Page 154 of Daughter of No Worlds

In me, Reshaye had simply ramped up the scale of my natural magic ability, feeding my own powers back to me at a staggering scale. But as a Valtain, this kind of physical ability would be difficult for Tisaanah. And I’d never heard of any Wielder, Valtain or Solarie, turning something living to decay through touch. Not even a Wielder who controlled flesh, like Sammerin. He could tear it apart, deprive it of blood, strangle it and wither it slowly. Butrottingit? Outright killing it? That was new to me.

Tisanaah paled.

“It appears I’m missing some background information.Youdid this, Tisaanah?” Zeryth’s eyes had a certain sparkle in them, a certain hunger, as they landed on her and lingered.

“Reshaye did,” she corrected.

I wished I could have reached into her lungs and stopped her before she replied.

“We-ell. That isinteresting.”

Tisaanah’s gaze flicked back to me and to that peculiar wound. But I was looking past her, at Zeryth, whose eyes roamed over her with eager pleasure, like he had just been presented with a gift that he couldn’t wait to unwrap.

There had been many, many times over the years when I very vividly imagined how good it would feel to rip out Zeryth’s throat, but this may have been the first time that I actively had to stop myself from doing it.

“You think?” I scoffed. “Honestly, it’s a little underwhelming. Annoying more than anything. Let’s just heal this thing up, Sammerin.”

I knew it was unconvincing, but it was my best shot. My blood roared as a little smarmy twitch at the corner of Zeryth’s mouth told me that he knew exactly what I was trying to do. It was so distracting that I almost didn’t hear Sammerin as he said, “I can’t.”

My attention snapped back to him. “You can’t?”

“Not easily. I can’t talk to this. And the shape is…” His lips thinned in concentration. “I need to dig it out before I can try to bridge the damage.”

Did he just saydig?I tried not to let myself blanch.

“Can you leave, please?” I snapped at Zeryth. “This is invasive.”

It was amazing, how fast Zeryth’s expression changed — like every muscle rearranged into a razor-sharp glare all at once. “This ismyship. I can crawl into the washroom with you and I’d be well within my rights. And that aside, I don’t appreciate your tone. Remember who you’re speaking to.”

Right. Zeryth Aldris, Arch Commandant.

Zeryth Aldris, the man who once went out on a reconnaissance mission with five of his most talented military peers — his most talentedcompetition— and, conveniently, was the only one to return alive. The man who forced me back to my family home to get me out of his way. The man who advocated for my imprisonment, even though he knew perfectly well the truth of what had happened in Sarlazai that day.

Zeryth Aldris, the man who “befriended” a teenaged Tisaanah in slavery and proceeded to leave her there, not once, not twice, butfour damned times. And then had worn that lazy little smile as he tried to force her to her knees in front of everyone that she so desperately wanted to impress, just because he could.

And who now, afterall of that, looked at her like she was a slab of meat ready to be quartered for his own purposes.

Oh, I knew exactly who I was speaking to.

I smiled at him through gritted teeth and said, “I could never forget.”

Frankly, I was proud of my restraint. But clearly my tone was still not up to Zeryth’s standards, because he straightened, shoulders squaring, head cocked. “Come here, Maxantarius.”

“This is not needed,” Tisaanah cut in, before shooting me a look that said,Shut up and stop causing trouble.

“Stand upandcome here.”

Long, sharp fingers grabbed ahold of my mind and squeezed, squeezed—

I managed five long seconds before my legs betrayed me, rising from the chair without my permission and taking one agonizing step after another. I stopped a few steps in front of him and arched my eyebrows, as if to say,Happy now?

He raised a pale finger and beckoned. “One more step.”

Bastard. I made the movement as tiny as I possibly could, inching forward only slightly, and he laughed. “You never make anything easy.” His smile soured into something closer to a sneer. “You’ve always been somouthy.But that willpower has never quite been strong enough, has it? Always failed you at the most important times.”

Low. So fucking low, even for him.Fury clawed at every muscle in my body.

“This is your boat, but it is my mission.” Tisaanah’s voice cut from behind me. “And these distractions are not useful, Zeryth. This is not why we’re here.”

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