just because Blair is weak, she lands on her fucking ass.

“You’re going to pay for that,” Blair seethes between breaths.

“Good, make me. But first, let’s get the fuck out of here. Alive,” the girl snaps back, her tone laced with temper. Her gaze probes the darkness that has started to move again around them, like a cloud of pure blackness. As if it wants to hide them within.Weird.

“Tell me what happened, right now,” Blair demands, getting back to her feet, swallowing the bile in her mouth that’s threatening to rise—the aftermath from the blow. “Or I swear I’m going to convince you that you just freed your worst nightmare.”

The girl glances at her, and it must be something in Blair’s tonebecause her face falls. And once her façade is gone, she suddenly looks terribly tired and young. Even her eyes have taken on that haunted quality again. As if Caryan indeed shattered an intrinsic piece of her and beneath the surface is nothing but a fissure, yawning, running deep.

It reminds Blair too much of herself.

“I… I don’t know what happened,” Melody starts. “All I remember is that Caryan forced his magic into me, and my magic somehow… Caryan’s hurt. But not for long. Is that enough for now?” The girl’s tone is neutral, but her eyes are pleading.

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